The Talamancan montane forests cover a discontinuous area of 16,300 square kilometers (6,300sqmi) in Cordilleran mountains, including the Cordillera de Guanacaste, Cordillera de Tilarán, Cordillera Central, and Cordillera de Talamanca, from northwestern Costa Rica to western Panama, with outliers on Cerro Hoya on Panama's Azuero Peninsula.[1] The montane forests lie above 750 to 1500 meters elevation, up to approximately 3000 meters elevation, where they transition to the grasslands and shrublands of the Costa Rican páramo on the highest peaks.[1]
The forests are made up of evergreen trees, including many species (genera Ocotea, Persea, Nectandra, and Phoebe) of the laurel family (Lauraceae), and two endemicoaks, Quercus costaricensis and Quercus copeyensis. Lauraceae are the predominant canopy trees in the northern mountains, while oaks are dominant in the upper montane forests of the southerly Cordillera de Talamanca.[3]
The forests are highly biodiverse, with many species including many endemic species. The Cordillera de Talamanca is home to an estimated 90% of Costa Rica's plant species. Over 30% of the ecoregion's plant species and over 50% of the high mountain flora are considered endemic.[3]
Lower montane forests occur above 750 meters on the Atlantic slope and up to 1500 meters on the Pacific slope, extending up to 2300 meters elevation. The upper montane forests extend from approximately 2,300 meters up to 3,300 meters elevation. A belt of subalpine dwarf forests forms the transition between the montane forests and the high-elevation páramo alpine grasslands.[4][3]
The Costa Rican portion harbors 136 mammal species, the Panamanian 84. Characteristic mammals include jaguar, cougar, tapir, deer, anteater, and several species of monkey. The Talamancan oryzomys (Nephelomys devius) is endemic to the ecoregion.
The grey-tailed mountaingem, also variously spelled gray-tailed mountaingem, grey-tailed mountain-gem, or gray-tailed mountain-gem, is a species of hummingbird in tribe Lampornithini of subfamily Trochilinae. It is endemic to Costa Rica.
The purple-throated mountaingem is a species of hummingbird in tribe Lampornithini of subfamily Trochilinae. It is found in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Panama.
The Cordillera de Talamanca is a mountain range that lies in the southeast half of Costa Rica and the far west of Panama. Much of the range and the area around it is included in La Amistad International Park, which also is shared between the two countries.
The Costa Rican páramo, also known as the Talamanca páramo, is a natural region of montane grassland and shrubland of Costa Rica and western Panama.
Quercus copeyensis is a species of oak endemic to the Talamancan montane forests of Costa Rica and Panama. It is commonly called Panamanian oak.
The white-bellied mountaingem or white-bellied mountain-gem is a species of hummingbird in tribe Lampornithini of subfamily Trochilinae. It is found in Costa Rica and Panama.
The crater salamander, also known as the marbled crater salamander, is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. It is endemic to Costa Rica and Panama. Its natural habitat is subtropical, high-altitude moist montane forests. It has a small area of distribution and is threatened by habitat loss therein.
The buff-fronted quail-dove, or Costa Rican quail-dove, is a species of bird in the family Columbidae. It is found in Costa Rica and Panama.
Dice's cottontail is a species of cottontail rabbit in the family Leporidae. It is found in Costa Rica and Panama, in páramo and cloud forest habitats.
Magnolia panamensis is a species of flowering plant in the family Magnoliaceae. It is native to Panama, and its distribution probably extends into Costa Rica. It is a forest tree with few current threats to its populations.
The Central America bioregion is a biogeographic region comprising southern Mexico and Central America.
Malvaviscus palmanus is an understory tree of the Costa Rican cloud forest.
Talamanca may refer to:
Werauhia williamsii is a species of flowering plant in the genus Werauhia. It is a terrestrial bromeliad, native the montane forests of Costa Rica and western Panama.
The Sierra Madre del Sur pine–oak forests is a subtropical coniferous forest ecoregion in the Sierra Madre del Sur mountain range of southern Mexico.
The Northwestern Andean montane forests (NT0145) is an ecoregion on the Andes mountains in the west of Colombia and Ecuador. Both flora and fauna are highly diverse due to effect of ice ages when the warmer climate zones were separated and the cooler ones combined, and interglacial periods when the reverse occurred. Because the environment is hospitable to humans, the habitat has been drastically modified by farming and grazing since the Pre-Columbian era.
The Isthmian–Pacific moist forests ecoregion covers the lowland tropical evergreen forests on the Pacific side of the central mountains of southern Costa Rica and western Panama. As the meeting zone between North and South American floral communities, the area is one of very high biodiversity. Much of the rainforest has, however, been cleared for subsistence agriculture and cattle grazing.
Quercus cortesii is a species of oak native to Central America and southern Mexico.
The Chiriquí fire salamander, known as "Salamandra de fuego chiricana" in native Spanish, is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. It is found exclusively in Panama and is endemic to the western highlands of Chiriquí Province. Like many Central American endemic species, it is threatened by habitat loss.
Sciodaphyllum pittieri is a species of flowering plant in genus Sciodaphyllum. It is native to the mountain forests of Costa Rica and western Panama.
1 2 Kappelle, M., Cleef, A. M., & Chaverri, A. (1992). Phytogeography of Talamanca Montane Quercus Forests, Costa Rica. Journal of Biogeography, 19(3), 299–315. https://doi.org/10.2307/2845453
1 2 Kappelle, M., van Uffelen, J.G. (2006). Altitudinal Zonation of Montane Oak Forests Along Climate and Soil Gradients in Costa Rica. In: Kappelle, M. (eds) Ecology and Conservation of Neotropical Montane Oak Forests. Ecological Studies, vol 185. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-28909-7_4
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Myiozetetes similis in Sarapiquí, Costa Rica
Bolitoglossa cathyledecae in Chiriquí Province, Panama
