Study area
The small tropical country of Costa Rica is located in southern Central
America (latitudes 8 02‘26‘ and 11 13‘12‘N, and longitudes 82 33‘48“and
85 57‘57“W) and has an area of 51,100 km2 (with
around 5% of the biodiversity in the planet). After having one of the
world’s highest deforestation rates during the 1970s, laws were changed
and today, forested areas represent 52% of the country (MINAET and
FONAFIFO, 2012), and 25% are protected (González & Lobo, 1999). The
land’s volcanic origin and its steep elevation gradients influence the
country´s heterogeneity, which has 12 life zones distributed from
intertidal zones to over 3000 meters above sea level (Holdridge &
Grenke, 1971). Precipitation varies seasonally, being the highest from
May to early November, and spatially, with wettest regions receiving
over 7000 mm of rainfall per year, and the driest receiving around 900
mm (Avalos, 2019).