Ampliación del ámbito de distribución del coyote (Canis latrans) en la Península de Osa, Costa Rica

RESUMENEn las últimas décadas el coyote (Canis latrans) ha colonizado nuevos hábitats, ampliando su distribución en Centroamérica. En este trabajo reportamos los primeros registros de la especie en la Reserva Forestal Golfo Dulce y el Parque Nacional Corcovado, lo que extiende su distribución en Costa Rica.Palabras clave: Canidae, Carnivora, colonización, Parque Nacional Corcovado, Reserva Forestal Golfo Dulce.ABSTRACTIn the last decades the coyote (Canis latrans) has colonized new habitats, expanding its distribution in Central America. We report the first records of the species in the Golfo Dulce Forest Reserve and Corcovado National Park, increasing is distribution in Costa Rica.Key words: Canidae, Carnivora, colonization, Corcovado National Park, Golfo Dulce Forest Reserve.

Survey of medium-sized and large mammals of Piedras Blancas National Park, Costa Rica

Piedras Blancas National Park, in southern Costa Rica, is an important component of two biological corridors connecting the Osa Peninsula (Corcovado National Park) and La Amistad International Park. Understanding the mammal community composition of Piedras Blancas will provide baseline data to evaluate the success of conservation efforts. We used camera traps and opportunistic observations to describe the medium-sized and large mammals of the park. We deployed camera traps for 1,440 trap nights (2016-2018). We detected 19 mammal species from seven orders and 13 families. Five species are globally threatened: Leopardus wiedii (Schinz, 1821), Saimiri oerstedii (Linnaeus, 1758), Ateles geoffroyi (Kuhl, 1820), Alouatta palliata (Gray, 1849), and Tapirus bairdii (Gill, 1865). We did not detect two locally threatened species, Panthera onca (Linnaeus, 1758) and Tayassu pecari (Link, 1795). Our research highlights a need for critical conservation work within the proposed biological corridor to support Costa Rica’s most threatened wildlife.

Dispersal of Goeppertia marantifolia clonal offspring increases with greater canopy openness and larger plant size

Many plants within the neotropical understorey produce both seeds and clonal offspring. Plant attributes (i.e. size) and variability in light can influence seed dispersal but it is not known if these factors influence the dispersal of clonal offspring. Our goal was to determine if canopy openness and plant size influence clonal-offspring dispersal of the herb Goeppertia marantifolia, which produces clonal bulbils on above-ground shoots. We monitored plants in permanent plots with varying levels of canopy openness in Corcovado National Park, Costa Rica. We recorded canopy openness, leaf area and the distance clonal offspring travelled from their parent plant (N = 283). Our path analysis model demonstrated that canopy openness had a strong positive effect on dispersal distance, while the association between clonal-offspring dispersal distance and parent plant leaf area was only weakly positive. On average, plants experiencing high canopy openness dispersed their clonal offspring further than plants under low canopy openness (124 cm vs. 79 cm, respectively). Contrary to studies on species that utilize rhizomes and stolons for clonal reproduction, we found that in this bulbil-producing species light availability is positively associated with clonal dispersal distance. Therefore, the influence of resource availability on spatial population dynamics of clonal species may be influenced by the species’ growth-form.

Creating wildlands in Costa Rica: Historical ecology of the creation of Corcovado National Park

La mitad de las áreas silvestres actuales, se encuentran en los países tropicales y se crearon después de 1970. Sin embargo, las actividades humanas han alterado gravemente las áreas silvestres protegidas tropicales y el 75% de las áreas silvestres de América Latina carece de protección efectiva, planes largo plazo y recursos económicos para garantizar una gestión eficaz. Una causa parcial es que las áreas protegidas fueron concebidas utilizando el modelo conservacionista de EE.UU. de apartar hábitats no alterados “para el disfrute de las generaciones actuales y futuras”, sin tomar en cuenta la población local. El objetivo de este trabajo es documentar la ecología histórica de la creación del Parque Nacional Corcovado en la Península de Osa, Costa Rica. Este artículo presenta una reconstrucción histórica de cómo se creó el área, los actores involucrados y sus interacciones, en busca de una mejor planificación nacional de conservación. Considerando su tamaño, el parque es uno de los sistemas ecológicos más diversos del mundo, pero está expuesto a problemas relacionados con la extracción de madera, fauna y oro. La comunicación abierta y la búsqueda de situaciones beneficiosas para todos fomentó la creación del Parque Nacional Corcovado, y puede ser la clave para su sostenibilidad.PALABRAS CLAVEConservación, historia, Costa Rica, sistema de parques, conservación tropical, Península de Osa.

Critical condition of the jaguar Panthera onca population in Corcovado National Park, Costa Rica

The jaguar Panthera onca is threatened throughout its range and categorized as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List. To inform conservation of the jaguar population in Corcovado National Park, Costa Rica, population size was estimated using data from a 3-month camera trap study. Individuals were identified from their coat patterns. The resulting density estimate of 6.98 ± SD 2.36 individuals per 100 km2 was lower than expected. The sex ratio was 1.33 males per female, and the minimum home ranges of two males were 25.64 and 6.57 km2. Hunting pressure on jaguar and white-lipped peccaries Tayassu pecari, the jaguar's main prey in the Park, may be responsible for the low jaguar density as space does not seem to be a limiting factor. The numbers of females may have been underestimated because of sampling bias and therefore the sex ratio obtained in this and similar studies must be interpreted cautiously. Better protection of the corridor that connects the Park with other protected areas is essential to guarantee long-term survival of the jaguar in Costa Rica.