Revista de Biología Tropical ISSN Impreso: 0034-7744 ISSN electrónico: 2215-2075

OAI: https://revistas.ucr.ac.cr/index.php/rbt/oai
Is forest cover conserved and restored by protected areas?: The case of two wild protected areas in the Central Pacific of Costa Rica
PDF
HTML

Keywords

Costa Rican national parks
habitat fragmentation
landscape ecology
land use change
La Cangreja National Park
Parques Nacionales de Costa Rica
fragmentación de hábitat
ecología del paisaje
cambio del uso del suelo
Parque Nacional La Cangreja.

How to Cite

Guzmán Q., J. A., & Vega S., H. (2015). Is forest cover conserved and restored by protected areas?: The case of two wild protected areas in the Central Pacific of Costa Rica. Revista De Biología Tropical, 63(3), 579–590. https://doi.org/10.15517/rbt.v63i3.15814

Abstract

Changes in land use are mainly a consequence of anthropogenic actions. The current agricultural and urban transformations in Costa Rica have raised questions about the effectiveness of conservation and restoration within protected areas. Herein we analyzed the patterns of land use change between three periods: 1997, 2005 and 2010 in terms of magnitude, direction, and pace through categorical maps generated by the photo-interpretation for La Cangreja National Park (LCNP), Rancho Mastatal Wildlife Refuge (RMWR), and their surrounding areas (SA), this last compound of one kilometer radius outside the protected areas’ boundaries. The matrix which describes the landscape within the protected areas is natural coverage, composed mainly by forest cover and thickets. We found that the most abundant natural cover for both protected areas was forest cover for all years tested. The stability and large areas of forest cover in LCNP and RMWR for 2005 and 2010, reflected that policies, management actions and vigilance, have a positive impact on the conservation and restoration of natural habitats in these Costa Rican Central Pacific areas. However, the high landscape complexity of the SA in 1997, 2005 and 2010 was an evidence of the anthropogenic pressure on these protected areas, and suggested the ineffectiveness of local governments to monitor and abate land use changes, that could hinder the management, conservation and restoration of species in the protected areas.

https://doi.org/10.15517/rbt.v63i3.15814
PDF
HTML

References

Acosta-Vargas, L. G. (1998). Análisis de la composición florística y estructura para la vegetación del piso basal de la zona protectora La Cangreja, Mastatal de Puriscal. (Specialty Practice Report). Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica, Cartago, Costa Rica.

Aguayo, M., Pauchard, A., Azócar, G., & Parra, O. (2009). Cambio del uso del suelo en el centro sur de Chile a fines del siglo XX: Entendiendo la dinámica espacial y temporal del paisaje. Revista Chilena de Historia Natural, 82(3), 361-374. doi:10.4067/S0716-078X2009000300004.

Alvarado, L. A. (2008). Propuesta de sostenibilidad turística para ser desarrollada en el Parque Nacional La Cangreja, (PNLC), ubicado en Puriscal, San Jose, Costa Rica. (Masters thesis). Universidad para la Cooperación Internacional, San José, Costa Rica.

Bender, O., Boehmer, H. J., Jens, D., & Schumacher, K. P. (2005). Using GIS to analyse long-term cultural landscape change in Southern Germany. Landscape and Urban Planning, 70(1), 111-125. doi:1016/j.landurbplan.2003.10.008.

Bocco, G., Mendoza, M., & Masera, O. R. (2001). La dinámica del cambio del uso del suelo en Michoacán: Una propuesta metodológica para el estudio de los procesos de deforestación. Investigaciones Geográficas, 44, 18-36.

Bonilla, A. (1983). Proceso histórico de los recursos naturales en el Cantón de Puriscal. In J. Heuveldop & L. Espinoza (Eds.). El componente arbóreo en Acosta y Puriscal, Costa Rica (pp. 11-17). San José, Costa Rica: CATIE.

Botequilha, A. & Ahern, J. (2002). Applying landscape ecological concepts and metrics in sustainable landscape planning. Landscape and Urban Planning, 59(2), 65-93. doi:10.1016/S0169-2046(02)00005-1.

Broadbent, E. N., Zambrano, A. M. A., Dirzo, R., Durham, W. H., Driscoll, L., Gallagher, P., Salters, R., Schultz, J., Colmenares, A., & Randolph, S. G. (2012). The effect of land use change and ecotourism on biodiversity: A case study of Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica, from 1985 to 2008. Landscape Ecology, 27(5), 731-744. doi:10.1007/s10980-012-9722-7.

Bustamante, J. 2006. Corredor Biológico Paso de las Lapas (Technical report). Sistema Nacional de Áreas de Conservación, Costa Rica.

Costanzo, A. J. (2006). A quantitative survey of riparian forest structure along the Quebrada Grande in La Cangreja National Park, Costa Rica. (Masters thesis). University of Washington, USA.

Díaz, E., van Koppen, K., Breitling, J., & de Camino, R. (2005). Ecoturismo y desarrollo rural en el Parque Nacional La Cangreja, Costa Rica. Recursos Naturales y Ambiente, 45, 120-126.

Eastman, J. R. (2012). IDRISI selva: manual. USA: Clark Lab, Clark University, Worcester MA.

Fahrig, L. (2003). Effects on habitat fragmentation on biodiversity. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, 34, 487-515.

Franco, S., Regil, H., González, C., & Nava, G. (2006). Cambio de uso del suelo y vegetación en el Parque Nacional Nevado de Toluca, México, en el periodo 1972-2000. Investigaciones Geográficas, 61, 38-57.

Guzmán, J., & Cordero, R. (2013). Growth and photosynthetic performance of five tree seedlings species in response to natural light regimes from the Central Pacific of Costa Rica. Revista de Biología Tropical, 61(3), 1433-1444. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.15517/rbt.v61i3.11970.

Haila, Y. (2002). A conceptual genealogy of fragmentation research: from island biogeography to landscape ecology. Ecological Applications, 12(2), 321-334. doi:10.1890/1051-0761(2002)012[0321:ACGOFR]2.0.CO;2.

Hanski, I. (1998). Metapopulation dynamics. Nature, 396(6706), 41-49. doi:10.1038/23876.

Helmer, E. H. (2000). The landscape ecology of tropical secondary forest in motane Costa Rica. Ecosystems, 3(1), 98-114. doi:10.1007/s100210000013.

Holdridge, L. R. (1967). Life zone ecology. San José, Costa Rica: Tropical Science Center.

Jiménez, Q. (1999). Importancia biológica de la zona protectora La Cangreja, Puriscal. (Technical report). Heredia, Costa Rica.

Jiménez, V. (2011). Problemática ambiental del Parque Nacional La Cangreja y de las comunidades aledañas. Biocenosis, 25(1-2), 5-19.

McLennan, B., & Garvin, T. (2012). Intra-regional variation in land use and livelihood change during a forest transition in Costa Rica’s dry North West. Land Use Policy, 29(1), 119-130. doi:10.1016/j.landusepol.2011.05.011.

Myers, N. (1993). Tropical forests: The main deforestation fronts. Environmental Conservation 20(1): 9-16. doi:10.1017/S0376892900037176.

Peña-Cortés, F., Rebolledo, G., Hermosilla, K., Hauenstein, E., Bertrán, C., Schlatter, R., & Tapia, J. (2006). Dinámica del paisaje para el período 1980-2004 en la cuenca costera del Lago Budi, Chile. Consideraciones para la conservación de sus humedales. Ecología Austral, 16(2), 183-196.

Poder Ejecutivo. (2004). Decreto ejecutivo Nº 31631-MINAE. 10-02-2004. San José, Costa Rica: La Gaceta.

Poder Ejecutivo. (2005). Decreto ejecutivo Nº 32752-MINAE. 20-06-2005. San José, Costa Rica: La Gaceta.

Rempel, R. S., Kaukinen, D., & Carr, A. P. (2012). Patch Analyst and Patch Grid. Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Centre for Northern Forest Ecosystem Research, Thunder Bay, Ontario.

Rosero-Bixby, L., & Palloni, A. (1998). Population and deforestation in Costa Rica. Population and Environment, 20(2), 149-185. doi:10.1023/a:1023319327838.

Sáenz, J. & Sáenz P. (2007). Influencia de las variables de hábitat y paisaje sobre la presencia-ausencia del mono Tití y el mono Carablanca en un área fragmentada del Pacífico Central de Costa Rica. In C. A. Harvey, & J. C. Sáenz (Eds.). Evaluación y Conservación de la Biodiversidad en Paisajes Fragmentados de Mesoamérica (pp. 511-545). Santo Domingo de Heredia, Costa Rica: Editorial INBio.

Sánchez-Azofeifa, A., Daily, G. C., Pfaff, A. S. P., & Busch, C. (2003). Integrity and isolation of Costa Rica’s national parks and biological reserves: examining the dynamics of land-cover change. Biological Conservation, 109(1), 123-135. doi:10.1016/S0006-3207(02)00145-3.

Sanchez-Azofeifa, G. A., Harriss, R. C., & Skole, D. L. (2001). Deforestation in Costa Rica: A Quantitative Analysis Using Remote Sensing Imagery1. Biotropica, 33(3), 378-384. doi:10.1111/j.1744-7429.2001.tb00192.x.

Sánchez-Azofeifa, G. A., Pfaff, A., Robalino, J. A., & Boomhower, J. P. (2007). Costa Rica’s payment for environmental services program: Intention, implementation, and impact. Conservation Biology, 21(5), 1165-1173. doi:10.1111/j.1523-1739.2007.00751.x.

Sanchez-Azofeifa, G. A., Rivard, B., Calvo, J., & Moorthy, I. (2002). Dynamics of Tropical Deforestation Around National Parks: Remote Sensing of Forest Change on the Osa Peninsula of Costa Rica. Mountain Research and Development 22(4): 352-358. doi:10.1659/0276-4741(2002)022[0352:DOTDAN]2.0.CO;2.

SINAC. (2010). Sistema nacional de áreas de conservación: Plan estratégico quinquenio 2010-2015 (Technical Report). San José, Costa Rica: Ministerio de Ambiente, Energía y Telecomunicaciones.

Turner, M. (1989). Landscape ecology: The effect of pattern on process. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematic, 20, 171-191.

Turner, M. (2005). Landscape ecology: What is the state of the science? Annual Review of Ecology and Systematic, 36, 319-344.

Wiens, J. A., Stenseth, N. C., Van Horne, B., & Anker, R. (1993). Ecological mechanisms and landscape ecology. Oikos, 66, 369-380.

Comments

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Copyright (c) 2015 Revista de Biología Tropical

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.