[...]... the Caribbean Basin has a more homogeneous and much more humid climate for most of the year This large basin is divided into two main watersheds; in one, the rivers empty into Lake Nicaragua and the San Juan River, which in turn reach the Caribbean Sea, and in the other, the rivers empty directly into the Caribbean The Guanacaste Mountain Range (Cordillera Guanacaste) separates the watersheds with a few... northern extreme of the Guanacaste Mountain Range (map 1.2) These are the Sapoa, Sabalos, Mena, and Haciendas, and they empty into Lake Nicaragua The Haciendas is the boundary between the provinces of Alajuela and Guanacaste The largest watercourse of Guanacaste is the Tempisque River, born in the southern flanks of the frankie chap 01 8/20/03 7:46 PM Page 7 Orosi volcanic massif Together with the Bebedero... Haber and Frankie 1989) There were also several cases of large numbers of bee species visiting nocturnal bat and moth flowers in the morning for residual resources Plants such as Crescentia alata (Bignoniaceae), Bombacopsis quinata (Bombacaceae), Hymenaea courbaril (Caesalpiniaceae), Enterolobium cyclocarpum, Inga vera, Lysiloma auritum, Pithecellobium lanceolatum, Samanea saman (all Mimosaceae), and... Oconitrillo, and J L Rojas 2000 Delimitación cartográfica y otras consideraciones sobre las áreas afectadas por las inundaciones de la cuenca baja del Río Tempisque, Guanacaste San José: National Geographical Institute of Costa Rica 24 pp Bergoeing, J., et al 1983 Geomorfolog a del Pacífico Norte de Costa Rica San Pedro, Costa Rica: Oficina de Publicaciones Universidad de Costa Rica 110 pp Boza, M 1999 Biodiversity. .. Flamingo, El Coco, and Tamarindo and particularly in the area of Puntarenas (TSC 1983: 95), among other cases HYDROLOGY The rivers of northwestern Costa Rica can be divided into three geographical sectors: the Lake Nicaragua Basin, to the north; the northwestern coastal strip; and the GNB In the first sector, four rivers originate in the volcanic massifs of Cerro El Hacha and Orosi Volcano, the northern... brings about deterioration of soils and other resources, as is the case when cattle are kept in lands with forest capacity An example of underuse in the basin is raising livestock in lands with the potential for agricultural activity A considerable part of the Guanacaste floodplains is used for agricultural purposes and for some urban and semiurban areas (such as Filadel a and Ortega); these zones are... Historia natural de Costa Rica San José: Editorial de la Universidad de Costa Rica 822 pp ——— 2000 Costa Rica s Area de Conservación Guanacaste: A long march to survival through non-damaging biodevelopment Biodiversity 1: 7–20 Mata, A. , and O Blanco 1994 La cuenca del Golfo de Nicoya: Reto al desarrollo sostenible San José: Editorial de la Universidad de Costa Rica 235 pp Tosi, J A 1997 An ecological model... bands surrounding the volcanic mountain chain PROTECTION AND BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION The northwestern region of Costa Rica has three conservation areas: Tempisque (dry) , Guanacaste (dry) , and Arenal (midelevation/cloud forest) (map 1.3) The three manage a total of 35 wild areas that have varying protection categories, such as national parks and wildlife refuges One of the most outstanding examples of... flowing to Lake Nicaragua and the San Juan River from those of the Gulf of Nicoya (Mata and Blanco 1994) The Nicoya Peninsula is located in the southern sector of Guanacaste Along with the continental northwest, the peninsula encloses the Gulf of Nicoya, one of the most important ecosystems in the country (chapter 10) The coastal hills and mountains determine the watershed of the northwestern coastal... is the Area de Conservación Guanacaste (ACG), covering 120,000 terrestrial and 43,000 marine ha (Janzen 2000; chapter 7) The second dryforest conservation area, Area de Conservación Tempisque (ACT), consists of about 35,000 ha of terrestrial and wetland habitat and is still being defined and administered An essential part of the conservation process is maintenance of the biodiversity that is threatened . Congress Cataloging -in- Publication Data Biodiversity conservation in Costa Rica : learning the lessons in a seasonal dry forest / edited by Gordon W. Frankie, Alfonso Mata, and S. Bradleigh Vinson. p Lake Nicaragua and the San Juan River, which in turn reach the Caribbean Sea, and in the other, the rivers empty directly into the Caribbean. The Guanacaste Mountain Range (Cordillera Guanacaste). important wet- lands of the coastal strip are the outstanding Tamarindo National Wildlife Refuge (man- groves and estuary), annexed to Las Baulas Ma- rine National Park and the Ostional National Wildlife