Tivives, Costa Rica Photograph by Linda Farley   Central America: Northern Costa Rica and Nicaragua Mangroves   300 square miles (900 square kilometers) -- about half the size of Rhode Island Critical/Endangered

· Coastal Concert
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
More Photos

Coastal Concert

Patches of mangroves dot the shores along the Pacific coast of northern Costa Rica from the Gulf of Nicoya to northern Nicaragua. Along the shores, mangroves thrive in the numerous protected coves, river mouths, and scattered inland areas where the seasons bring tidal floods. Between May and October, winds from the northern and southern hemispheres come together over this region, bringing rain to the dry tropical climate. From November to April, colder winds from the north push southward, beginning the dry season.

Special Features

The inland zone of this ecoregion is dependent upon the rainfall that brings freshwater and causes estuarine waters to flood. In the dry season, when rainfall and tidal inundations diminish, freshwater evaporates from inland soils and forms salt pans--thin layers of salt on the dried mud. The inland mangroves survive in these salt pans by using freshwater that is slowly released to the region by small wetlands nearby.

	The yellow-naped parrot has become rare in this region because it is prized in the pet trade for its ability to talk. Fledgling parrots are taken from the mangrove forests and sold into the pet trade, creating a severe threat to the species’ survival in its natural habitat.

Wild Side

Amid the dark green leaves of salado mangroves, a yellow-naped parrot ruffles its lime-colored feathers and blinks its eyes in the afternoon sunlight. Nearby, the air fills with the whistles and barks of a group of white-throated capuchins as they call out to one another across the canopy. These primates often walk with their tails coiled at the tip, earning them the name "ring-tailed monkey." At the base of the trees, a crab-eating raccoon digs for crabs and mollusks along the shore as the sleek body of an American crocodile slips beneath the water’s surface. In the Tamarindo wetlands of Costa Rica, the largest living species of turtle, the leatherback, finds a sandy beach on which to dig a nest and lay its eggs. Unlike other turtles, the leatherback does not have a visible shell. Instead, its back is covered with the flexible skin that gives it its name.

Cause for Concern

Intense seasonal rainfall washes down the steep slopes of the river basins of the Southern Dry Pacific Coast Mangroves, carrying heavy loads of sediment. Agricultural practices, deforestation, and livestock grazing only intensify the effects of erosion in this region. Much of this ecoregion lies within a heavily visited tourist zone, and expanding resorts, hotels, golf courses, and restaurants clear mangroves for development and expansion. Vast stretches of mangrove forests have been destroyed in this region to construct ponds for the commercial production of salt. Urban encroachment and the runoff of pesticides further threaten this region.

For more information on this ecoregion, go to the World Wildlife Fund Scientific Report.