Costa Rica and Panama
James L. Luteyn
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The páramos of Costa Rica and Panama
are located in the Cordillera de Talamanca, the backbone of eastern Costa Rica and
adjacent western Panama. About 60 km2 of páramo occur in the massive
Cerro Chirripó region (Cleef & Chaverri, 1992), with a few scattered
others towards the border with Panama. There the páramo is found
between 3300 and 3819 m elevation and is dominated by the dwarf bamboo Chusquea
subtessellata, which may form a ground cover of up to 60% (Kappelle, 1990). The
páramo-like vegetation along the Panamerican Highway, in the region known
as Cerro de La Muerte, at about 3100 m, is man made (fire-induced) with numerous
characteristic páramo plants found in exposed boggy sites, locally called
"paramillo", "ciénagas", or "tuberas." The
peaks of Volcán Irazú (3432 m) and Volcán Turrialba (3339 m)
are páramo-like in appearance, but are not true páramos.
Hunter (1959) estimated that about 1000 hectares (ca. 10 km2) or 0.02% of the
total land area of Costa Rica was páramo.
In Panama, the very summit of Volcán
Barú (also known as Cerro Chiriquí), at 3475 m, has páramo-like
vegetation, although it is now impossible to say what the original vegetation was
like since the top has been bulldozed for communication towers. True
undisturbed páramo does seem to occur in Panama near the border with Costa
Rica in areas such as Cerro Echandi (3160 m) and Cerro Fábrega (3335 m)
(fide G. Davidse collection labels). Costa Rican and Panamanian national parks
that include páramo are: Chirripó (in Costa Rica) and
Vulcán Barú (in Panama), both units of the larger Parque
Internacional de la Amistad shared by Costa Rica and Panama.
For further information about Costa
Rican and Panamanian páramo vegetation see Chaverri (Unpublished),
Chaverri et al. (1997), Cleef & Chaverri (1992), Gómez P. (1986,
1994), Hooghiemstra et al. (1992), Horn (1990b), Janzen (1983), Kappelle (1991),
Vargas Ulate & Sánchez G. (Unpublished), Weber (1958, 1959), and
Weston (1981a,b).
Bibliographic Sources for Locations of Páramos
COSTA RICA
American Geographical Society of New York. 1937. Lago de
Nicaragua, Central America. 1:1,000,000. Map NC-16. Provisional edition.
A. Hoen and Company, Baltimore.
National Geographical Society. 1939. Mexico, Central
America and the West Indies. 1:5,702,000. Cartographic Division, Washington,
D.C.
__. 1986. Central America. 1:2,534,000.
Cartographic Division, Washington, D.C. Rand McNally & Co. 1969.
Costa Rica. Mapa vial. Lithographed in U.S.A.
Tosi, J. A., Jr. 1969. República de Costa Rica,
mapa ecológico. Centro Científico Tropical. 1:750,000.
Litografiado por Instituto Geográfico Nacional. San José,
Costa Rica.
Weber, H. 1959. Los páramos de Costa Rica y
su concatenación fitogeográfica con los Andes suramericanos.
Instituto Geográfico de Costa Rica, San José.
__. 1963. Über die Vegetation der
hochandinen Páramos. Pp. 2-16. Jahrbuch 1963 des Vereins zum
Schutze der Alpenpflanzen und Tiere e.V. (Bd. 28), München.
PANAMA
American Geographical Society of New York. 1928.
Panama, Central America. 1:1,000,000. Map NC-17. Provisional edition.
A. Hoen and Company, Baltimore.
Instituto Costaricense de Turismo. 1977. Panamá.
Mapa vial. Litografía Trejos, Costa Rica.
Instituto Geográfico Nacional "Tommy
Guardia". Panamá. Plano de la ciudad de Panamá y
mapas de carreteras.
National Geographical Society. 1939. Mexico,
Central America and the West Indies. 1:5,702,000. Cartograpic Division,
Washington, D.C.
Rand McNally & Co. 1967. Panamá.
Mapa vial. Lithographed in U.S.A.
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