photos M. Noonan
The moist climate of the tropical
rainforests, combined with their equatorial location, enables dense
and diverse tropical rainforests to flourish in these areas.
In fact, after nearly 100 years of
study, still only 10-20% of the species in the tiny tropical nation
of Costa Rica, where we conducted our studies, are estimated to be
identified. It is thought that there may be as many as 50,0000-1
million plant and animal species there in total. Of the species
currently identified, there are 850 birds alone -- or about 1/10 of
all known birds in the world! Costa Rica is also home to 209
species of mammal; 163 amphibian species; 220 reptile species; 130
freshwater fish species; 366,000 insect, spider and crab species;
1,500 tree species; and 1,400 orchid species.
photo M. Noonan
photo M. Noonan
photo M. Noonan
