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| La Selva Biological Station is situated
on the plains of northern Costa Rica,
about 1 ½ hours from San Jose at the confluence of the Sarapiquí
and Puerto Viejo rivers. It is here that the foothills of the central volcanic
mountain chain of Costa Rica gives way to the Caribbean coastal plain.
Thus, the elevation ranges from 137m above sea level at the southwest corner
of the station to 35m at the northern end of the property. Bordering the
station on the south is the Braulio Carrillo
National Park, with a volcanic peak ( Volcán Barva) nearly
3,000 m high at the summit.
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La Selva is a tropical
wet forest, receiving about 4 m (157 inches) of rain annually. It
encompasses 1,536 ha, of which about 55% is primary tropical rain forest,
7% selectively logged primary forest, 11% young secondary forest, 18% is
early successional pasture and 8% is abandoned plantations. Additionally,
a small part is developed or managed for research and demonstration. La
Selva is one of the world's most important sites for tropical ecosystem
research with spectacular species diversity: nearly 2,000 species
of vascular plants, more than 4,000 species of moths, 500 species of butterflies,
and more than 400 bird species.
Each year, more than 250 scientists from some 25 countries and thousands of international students come to La Selva to study tropical ecology. |
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