Accumulation and changes in species found within the Southern end of Tortuguero National

Park, Costa Rica for the past 6 years.

Megan Brett 1, Alejandra Carvallo 2
1 Forest Biodiversity Project Leader, GVI Tortuguero National Park, Costa Rica. 2 Base Manager GVI Jalova (tortuguero@gviworld.com)

Introduction and Study Area

Results

For the past six years Global Vision International (GVI)

has operated a field base within the Southern end of
Tortuguero National park (TNP). This park is located
on the Atlantic coast of Costa Rica it was originally
formed for the protection of one of the most important
nesting populations of green turtles (Boza 1993). The
formation of the park has greatly benefited the sea turtles as hoped, but aside from that has also been of
great benefit to other species. Before the area was converted to a national park, it consisted of a matrix of
small farms, plantations and rainforest. Over the last 50
years while it has been protected, the rainforest has
regenerated, creating a large area of secondary rainforest that is home to at least 600 species of vertebrates
(Bermudez 2006, Valerio 2006). Over six years of study
GVI has been constructing a vertebrate species inventory for the local area that investigates the trends in
species that are classified as near threatened, vulnerable and endangered by the IUCN red list (2016).

The accumulation curve below (Figure 3) shows that the number

of identified species in the study area are still increasing. Over
the six year period the most species observed were in the
coastal and dense forest followed by the cocos. There is currently a total of 461 species recorded, this includes 28 species
listed as either vulnerable, near threatened, or endangered
(Figure 4). Figure 5, shows how the number of observations of
some of these species has changed over the time. Figure 6,
shows how the number of sightings of 24 of these species (the
4 sea turtles not being included) are distributed between the
habitat zones included in the research project.

Figure 7. Central American spider monkey. Photo by Thijs Claes.

Discussion

Figure 3. The total number of species in the species inventory over the time the
project has been running. Increased of the number of species in the inventory.
Specie

Figure 1. Map showing the location of Tortuguero National Park

within Costa Rica, indicated by red point. Google Maps, 2015

Methods
Any observation (visual, audio, track or scat) of a vertebrate by any volunteer or staff member is recorded daily, with each species only being recorded once for each
of the possible zones listed below. The data is collected for 24 hour period running from 6 am to 6 am the
next morning. The different habitat zones are as follows;
Base The station is located in a coconut plantation
and is within a fence- this area consists of several
buildings, grassy areas and various fruit trees.

Status
Vulnerable

American Crocodile

Vulnerable

Baird's Tapir
Chesnut-mandibled
Toucan

Endangered

Chimney Swift

Near Threatened
Near Threatened

Crested Eagle

Near Threatened

Great Green Macaw

Endangered

Great Curassow

Vulnerable

Great Tinamou
Jaguar

Near Threatened
Near Threatened

Leaf-breeding Rainfrog

Near Threatened

Lowland Rainfrog

Critically Endangered

Mealy Parrot

Near Threatened

Neotropical River Otter

Near Threatened

Olive-sided Flycatcher

Near Threatened

Cocos - Coconut Plantation, open habitat dominated

with sparsely-standing Cocos nucifera (coconut palms)

Resplendent Quetzal

Near Threatened

Semipalmated Sandpiper

Near Threatened

Dense Forest Contains small pools of standing water

during periods of heavy rain. Includes sections of closed
forest dominated by tall trees, including many Ficus
spp.

Snowy Plover

Near Threatened

Tawny-chested

Vulnerable

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

X
X

X
X

X
X

Narrow-bridged Mud-turtle Vulnerable

Beach Black sand, exposed beach. Species recorded

if on the sand or in the tidal waters.

Coastal Forest The driest forest type, many open areas allowing sunlight to penetrate all forest layers, dominated by Coccoloba uvifera (sea grape).

2010

Agami Heron

X
X

The accumulation curve (Figure 3) shows that there are

still new species to be added to the inventory of the
study area. In the last year two new species were observed for the first time in the area, including the TawnyChested Flycatcher, Aphanotriccus capitalis (vulnerable)
and the Crested eagle, Morphnus guianensis (near
threatened), both of which tend to be found in primary
forest or old second growth forest both classified as
sensitive (Stotz et al 1996). The presence of these species in the study area is a positive sign of the health of
the ecosystem. Figure 3 shows that the number of sightings of the species of interest has been steadily increasing since 2010, where there was a peak in sightings
after a new surveying protocol was introduced and implemented. This suggests that these populations are
developing in the conditions of the park and are coexisting with the habitat. All but four of the species of interest
were found in forest habitats, the exceptions being three
shore-bird species and the manatee. It was also observed that the majority of sightings were made in forest
habitats. Very few species were observed in the base,
although a fair number were observed in the coconut
plantation, an habitat that is surrounded by forest and
some species use this to travel between areas. In conclusion, the park is recovering and sheltering populations of threatened species and is in an stage where the
health of the ecosystem its offering a good range of habitat for a variety of species.

X
X

X
X

X
X
X

Figure 4. The species of interest according to the IUCN (2016). The years that
they have been observed.

Swamp Forest The most shaded and wettest forest in

the area. Most of the year it has standing water, heavily
influenced by Raphia taedigera (raffia palm) and Anthurium spp.

Figure 8. Staff and Volunteer collecting data in TNP.

Estuary The river mouth where fresh water meets

salt, species recorded both in the water and on the
shore.

Acknowledgements

Fly Over Species recorded flying above the canopy,

water or beach of the other zones.

The data for this report has been collected by a

large number of Global Vision International volunteers and staff members over the last 6 years. Without their efforts this would not have been possible.
Thanks are also due to MINAE, SINAC and the Park
Rangers for Tortuguero National Park.

Canals Species observed either in the canals or on the

banks of the canals outside of the area recorded as
estuary.

References
Figure 5. The number of observations recorded each year from Vulnerable, Near
Threated and Endangered, of different species from the area.

Bermdez, F.A. 2006. Sistema de investigacion y

monitoreo integral para el Parque Nacional Tortuguero. Ministerio del Ambiente y Energa. San Jos,
Costa Rica.
Boza, M. 1993. Conservation in action: past, present
and future of the National Park System of Costa Rica.Conservation Biology 7, 239 251
International Union for Conservation of Nature and
Natural Resources. 2016 http://www.iucnredlist.org
Stotz, D. F., Fitzpatrick, J. W., Parker(the 3rd), T. A.
& Moskocits, D. K. (1996). Neotropical Birds: Ecology and Conservation. University of Chicago Press,
Chicago
Valerio, C. E. 2006.Costa Rica, ambiente y diversidad. 2da. ed. Santo Domingo de Heredia, Costa
Rica, INBIO 156

Figure 2. Great green macaw (Ara ambiguous). Photo by Emma Forsyth

Figure 6. The number of times the species of interest have been observed
in each area. The number in brackets is the total number of those species
that were found in that area.