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Costa Rica’s situation on the Central American Isthmus between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans produces a great deal of species diversity within and between the various ecosystems. This chapter presents a description the main coastal and marine ecosystems of the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, and a discussion of the relationship between these ecosystems and human activity. The first section is a brief history of marine research, followed by an overview of the state of scientific knowledge regarding the coast and descriptions of its physical conditions. The coastal and marine ecosystems are described and the main natural and anthropogenic impacts on those ecosystems are discussed. This information is leveraged to present several conservation initiatives, and propositions for the future in terms of research, management, and conservation, ultimately arguing that protection and conservation of the marine and coastal ecosystems is not only an obligation of the government, but a need and responsibility of everyone.

Geography has played a critical role in Costa Rica’s Caribbean lowlands with respect to initial origin of the landmass, climate, patterns of vegetation, sites of early human settlement, colonial expansion, the construction of access roads, colonial and postcolonial exploitation of natural resources, conservation efforts, and current political and environmental issues. In this chapter, the authors offer a brief overview of these topics, encapsulate major biological research efforts in the Caribbean lowlands over the past 50 years, and look into the future—always within the framework of geography at different scales. First, the authors provide a historical overview of the Costa Rican Caribbean lowlands, a region which here includes Province of Limón, plus portions of the Provinces of Heredia, Alajuela, and Guanacaste, from 70 million years ago to the present. The authors then summarize the physical environment, giving descriptions of climate, weather, and soils in the region, as well as the biodiversity in plant and animal life, and the interactions therein. The chapter ends with a discussion of the relationship between humans and nature in the region, including effects of agriculture and pesticides and the efforts of conservationists.

Legislators also do substantive representation by serving in leadership posts in the legislature and sitting on committees. This chapter presents descriptive statistics on the chamber leadership posts that women have held in Argentina, Colombia, and Costa Rica over the past 30 years showing the paucity of women in leadership. Then, it analyzes committee assignments showing that women are more likely than men to sit on women’s issue committees, but significant gender differences exist in other types of committee assignments, particularly in Argentina and Costa Rica. Finally, it shows that women are less likely to serve as committee presidents in all three countries. Women are getting elected to legislatures, but they are not making their way into chamber or committee leadership posts, and in some legislatures, they are not gaining access to the full spectrum of committees in the chamber.

The isthmian páramos (grass- or shrub-dominated ecosystems that occupy the cool and wet upper slopes of tropical mountains at alpine elevations above tree line and below the snow limit) of Costa Rica and Panama form part of the Mesoamerican biodiversity hotspot, one of the 25 most important such areas on Earth. The authors first provide a history of scientific exploration of Costa Rican páramos, which remained largely unexplored before the arrival of Spanish colonists due to the belief of the indigenous peoples of the area that the páramo-covered peaks were sacred. The authors give a description the physical environment that supports the páramos, including climate, geology, soil, and limnology, followed by a quaternary history of the area, emphasizing the effects of glaciers and fires on the environment. The authors then discuss biodiversity on the species and ecosystem level, from protists and fungi to plants and animals. The chapter ends with a summary of land use history and recent fire dynamics in the area, as well the status of its conservation.

This chapter examines a generation of young Costa Rican intellectuals of middle-class origin who embraced anarchist ideals and called for social revolution in the second decade of the twentieth century before being publicly embraced by liberal government authorities in the post–World War II era for their contributions to national culture and history. It argues that in order to transform these intellectual figures into national heroes, the state sanitized their biographies and expunged all memory of their radical and transformative platforms, emphasizing instead their contributions to a consensual national identity—including the authorship of the official Costa Rican national anthem.

This chapter presents the physical characteristics, biodiversity, and history of tropical dry forests in Costa Rica’s northern Pacific lowlands. First, the authors describe the region’s climate, geology, geomorphology and soils. The authors then give an overview of the different vegetation types and their characteristic plant species for each of the three main sub-regions: 1) Northern Guanacaste and the Península de Santa Elena; 2) Central Guanacaste, the Río Tempisque Basin and Palo Verde Wetland; and 3) The Península de Nicoya. Further, characteristic species of different types or animals are given, and various interspecies interactions are discussed. Finally the chapter discusses forest conversion, secondary succession, and restoration. The authors give a history of land use, deforestation, and biodiversity loss, and continue with a history of recent efforts at reforestation and forest restoration. The chapter ends with a discussion of effective conservation, management, and sustainability strategies.

The tropical evergreen cloud forests on the slopes of the Cordillera de Talamanca in Costa Rica’s southern highlands is of vital importance both as a source of drinking and irrigation water to the main cities in the Valle Central and as a bastion of many endemic species. In this chapter, the authors first summarize the current knowledge of the Cordillera de Talamanca’s physical characteristics, including climate, geology, and geomorphology. This is followed by an overview of biodiversity both at the species level and the community and ecosystem level of plants, animals, and fungi, with an emphasis on the three vegetation zones between the lower boundary of the premontane forests at 500 m to the upper limit of the upper montane oak forests at 3,100 m. The chapter provides a high-level outline of the functioning and dynamics of the ecosystems described, including forest structure and water and nutrient cycling. Finally, the authors provide a summary of the history of land use and conservation in the region.

The coastal and marine ecosystems of the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica consist of coastal lagoons, mangrove forests, beaches, rocky intertidal outcrops, seagrass beds, coral reefs, subtidal hard and soft bottoms, and open waters. In this chapter the author presents a historical overview of scientific research in the region, followed by a review of the current state of knowledge. He provides a description of the region's physical environment and each of its ecosystems, and concludes with a discussion of the threats and the conservation initiatives relevant to Costa Rica’s Caribbean coast. This chapter argues that Costa Rican Caribbean coastal and marine ecosystems are species rich, economically important for the local communities, and key for the sustainable development of the region, but are being threatened by natural and anthropogenic factors, and that human disturbances must therefore be eliminated or at least minimized to ensure a healthy future for the coastal and marine ecosystems along Costa Rica’s Caribbean shores.

Policymaking is one of the most important aspects of substantive representation. This chapter examines the bills that female and male legislators sponsor, cosponsor, and debate in Argentina, Colombia, and Costa Rica. In all three countries, female legislators are more likely to sponsor, cosponsor, and debate women’s issue bills. However, male and female legislators’ similar attitudes on other political issues do not always translate into gender equality in bill sponsorship behavior. In Colombia, women are as likely as men to focus on a diverse array of issues. In Argentina and Costa Rica, female legislators are more likely than male legislators to sponsor some social issues and are less likely to focus on some men’s domain issues. Women substantively represent women by placing greater priority on women’s issues in all three countries, but at the same time, appear to be marginalized in their bill sponsorship behavior in some legislatures.

Much of a representative’s job centers on policy and takes place inside congress, but representatives also participate in activities in their electoral district that emphasize securing support for their political future, often referred to as a legislator’s “home style.” Using data from the survey of legislators, this chapter examines the amount of time that male and female legislators spend in their district (allocation of resources), their constituency service (presentation of self), and frequency with which they seek publicity of that work by making public presentations or speaking with the media (explaining activity). In Argentina, Colombia, and Costa Rica, female legislators do these activities more often than do male legislators when they relate specifically to female constituents or women’s groups. Gender has little effect on other forms of home style, however. Women are substantively representing women, and at the same time, are not being marginalized in their home-style behavior.

The variability of the soils of Costa Rica is almost as large as the number of different agroecosystems developed to match with the varied ecological niches. This chapter presents an analysis of each of these soil types, as well as the relationships that plants, animals, and human activity have with Costa Rican soil. The chapter first provides a history of national and international study of Costa Rican soil, and then continues to summarize the types of areas occupied by each major soil type. This discussion includes the mineralogical, physical, and nutritional characteristics and geographical distribution of each type of soil, as well as its relation to humans, such as the crops that planted in it and the practices that could be applied to best use it to its productive potential. The chapter further documents the effects of the mutual environmental relationships between soils and the many different types of organisms that live in and around them, which naturally leave imprints in soil formation, nutrient recycling, and environmental biodegradation of organic residues.

Although our understanding of the ecosystems of tropical rivers is limited compared to that of temperate rivers, the former having ecological and hydrological characteristics that are wide-ranging and often very different from those of the latter, Costa Rica stands out among tropical countries for the amount of information on rivers that is available. This chapter reviews the current state of our growing understanding of Costa Rican river ecosystems. First, the authors discuss riverine plants with a focus on algal periphyton and riverine animals including both vertebrates and invertebrates. The authors then describe species interactions in rivers ranging from mutualism, competition and predation to frugivory and seed dispersal by fishes and ecosystem functioning and dynamics on a broader level with an emphasis on biogeochemistry, nutrient cycling, primary productivity, and decomposition. Finally, the authors discuss human influences on the Costa Rican river system — focusing on the environmental effects of hydropower, land use changes, water withdrawals and invasive species — and stress the importance of maintaining the biointegrity of rivers for research needs and human survival as the rivers quickly change as a result of natural and anthropogenic influences.

This chapter presents a synopsis of the geology of Costa Rica with an emphasis on the most recent history, particularly the Quaternary and within that the Holocene. After providing an overview of the tectonic basis for Costa Rica’s complex geology, the majority of the chapter consists of an up-to-date account of the main morphotectonic regions, summarizing the geology and geomorphology of each, and well as the results of several recent surveys of marine geology. The chapter also presents a summary of the fossil mammals and plants that have been reported as well as a discussion of paleoenvironments and climate change during the Pleistocene and Holocene. The chapter ends with a brief summary of Costa Rica’s geological history from 170 million years ago at the final separation of North and South America to 2011 with the renewed dormancy of the Arenal volcano.

The formation of Corcovado Park meant saving the Pacific Lowland Rainforest of Costa Rica and, in many ways, it represented a keystone for building the country’s national park system. In this chapter, the authors describe the physical characteristics of the area — such as climate, geology, and soil — as well as its flora and fauna, providing both a broad overview and specific representative case studies. Further, this chapter provides a historical account of the area starting from the first effects of human use, describing how a relatively intact fragment of the Southern Pacific region’s once extensive forests was identified and set aside and how it continues to survive in the face of intense political, social, and economic pressure. While some of these details are particular to the Osa, there are lessons and themes that apply to saving similar ecosystems across the planet. In particular, this history demonstrates the paramount importance of the proper integration of community participation, ecotourism, and science.

This chapter explains why Costa Rica’s potentially favourable endowment of social capital delayed reform and economic recovery. It analyses the country’s growth collapse in the early 1980s and economic reforms initiated in 1985. It is shown that the ambitious expansion of social entitlements outstripped the economy’s capacity to sustain it. Forced industrialisation distorted the economy through the 1960s and 1970s and caused it to lose momentum. The accumulated social capital then retarded economic reform. However, social capital did allow reforms to proceed more smoothly and with less hardship for the poor.

This chapter looks at Costa Rican texts which pick up the story of Latin American environmental history in the mid- to late twentieth century as the republics of the isthmus embraced agricultural export economies and neoliberal policies associated with globalization. It explores three Costa Rica novels which investigate the regional, economical, and environmental history of the state. The central point of these stories revolves around culture, land usage, and politics in Costa Rica.

Costa Rica has an abundance of lakes, distributed from sea level to the nation’s highest peaks and within each of the major terrestrial ecosystems and exemplifying nearly every natural process of lake formation, including volcanic activity, fluvial dynamics, glaciation, and landslides. This chapter focuses on permanent, predominantly freshwater bodies of all sizes. The chapter begins with a short history of research on Costa Rican lakes and a consideration of lake distribution in the country as a whole. The authors then present a regional survey of Costa Rican lakes, following the classification of terrestrial ecosystems used throughout the book. For each of the seven principal terrestrial ecosystem regions the authors describe the common mechanisms of lake formation, and highlight two to five lakes that are particularly well known, including information about characteristic species and ecosystem functioning. The authors draw information both from their own published work and observations by themselves and others on aquatic biology and other lake characteristics, and summarize the contributions that paleolimnological studies have made to understanding ecosystem and environmental history in each region.