The wildlife of Costa Rica comprises all naturally occurring animals, fungi and plants that reside in this Central American country. Costa Rica supports an enormous variety of wildlife, due in large part to its geographic position between North and South America, its neotropical climate, and its wide variety of habitats. Costa Rica is home to more than 500,000 species, which represent nearly 5% of the species estimated worldwide, making Costa Rica one of the 20 countries with the highest biodiversity in the world. Of these 500,000 species, a little more than 300,000 are insects. One of the principal sources of Costa Rica's biodiversity is that the country, together with the land now considered Panama, formed a bridge connecting the North and South American continents approximately three to five million years ago. This bridge allowed the very different flora and fauna of the two continents to mix.
Biodiversity Costa Rica is considered to possess the highest density of biodiversity of any country worldwide. While encompassing just one thirtieth of a percent of Earth's landmass, Costa Rica contains four percent of species estimated to exist on the planet. Hundreds of these species are endemic to Costa Rica, meaning they exist nowhere else on earth. These endemic species include frogs, snakes, lizards, finches, hummingbirds, gophers, mice, cichlids, and gobies among many more.
Costa Rica has three UNESCO World Heritage Sites that are all natural assets and are as follows:
The Talamanca Mountain Range – La Amistad Reserves / International Friendship Park (declared in 1983) The Isla del Coco National Park (declared in 1997) The Guanacaste Conservation Area (declared in 1999).
Costa Rica's biodiversity can be attributed to the variety of ecosystems within the country. Tropical rainforests, deciduous forests, Atlantic and Pacific coastline, cloud forests, and mangrove forests are all represented throughout the 19,730 square miles of Costa Rica's landmass. The ecological regions are twelve climatic zones. This variation provides numerous niches which are filled by a diversity of species.
Benefits for humanity Costa Rica demonstrates biodiversity conservation for developing countries. Over twenty-seven percent of the country's land has a protected status as national parks, wildlife refuges, forest preserves, and more. The Costa Rican government is active in protecting its biodiversity for the ecological services they provide. The government imposes a five percent tax on gasoline to generate revenue to pay landowners to refrain from clear-cutting on their land and instead to create tree plantations. This provides Costa Ricans, or "Ticos" as they call themselves, incentive to become active tree farmers instead of cattle ranchers. Tree farms provide some habitat for wildlife, enabling some measure of biodiversity to remain in these areas despite humans' use of these natural resources. Costa Rica's biodiversity contributes to the numerous ecological services the environment provides. Every aspect of the ecosystem from the different species of plants to the diversity of animal species contributes to natural services like water purification, provision of food, fuel, fiber, and biochemicals, nutrient cycling, pollination and seed dispersal, and climate regulation, just to name a few. As the diversity of species increases, more of these services can be provided and to a greater extent. Biodiversity has contributed to the economy of Costa Rica. Ecotourism brings in 1.92 billion dollars in revenue for the country. Ecotourism is defined as "tourism directed toward exotic, often threatened, natural environments, especially to support conservation efforts and observe wildlife". Costa Rica's abundant biodiversity makes the country an attractive destination for ecotourism. Thirty-nine percent of tourists cite nature as their primary reason for visiting the country. The profitable industry of ecotourism entices businesses to capitalize on natural resources by protecting and preserving them rather than consuming them.
Threats to biodiversity Threats to Costa Rica's biodiversity include a rapidly growing human population, developing coastlines for the industry of tourism and harmful agricultural practices all contributing to pollution and environmental degradation. The practice causing the largest concern for Costa Rica's environment is deforestation. Costa Rica has the fourth highest rate of deforestation in the world. Almost four percent of its current forested lands are cut each year. Clearing land for cattle ranching is the most common cause of deforestation. This form of environmental damage along with the farming of monocultures leads to areas where only a few species of plants are present. Ultimately, decreases in plant diversity leads to decreased animal diversity.
Insects
Butterflies and moths
There are about 1,251 species of butterflies and at least 8,000 species of moths. Butterflies and moths are common year round but are more present during the rainy season. Ten percent of known butterfly species worldwide reside in Costa Rica. Costa Rican butterflies and moths have made amazing adaptations to the environment. Some examples of these are the following:
Swallowtail caterpillars imitate bird droppings and many others have bright colours to warn predators of bodily toxins. What someone could easily mistake for a butterfly, a wasp, or a leaf in Costa Rica might be a moth engaging in Müllerian or Batesian mimicry. Ecotourism is one of Costa Rica's primary economic resources, and the country's butterflies add a lot to that. They bring life to tropical forests, not only with the diversity in colour, but with the magnificence of the flowers that they help pollinate. Some common butterflies and moths in Costa Rica include:
Thoas swallowtail Amber daggerwing Silver emperor Banded peacock Zebra longwing Morpho butterfly Green page moth Glasswing Some notable insects in Costa Rica are stingless bees and sweat bees such as L. figueresi and L. aeneiventre, ants such as leaf-cutter ants and army ants, Hercules beetle, and many katydids.
Other invertebrates Invertebrate species make up most of Costa Rica's wildlife. Of the estimated 500,000 species, about 493,000 are invertebrates (including spiders and crabs). It is known that there are tens of thousands of insects and microscopic invertebrates in every land type and elevation level. However, they are largely unnoticed or unidentified.
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