List of ecoregions in Costa Rica

The following is a list of ecoregions in Costa Rica. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and contain characteristic, geographically distinct assemblages of natural communities and species. The biodiversity of flora, fauna and ecosystems that characterise an ecoregion tends to be distinct from that of other ecoregions. Ecoregions are grouped into larger bioregions, which in turn form the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth's surface. Costa Rica is a country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west, and the Caribbean Sea to the east. It contains 5% of the world's biodiversity.^{[citation needed]}

Terrestrial ecoregions

Costa Rica is in the Neotropical realm and Central America bioregion, and divided into the following terrestrial ecoregions, organized by biome:^[1][2]

• Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests
  • Central American Atlantic moist forests^[3]
  • Cocos Island moist forests^[4]
  • Costa Rican seasonal moist forests^[5]
  • Isthmian–Atlantic moist forests^[6]
  • Isthmian–Pacific moist forests^[7]
  • Talamancan montane forests^[8]
• Tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests
  • Central American dry forests^[9]
• Montane grasslands and shrublands
  • [Talamanca Paramo] ^{[citation needed]}
• Mangrove
  • Bocas del Toro–San Bastimentos Island–San Blas mangroves^[10]
  • Moist Pacific Coast mangroves^[11]
  • Rio Negro–Rio San Sun mangroves^[12]
  • Southern Dry Pacific Coast mangroves^[13]

Freshwater ecoregions

• Chiriqui^[14]
• Estero Real–Tempisque^[15]
• Isthmus Caribbean^[16]
• San Juan (Nicaragua/Costa Rica)^[17]

Marine ecoregions

Costa Rica's Pacific coast is in the Tropical Eastern Pacific marine realm, and the Caribbean coast is in the Tropical Atlantic marine realm.

Tropical Atlantic

• Southwestern Caribbean^[18]

Tropical Eastern Pacific

• Chiapas-Nicaragua^[18]
• Nicoya^[18]
• Cocos Island^[18]

References

1. Bermúdez M., Mariela; Joaquín Sánchez G., eds. (2000). Identificación de vacíos de información botánica en Centroamérica (in Spanish). WWF Centroamérica, Museo Nacional de Costa Rica, Red de Herbarios de Mesoamérica y el Caribe. p. 17.
2. Programa de monitoreo ecológico del área de conservación Osa, Costa Rica. El sitio Osa: definición y caracterización. PROMEC-ACOSA. (in Spanish)
3. "Central American Atlantic moist forests". World Wildlife Fund. Retrieved 2013-09-23.
4. "Cocos Island moist forests". World Wildlife Fund. Retrieved 2013-09-23.
5. "Costa Rican seasonal moist forests". World Wildlife Fund. Retrieved 2013-09-23.
6. "Isthmian-Atlantic moist forests". World Wildlife Fund. Retrieved 2013-09-23.
7. "Isthmian-Pacific moist forests". World Wildlife Fund. Retrieved 2013-09-23.
8. "Talamancan montane forests". World Wildlife Fund. Retrieved 2013-09-23.
9. "Central American dry forests". World Wildlife Fund. Retrieved 2013-09-23.
10. "Bocas del Toro-San Bastimentos Island-San Blas mangroves". World Wildlife Fund. Retrieved 2013-09-23.
11. "Moist Pacific Coast mangroves". World Wildlife Fund. Retrieved 2013-09-23.
12. "Rio Negro-Rio San Sun mangroves". World Wildlife Fund. Retrieved 2013-09-23.
13. "Southern Dry Pacific Coast mangroves". World Wildlife Fund. Retrieved 2013-09-23.
14. "Chiriqui". Freshwater Ecoregions of the World. Accessed 19 June 2021. https://www.feow.org/ecoregions/details/206
15. "Estero Real–Tempisque". Freshwater Ecoregions of the World. Accessed 19 June 2021. https://www.feow.org/ecoregions/details/204
16. "Isthmus Caribbean". Freshwater Ecoregions of the World. Accessed 19 June 2021. https://www.feow.org/ecoregions/details/207
17. "San Juan (Nicaragua/Costa Rica)". Freshwater Ecoregions of the World. Accessed 19 June 2021. https://www.feow.org/ecoregions/details/205
18. "Marine Ecoregions (Spalding 2007). [Map by] GEOMAR, University of Seville, Department of Human Geography". Marine ecoregions. marineplan.es. Archived from the original (jpg) on 2017-02-12. Retrieved 2013-09-26.