Change in dense forest habitat for endangered wildlife species in Costa Rica from 1940 to 1977
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22458/urj.v3i1.213Keywords:
Endangered species, dense forest, viable populations, protected areas.Abstract
Habitat availability is a key factor in biological extinctions. Existence and loss of dense forest habitat for 27 endangered wildlife species in Costa Rica is quantified and analyzed using vegetation maps, density estimates and insular ecology theory. From 1940 to 1977 species suffered an average 35% destruction of dense forest habitat. A number of species including: Myrmecophaga tridactyla, Panthera onca, Harpia harpyja and Ara ambigua will probably go extinct in Costa Rica within the next century due to lack of sufficiently large dense forest habitat areas for survival. The importance of protecting large areas of dense forest habitat for conserving genetically “viable” wildlife populations is emphasized and key areas are identified for each species. In addition species are ranked as to degree of endangerment using biological parameters.
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