Cordillera de Talamanca

Coordinates: 9°30′N 83°40′W / 9.500°N 83.667°W / 9.500; -83.667
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Talamanca Mountain Range
Cerro Chirripó, Costa Rica
Elevation3,820 m (12,530 ft)
Coordinates09°29′02.7″N 83°29′19.2″W / 9.484083°N 83.488667°W / 9.484083; -83.488667
Naming
Native nameCordillera de Talamanca (Spanish)
Geography
CountriesCosta Rica and Panama
Range coordinates9°30′N 83°40′W / 9.500°N 83.667°W / 9.500; -83.667

The Cordillera de Talamanca is a mountain range that lies in the southeast half of Costa Rica and the far west of Panama. Much of the range and the area around it is included in La Amistad International Park, which also is shared between the two countries.

This range in the south of Costa Rica stretches from southwest of San José to beyond the border with Panama and contains the highest peaks of both Costa Rica and Panama, among them Cerro Chirripó at 3,820 metres (12,530 ft),[1] and the more accessible high peak of Cerro de la Muerte. Much of the Caribbean areas of the range are still unexplored.

Exploration and classification

The range is covered by the

Sally P Horn
).

The range is of global importance as it is a centre of endemism for many plant and animal groups and as an important habitat for many large mammals (

Baird's Tapir, Puma, Jaguar) and birds that are now threatened in much of their range. An intended hydroelectricity project threatens the existence of the Tabasara Rain Frogs.[2]

View of Cordillera de Talamanca range at Estación Biológica Cuericí.

National parks

Several national parks and reservations are located in the Talamanca mountain range, including

biosphere reserve
. The two parks comprise 2,400 square kilometres (930 sq mi) of land and protect important ecosystems like paramo, and wetlands.

The highland paramo is located mainly in subalpine forests and thickets, located at an altitude between 3,100-3,300 m.a.s.l. and the alpine scrub and grasslands, located between 3,300-3,819 m.a.s.l.[3]

Peat bogs are wetlands located in topographic depressions, on poorly drained land and are periodically flooded.[4] In Costa Rica they are located in the low montane and high montane altitude zones. The flora is similar to the high elevation moors, including also oak trees (Quercus spp.), and Blechnum plants in association with bryophytes from the genus Sphagnum. Other common genus are Rubus, Pteridium and Comarostaphyllis. The El Empalme peat bog suffers greater pressure from agricultural activity and as altitude increases, there is an increase in floristic diversity.[5]

Important elevations

  • Cerro Chirripó
    - 3820 m (Costa Rica)
  • Cerro Ventisqueros - 3812 m (Costa Rica)
  • Cerro Terbi - 3760 m (Costa Rica)
  • Cerro Urán - 3660 m (Costa Rica)
  • Cerro Kamuk - 3554 m (Costa Rica)
  • Cerro de la Muerte - 3491 m (Costa Rica)
  • Volcán Barú - 3475 m (Panamá)
  • Cerro Fábrega - 3335 m (Panamá)
  • Cerro Itamut - 3293 m (Panamá)
  • Cerro Durika - 3280 m (Costa Rica)
  • Cerro Echandi - 3162 m (Costa Rica - Panamá)

See also

References

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Costa Rica". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 7 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 220.

  1. ISBN 1-903471-06-0
  2. ^ "Panama: Village of the damned - People & Power - Al Jazeera English". www.aljazeera.com. Archived from the original on 2012-04-11.
  3. ^ Kappelle, M. & Horn, S.P. (2005). Páramos de Costa Rica. Editorial INBio, Santo Domingo.
  4. ^ Kappelle, M. & Horn, S.P. (2016). The Páramo ecosystem of Costa Rica’s highlands. In: Kappelle, M. (Ed.). Costa Rican Ecosystems. University of Chicago Press: 492-523.
  5. ^ González F., León Y., López-Estébanez N. (2021). Las Turberas de la Cordillera de Talamanca (Costa Rica): Diversidad Biológica y Gestión. En J.L. García (Ed.), Medio natural, biodiversidad y paisaje: XXVII Congreso de la Asociación Española de Geografía (633-650). Asociación Española de Geografía, AGE. https://xxviicongresodegeografia.es/wp-content/themes/genesis-sample/pdf/LIBRO_CONGRESO_1.pdf

External links

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