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77-481: The park has the largest primary forest on the American Pacific coastline and is also one of the few remaining sizable areas of lowland tropical forests in the world. Historically, logging has taken place in lowland areas due to their easy accessibility and the presence of the largest and most abundant economically valuable trees. But in those habitats, which feature the diverse vegetation, are also usually

154-418: A forest dynamics perspective, old-growth forest is in a stage that follows understory reinitiation stage. Those stages are: Of importance is that while the stand switches from one tree community to another, the stand will not necessarily go through old-growth stage between those stages. Some tree species have a relatively open canopy. That allows more shade-tolerant tree species to establish below even before

231-432: A biodiversity that is different from other forest stages. The characteristic topography of much old-growth forest consists of pits and mounds. Mounds are caused by decaying fallen trees, and pits ( tree throws ) by the roots pulled out of the ground when trees fall due to natural causes, including being pushed over by animals. Pits expose humus -poor, mineral-rich soil and often collect moisture and fallen leaves, forming

308-577: A different potential to store carbon. For example, this potential is particularly high in the Pacific Northwest where forests are relatively productive, trees live a long time, decomposition is relatively slow, and fires are infrequent. The differences between forests must, therefore, be taken into consideration when determining how they should be managed to store carbon. A 2019 study projected that old-growth forests in Southeast Asia ,

385-767: A different spatial location relative to the main canopy, hence each one receives a different amount of light. The mixed age of the forest is an important criterion in ensuring that the forest is a relatively stable ecosystem in the long term. A climax stand that is uniformly aged becomes senescent and degrades within a relatively short time to result in a new cycle of forest succession . Thus, uniformly aged stands are less stable ecosystems. Boreal forests are more uniformly aged, as they are normally subject to frequent stand-replacing wildfires. Forest canopy gaps are essential in creating and maintaining mixed-age stands. Also, some herbaceous plants only become established in canopy openings, but persist beneath an understory. Openings are

462-563: A healthy fungal ecosystem, and presence of indicator species. Old-growth forests are often biologically diverse , and home to many rare species , threatened species , and endangered species of plants and animals, such as the northern spotted owl , marbled murrelet and fisher , making them ecologically significant. Levels of biodiversity may be higher or lower in old-growth forests compared to that in second-growth forests, depending on specific circumstances, environmental variables, and geographic variables. Logging in old-growth forests

539-410: A moist, relatively mild climate, some old-growth trees have attained notable height and girth (DBH: diameter at breast height), accompanied by notable biodiversity in terms of the species supported. Therefore, for most people, the physical size of the trees is the most recognized hallmark of old-growth forests, even though the ecologically productive areas that support such large trees often comprise only

616-704: A result of industrial logging operations. In 2006, about 61,000 hectares of tall-eucalypt RFA old-growth forests remained unprotected. Recent logging attempts in the Upper Florentine Valley have sparked a series of protests and media attention over the arrests that have taken place in this area. Additionally, Gunns Limited , the primary forestry contractor in Tasmania, has been under recent criticism by political and environmental groups over its practice of woodchipping timber harvested from old-growth forests. Increased understanding of forest dynamics in

693-550: A result of tree death due to small impact disturbances such as wind, low-intensity fires, and tree diseases. Old-growth forests are unique, usually having multiple horizontal layers of vegetation representing a variety of tree species , age classes, and sizes, as well as "pit and mound" soil shape with well-established fungal nets . As old-growth forest is structurally diverse, it provides higher-diversity habitat than forests in other stages. Thus, sometimes higher biological diversity can be sustained in old-growth forests, or at least

770-432: A severe disturbance, such as wildfire, insect infestation, or harvesting, is often called second-growth or 'regeneration' until enough time passes for the effects of the disturbance to be no longer evident. Depending on the forest, this may take from a century to several millennia. Hardwood forests of the eastern United States can develop old-growth characteristics in 150–500 years. In British Columbia , Canada, old growth

847-486: A source of raw materials. These services include making breathable air, making pure water, carbon storage, regeneration of nutrients, maintenance of soils, pest control by insectivorous bats and insects, micro- and macro-climate control, and the storage of a wide variety of genes. The effects of old-growth forests in relation to global warming have been addressed in various studies and journals. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said in its 2007 report : "In

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924-412: A substrate for seedling trees. Intact soils harbor many life forms that rely on them. Intact soils generally have very well-defined horizons, or soil profiles . Different organisms may need certain well-defined soil horizons to live, while many trees need well-structured soils free of disturbance to thrive. Some herbaceous plants in northern hardwood forests must have thick duff layers (which are part of

1001-400: A thick organic layer that is able to nurture certain types of organisms. Mounds provide a place free of leaf inundation and saturation, where other types of organisms thrive. Standing snags provide food sources and habitat for many types of organisms. In particular, many species of dead-wood predators, such as woodpeckers , must have standing snags available for feeding. In North America,

1078-417: A useful number to measure. So, some forests may be excluded from being categorized as old-growth even if they have old-growth attributes just because they are too young. Also, older forests can lack some old-growth attributes and be categorized as old-growth just because they are so old. The idea of using age is also problematic, because human activities can influence the forest in varied ways. For example, after

1155-584: A very small portion of the total area that has been mapped as old-growth forest. (In high-altitude, harsh climates, trees grow very slowly and thus remain at a small size. Such trees also qualify as old growth in terms of how they are mapped, but are rarely recognized by the general public as such.) The debate over old-growth definitions has been inextricably linked with a complex range of social perceptions about wilderness preservation, biodiversity, aesthetics, and spirituality, as well as economic or industrial values. In logging terms, old-growth stands are past

1232-511: Is a forest that has developed over a long period of time without disturbance . Due to this, old-growth forests exhibit unique ecological features. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations defines primary forests as naturally regenerated forests of native tree species where there are no clearly visible indications of human activity and the ecological processes are not significantly disturbed. One-third (34 percent) of

1309-414: Is a contentious issue in many parts of the world. Excessive logging reduces biodiversity, affecting not only the old-growth forest itself, but also indigenous species that rely upon old-growth forest habitat. Some forests in the old-growth stage have a mix of tree ages, due to a distinct regeneration pattern for this stage. New trees regenerate at different times from each other, because each of them has

1386-669: Is affected. Climate change showed an impact on the mortality of some dominant tree species, as observed in the Korean pine . Climate change also showed an effect on the composition of species when forests were surveyed over a 10- and 20-year period, which may disrupt the overall productivity of the forest. According to the World Resources Institute , as of January 2009, only 21% of the original old-growth forests that once existed on Earth are remaining. An estimated one-half of Western Europe's forests were cleared before

1463-460: Is also attributed to Costa Rica's position on a north-south corridor for flora and fauna; part of the "land bridge" and wildlife corridor that links the large continents of North America and South America. In 41,800 hectares, Corcovado houses 3% of the world's biodiversity. The waters of the park are rich in biodiversity. The coasts are wintering and breeding grounds for humpback whales that come each winter. Other baleen whales also migrate through

1540-615: Is defined as 120 to 140 years of age in the interior of the province where fire is a frequent and natural occurrence. In British Columbia's coastal rainforests , old growth is defined as trees more than 250 years, with some trees reaching more than 1,000 years of age. In Australia, eucalypt trees rarely exceed 350 years of age due to frequent fire disturbance. Forest types have very different development patterns, natural disturbances and appearances. A Douglas-fir stand may grow for centuries without disturbance while an old-growth ponderosa pine forest requires frequent surface fires to reduce

1617-433: Is more accurate in forests where the species that constitute old-growth have long lifespans and succession is slow. Common cultural definitions and common denominators regarding what comprises old-growth forest, and the variables that define, constitute and embody old-growth forests include: Additionally, in mountainous, temperate landscapes (such as Western North America), and specifically in areas of high-quality soil and

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1694-919: Is not the most commercially viable timber—in British Columbia, Canada, harvesting in the coastal region is moving to younger second-growth stands. A 2001 scientific symposium in Canada found that defining old growth in a scientifically meaningful, yet policy-relevant, manner presents some basic difficulties, especially if a simple, unambiguous, and rigorous scientific definition is sought. Symposium participants identified some attributes of late-successional, temperate-zone, old-growth forest types that could be considered in developing an index of "old-growthness" and for defining old-growth forests: Structural features: Compositional features: Process features: Old-growth forests provide ecosystem services that may be far more important to society than their use as

1771-557: Is seen as extremely economically unproductive, as timber can only be collected from falling trees, and also potentially damaging to nearby managed groves by creating environments conducive to root rot. It may be more productive to cut the old growth down and replace the forest with a younger one. The island of Tasmania , just off the southeast coast of Australia, has the largest amount of temperate old-growth rainforest reserves in Australia with around 1,239,000 hectares in total. While

1848-486: The Middle Ages , and 90% of the old-growth forests that existed in the contiguous United States in the 1600s have been cleared. The large trees in old-growth forests are economically valuable, and have been subject to aggressive logging throughout the world. This has led to many conflicts between logging companies and environmental groups . From certain forestry perspectives, fully maintaining an old-growth forest

1925-717: The Regional Forest Agreement (RFA) attempted to prevent the clearfelling of defined "old-growth forests". This led to struggles over what constitutes "old growth". For example, in Western Australia, the timber industry tried to limit the area of old growth in the karri forests of the Southern Forests Region; this led to the creation of the Western Australian Forests Alliance , the splitting of

2002-597: The ecosystem services they provide. This can be a point of contention when some in the logging industry desire to harvest valuable timber from the forests, destroying the forests in the process, to generate short-term profits, while environmentalists seek to preserve the forests in their pristine state for benefits such as water purification , flood control , weather stability, maintenance of biodiversity, and nutrient cycling . Moreover, old-growth forests are more efficient at sequestering carbon than newly planted forests and fast-growing timber plantations , thus preserving

2079-484: The jaguar , ocelot , margay , jaguarundi , and puma . All four Costa Rican monkey species are known to live within the park, including the endangered Central American squirrel monkey , white-faced capuchin , mantled howler , and Geoffroy's spider monkey . Other mammals include two-toed and three-toed sloth , collared peccary , northern tamandua , and silky anteater . Poison dart frogs , red-eyed tree frogs, glass frogs, and several species of snake (including

2156-535: The spotted owl is well known for needing standing snags for nesting habitat. Fallen timber, or coarse woody debris , contributes carbon -rich organic matter directly to the soil , providing a substrate for mosses , fungi, and seedlings , and creating microhabitats by creating relief on the forest floor. In some ecosystems such as the temperate rain forest of the North American Pacific coast , fallen timber may become nurse logs , providing

2233-501: The 1970s, the Costa Rican government banned gold mining, however, this did not put an end to the mining problems. Between the 1970s and 1980s, the Costa Rican government passed environmental conservation laws that encompassed protections against deforestation, illegal hunting and mining, and reforestation plans [7]. Despite the ban, many locals still depended on gold mining and continued to do so illegally, they would look for gold in

2310-512: The Costa Rican, Danish, Dutch, Swedish and United States governments) have come together to provide aid to the conservation of mammalian species. Despite the negative effects of environmental degradation happening in Corcovado National Park, there is a large group effort being made by conservation organizations and the government to protect and conserve the park's environment. However, efforts can be made to be reflective of both

2387-498: The Eastern end of the park. The coastal track has several rivers that must be crossed by fording, but it's risky during high tide or for inexperienced hikers. Rio Sirena is commonly regarded as the most dangerous of crossings, primarily because it flows directly into the massive Laguna Corcovado in the isolated heart of the park. Bull sharks are present at the river mouth during high tide. American crocodiles are also present within

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2464-652: The Liberal Government of Western Australia and the election of the Gallop Labor Government. Old-growth forests in this region have now been placed inside national parks . A small proportion of old-growth forests also exist in South-West Australia and are protected by federal laws from logging, which has not occurred there for more than 20 years. In British Columbia , Canada , old-growth forests must be maintained in each of

2541-561: The Osa Peninsula which can deter tourists and those who are not familiar with the region, but not miners and hunters. “Oreros” first came into the Osa Peninsula in the 1930s and this form of livelihood has remained in the region ever since [5] . Individual miners would utilize a technique known as “panning” where they sift sand and dirt in the ocean or rivers through a pan until gold sediments are found [5] . The larger group of industrial miners and loggers used large machinery to cut down

2618-996: The Sistema Nacional de Areas de Conservacion Costa Rica (SINAC) and the Ministerio de Ambiente y Energia (MINAE) in park protection [1] . Since 2019, the Global Conservation Organization has funded global park defense systems to improve the efficiency of park rangers and government agencies against illegal hunters, illegal loggers, and illegal miners [1] . These systems were designed to include new equipment and training to use new technology and methodology [1] . The Osa Conservation and Global Conservation organizations have invested in: “• Threat Assessment - using expert analysis and reporting • Aerial Surveillance - using UAV Drones and light aircraft • Ground Surveillance – River Inspection teams to locate and geo-reference illegal gold mining activities within

2695-503: The area such as Bryde's whale . Dolphins such as spinner and rough-toothed , and smaller cetaceans such as false killer whales and killer whales are seasonal migrants to these areas. Manatees are occasionally reported at Manzanillo Beach, Talamanca , and Limon . Although Corcovado National Park is a popular tourist destination, there are many threats facing the National Park. Before Corcovado National Park's creation,

2772-446: The atmosphere. Proponents of harvesting the forest argue the carbon stored in wood is available for use as biomass energy (displacing fossil fuel use), although using biomass as a fuel produces air pollution in the form of carbon monoxide , nitrogen oxides , volatile organic compounds , particulates, and other pollutants, in some cases at levels above those from traditional fuel sources such as coal or natural gas. Each forest has

2849-501: The beaches. The abundance in wildlife can in part be explained by the variety of vegetation zones, at least thirteen, including montane forest (which covers more than half the park) cloud forest , jolillo forest ( palm swamp ), prairie forest , alluvial plains forest , swamp forest , freshwater herbaceous swamp and mangrove , together holding over 500 tree species, including purple heart , poponjoche , nargusta , banak , cow tree , espave and crabwood . The high biodiversity

2926-507: The biodiversity of the marine ecosystem, specifically sea turtles, is the Comunidad Protectora de Tortugas de Osa (COPROT) [6] . Their campus is located along the beachfront of a small town known as Puerto Jiminez [6] . Founded in 2018, this grassroots conservation group is composed of environmental researchers, volunteers, activists, and even locals who are committed to protecting the nesting sites of sea turtles [6] . Some of

3003-451: The conservation of the terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and the local communities. Community outreach programs should help facilitate better community relationships between national parks and local communities. This can help figure out where communities can be supported better while still maintaining the purpose of protecting the national park. The government has helped enforce the various conservation laws by increasing park ranger presence in

3080-421: The economic optimum for harvesting—usually between 80 and 150 years, depending on the species. Old-growth forests were often given harvesting priority because they had the most commercially valuable timber, they were considered to be at greater risk of deterioration through root rot or insect infestation, and they occupied land that could be used for more productive second-growth stands. In some regions, old growth

3157-553: The elimination of aquatic life, increases in pH from acid mine drainage, and permanent hardness of water [8] . Increased tourism has led to an increased presence of humans in the park, which some worry could threaten the long-term survival of the park's larger mammals. To help combat the threat of over-exposure, many agencies and other groups (including Conservation International , The Nature Conservancy , WWF –U.S., rain-forest conservation groups in several countries, Catholic Relief Service , Organization of American States , and

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3234-436: The forest will switch back to understory reinitiation stage. Using the stand dynamics definition, old-growth can be easily evaluated using structural attributes. However, in some forest ecosystems, this can lead to decisions regarding the preservation of unique stands or attributes that will disappear over the next few decades because of natural succession processes. Consequently, using stand dynamics to define old-growth forests

3311-472: The forests is vital to climate change mitigation . Old-growth forests tend to have large trees and standing dead trees, multilayered canopies with gaps that result from the deaths of individual trees, and coarse woody debris on the forest floor. The trees of old-growth forests develop distinctive attributes not seen in younger trees, such as more complex structures and deeply fissured bark that can harbor rare lichens and mosses. A forest regenerated after

3388-410: The government used to release criminals on the peninsula, and many other people would mine the land for gold through various methods, such as panning [2] . These strategies created negative impacts on the ecosystem like soil erosion, water contamination from types of machinery, and trenching [4] . Land development companies, mining, and livestock production led to deforestation and water contamination in

3465-427: The landscape patterns and habitat conditions normally maintained in nature . This coarse filter approach to biodiversity conservation recognizes ecological processes and provides for a dynamic distribution of old growth across the landscape. And all seral stages—young, medium, and old—support forest biodiversity. Plants and animals rely on different forest ecosystem stages to meet their habitat needs. In Australia ,

3542-525: The late 20th century led the scientific community to identify a need to inventory, understand, manage, and conserve representative examples of old-growth forests with their associated characteristics and values. Literature around old growth and its management is inconclusive about the best way to characterize the true essence of an old-growth stand. A better understanding of natural systems has resulted in new ideas about forest management, such as managed natural disturbances, which should be designed to achieve

3619-620: The local Regional Forest Agreement (RFA) was originally designed to protect much of this natural wealth, many of the RFA old-growth forests protected in Tasmania consist of trees of little use to the timber industry. RFA old-growth and high conservation value forests that contain species highly desirable to the forestry industry have been poorly preserved. Only 22% of Tasmania's original tall-eucalypt forests managed by Forestry Tasmania have been reserved. Ten thousand hectares of tall-eucalypt RFA old-growth forest have been lost since 1996, predominantly as

3696-447: The local recruits were people from the gold mining community who were looking for more profitable work. The essence of their mission is to educate and provide economic opportunities to their local community and to protect endangered sea turtles [6] . Corcovado National Park is open to the public. As of February 1, 2014 all Corcovado visitors must be accompanied by certified guides. During the wet months (July to November), certain parts of

3773-408: The logging of 30% of the trees, less time is needed for old-growth to come back than after removal of 80% of the trees. Although depending on the species logged, the forest that comes back after a 30% harvest may consist of proportionately fewer hardwood trees than a forest logged at 80% in which the light competition by less important tree species does not inhibit the regrowth of vital hardwoods. From

3850-413: The long term, a sustainable forest management strategy aimed at maintaining or increasing forest carbon stocks, while producing an annual sustained yield of timber, fibre, or energy from the forest, will generate the largest sustained mitigation benefit." Old-growth forests are often perceived to be in equilibrium or in a state of decay. However, evidence from analysis of carbon stored above ground and in

3927-481: The majority of which are in Indonesia and Malaysia , are able to sequester carbon or be a net emitter of greenhouse gases based on deforestation scenarios over the subsequent decades. Old-growth forests have the potential to impact climate change, but climate change is also impacting old-growth forests. As the effects of global warming grow more substantial, the ability of old-growth forests to sequester carbon

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4004-551: The national park. The government has also helped to promote reforestation efforts by requiring land development companies to agree to plant more trees in response to deforestation. [7] The Global Conservation Organization has partnered with the Osa Conservation Organization to eliminate illegal gold mining and wildlife poaching in the national park. Global Conservation is supporting Osa Conservation in their work to assist various government agencies such as

4081-480: The park are closed. There are two tracks, one coastal and one inland, and four ranger stations in the park where tourists stay overnight; three at the park entrances and one at the intersection of the two tracks. One track runs Northwest to Southeast along the coast to La Leona ecolodge, with the Estación Sirena roughly in the middle. The second track runs inland from Estación Sirena to Estación Los Patos at

4158-432: The park in an attempt to catch illegal miners [3] . However, this has created issues with the local communities since some people still depend on gold mining as a source of income. There has been a lot of disagreement among conservationists and local community members in the Osa Peninsula due to the changes in land development. This is mostly due to the history of the region, many locals in the Osa Peninsula have depended on

4235-462: The park including wild cats, rare birds, sea turtles, sharks, humpback whales, monkeys, and many more [7] . Species in Costa Rica like the jaguar, Baird's tapir, and the peccary are often threatened and even endangered due to commercial development [4] . After many years of mining, the presence of the seed distributors – tapirs, peccaries, and agoutis– was noticeably decreasing in size [4] . In

4312-478: The park which contributed to the destruction of aquatic life [4] . Previous to 1975, when the park was first constructed, the Osa Peninsula population was less than 7,000 people [2] . Many locals utilized the land for cattle and pig farming and lived off subsistence livelihoods. After the creation of Interamerican Highway South, the population doubled in size including people who were interested in land development such as farmers, loggers, and miners [2] . Because of

4389-400: The park • Cellular Trail cams – Camera monitoring of roads, trails, and rivers • Identification of Violators - establishing an enforcement database of who is doing illegal mining and wildlife poaching within the park • Detailed Mapping - of locations of illegal activities within the park for targeting joint police and park ranger patrols.” [1] . One organization that is invested in conserving

4466-421: The passing of the conservation laws, many locals began to pursue other activities for a source of income such as tourism. Corcovado National Park sees thousands of eco-tourists a day which contributes revenue mostly to the Costa Rican government [2] . The tourism industry in Costa Rica recruits many locals to work in the parks as tour guides and park rangers, hotels and restaurants, and other services as well. After

4543-632: The populations of peccary safe, the divide between the locals and the national park deepened. Despite the rapidly declining populations, some conservationists are not as concerned about these populations as others [3] . Public officials from the Ministry of Public Security, national park rangers, and conservationists from the Golfo Dulce Forest Reserve and the Osa Conservation Area (ACOSA) have increased patrolling in

4620-524: The province's ecological units to meet biodiversity needs. In the United States , from 2001, around a quarter of the federal forests are protected from logging. In December 2023, Biden's administration introduced a rule, according to which, logging is strongly limited in old growth forests, but permitted in "mature forests", representing a compromise between the logging industry and environmental activists. In 2006, Greenpeace identified that

4697-408: The region for their livelihood. Livestock farming of cattle and swine, gold mining through panning the waterways, and hunting animals in the region of Corcovado National Park allowed many of the locals to survive in the region for many years before the creation of the park. Most of the miners started mining because they were unemployed and it allowed them a sense of personal freedom [4] . However, after

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4774-654: The remoteness of the peninsula, logging only began in the 1960s. By 1975 there were plans for a major international logging operation. Researchers petitioned President Daniel Oduber to protect the area, which he did by making it a National Park . For this, he received the Albert Schweitzer Award from the Animal Welfare Institute . The already present gold miners were allowed to stay. By 1986 their number had increased to about 1,000 (not counting their families), who also hunted wildlife. It

4851-469: The richest in biodiversity . What is left of the originally rich lowland forests is usually too small an area to support the original natural biodiversity. Corcovado is home to the endangered Baird's tapir and a small harpy eagle population. The park's rivers and lagoons are home to the American crocodile and spectacled caiman , along with bull sharks . Several felines are also present, including

4928-597: The river. Spectacled caiman are present further up river and within Laguna Corcovado in larger numbers. The Rio Claro, which is approximately 40 minutes south of Rio Sirena, is said to be safer. Small American crocodiles and spectacled caiman are also present within the Rio Claro. The Rio Madrigal, north of the park entrance, is smaller and may be home to spectacled caiman. Primary forest An old-growth forest (also referred to as primary forest )

5005-465: The rivers outside the national park and source food from the illegal hunting of animals and collection of sea turtle eggs [6] . Illegal hunting has also rapidly diminished the population of jaguars and pacas in the park [1]. In 2008, park rangers began to protect certain native species such as peccaries, however, locals would continue to hunt these species because peccaries would damage their crops ultimately damaging their livelihood [7] . Despite keeping

5082-607: The shade-tolerant species and regenerate the canopy species. In the boreal forest of Canada , catastrophic disturbances like wildfires minimize opportunities for major accumulations of dead and downed woody material and other structural legacies associated with old growth conditions. Typical characteristics of old-growth forest include the presence of older trees, minimal signs of human disturbance, mixed-age stands, presence of canopy openings due to tree falls, pit-and-mound topography , down wood in various stages of decay, standing snags (dead trees), multilayered canopies, intact soils ,

5159-462: The soil has shown old-growth forests are more productive at storing carbon than younger forests. Forest harvesting has little or no effect on the amount of carbon stored in the soil, but other research suggests older forests that have trees of many ages, multiple layers, and little disturbance have the highest capacities for carbon storage. As trees grow, they remove carbon from the atmosphere, and protecting these pools of carbon prevents emissions into

5236-516: The soil profile). Fungal ecosystems are essential for efficient in-situ recycling of nutrients back into the entire ecosystem. Stand age can also be used to categorize a forest as old-growth. For any given geographical area, the average time since disturbance until a forest reaches the old growth stage can be determined. This method is useful, because it allows quick and objective determination of forest stage. However, this definition does not provide an explanation of forest function. It just gives

5313-570: The tourist industry experienced a temporary collapse from COVID-19, illegal miners and illegal hunters returned to their old ways since their new livelihood could no longer support them [7] . Due to the enforcement of conservation laws, park rangers are required to suppress and report illegal activities; between the locals partaking in illegal activities and park rangers' enforcement, tensions and hostility are high. Mining practices such as gold panning, larger corporations that partake in mining and deforestation, and hunting create negative consequences for

5390-658: The trees in the forest and to wash large amounts of sediments [4] . Although gold panning is a form of mining, the ecosystem impacts can vary depending on the mineral being mined, the scale of the mining operation, and the current condition of the ecosystem – damaged, restored, or preserved [8] . The negative effects of gold mining on the environment are increased sedimentation in waterways, erosion of streambanks, accelerated evaporation of surface water, and mineral pollution from wastewater [8] . The introduction of sediments like heavy metals (toxic metal mercury), sulfates, and other pollutants can result in environmental degradation such as

5467-549: The understory reinitiation stage. The shade-tolerant trees eventually outcompete the main canopy trees in stem-exclusion stage. Therefore, the dominant tree species will change, but the forest will still be in stem-exclusion stage until the shade-tolerant species reach old-growth stage. Tree species succession may change tree species' composition once the old-growth stage has been achieved. For example, an old boreal forest may contain some large aspen trees, which may die and be replaced by smaller balsam fir or black spruce. Consequently,

5544-545: The various ecosystems in Corcovado National Park. The geographic region of Corcovado has excellent conditions for high biodiversity and also for deforestation and mining. The Osa Peninsula is filled with various coastal aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems like rainforests and beaches. The powerful rains from the forests feed into the complex system of rivers and tributaries leading into the Pacific Ocean [5] . Heavy rainfalls can create dangerous conditions in certain parts of

5621-763: The venomous fer-de-lance and bushmaster ) are also present within the park. Most animal sightings can be expected along the coast, including scarlet macaws (the largest population in the country), hermit crabs , pelicans , spider monkeys , tamandua anteaters, pumas, white faced capuchin monkeys, lineated woodpeckers and coatis . Other animals in the park include Central American squirrel monkeys , mantled howler monkeys , both two-toed and three-toed sloths , agoutis , giant anteaters , great curassows , black hawks , spectacled owls , hummingbirds , 220 species of butterflies , golden orb spiders , otters and raccoons . Four species of sea turtle ( green , Pacific ridley , hawksbill , and leatherback ) nest on

5698-471: The world has 1.11  billion   ha (2.7 billion acres) of primary forest remaining. Combined, three countries (Brazil, Canada, and Russia) host more than half (61 percent) of the world's primary forest. The area of primary forest has decreased by 81 million ha (200 million acres) since 1990, but the rate of loss more than halved in 2010–2020 compared with the previous decade. Old-growth forests are valuable for economic reasons and for

5775-500: The world's forests are primary forests. Old-growth features include diverse tree-related structures that provide diverse wildlife habitats that increases the biodiversity of the forested ecosystem . Virgin or first-growth forests are old-growth forests that have never been logged. The concept of diverse tree structure includes multi-layered canopies and canopy gaps, greatly varying tree heights and diameters, and diverse tree species and classes and sizes of woody debris. As of 2020 ,

5852-413: The world's remaining intact forest landscapes are distributed among the continents as follows: [REDACTED]  This article incorporates text from a free content work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 ( license statement/permission ). Text taken from Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 Key findings​ , FAO, FAO. [REDACTED]  This article incorporates text from

5929-628: Was decided to evict them. However, illegal mining still occurs (using more destructive, modern methods). The number of miners is estimated to be about 400. It is estimated that 38% of the park (16.000 hectares) has been exploited by gold miners. The Osa Peninsula is home to 2.5% of the world's biodiversity. [6] The impacts of tourism, mining, and deforestation cause declines in the biodiversity of native Costa Rican terrestrial and aquatic species. The lowland tropical forest features many diverse habitats that are home to various species including endangered and threatened species. There are thousands of species in

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