The Cerro de la Muerte Biological Station is one of the several field stations for biological research that exist in

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

. Located at 3,200 m elevation (approximately 10,500 feet) on the southeastern slope of the Cerro Bellavista (one of the highest points in the ''

Cordillera de Talamanca 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 ...

''), this is the biological station located at the highest elevation in Costa Rica and perhaps in all of Central America. Mr. Federico Valverde, the owner of the station is a former herpetologist from the University of Costa Rica who decided to protect these lands and offer them to the scientific community. For this reason, the station is only open for research and academic purposes. This offers an opportunity for scientists that are interested in studying the higher oak forests ranging from 3,100 – 3,400 m (approximately 10,000-11,000 feet) as well as the

páramo Páramo () can refer to a variety of alpine tundra ecosystems located in the Andes Mountain Range, South America. Some ecologists describe the páramo broadly as "all high, tropical, montane vegetation above the continuous timberline". A narrower ...

ecosystem above the tree line. The mission of the station is to protect the natural beauty of the páramo, to conduct long-term research on natural systems as part of a global effort to understand and preserve the Earth's biodiversity, and to increase appreciation of this effort through innovative, field-based educational programs for student of all levels. The dominant tree species is ''Quercus costarricensis'', although many other trees, shrubs and vines occur in the area. A number of vertebrates and insects can also be observed at this station. Currently there is data listing mammals, amphibians, reptiles, birds,

algae Algae (; singular alga ) is an informal term for a large and diverse group of photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms. It is a polyphyletic grouping that includes species from multiple distinct clades. Included organisms range from unicellular mic ...

, myxomycetesRojas C, Stephenson SL. 2007. Distribution and ecology of myxomycetes in the high-elevation oak forests of Cerro Bellavista, Costa Rica. Mycologia 99(4): 534.543 and plants. Researchers from all over the world visit this station every year. However, many United States' academic institutions come year after year with groups of students interested in tropical ecology. Some courses at the University of Costa Rica also offer field trips to this area. The staff of the station take care of the visitors by providing them with the basic services offered in any other field station in the world. However, they are locally known for making their own hot sauce.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cerro De La Muerte Biological Station Nature conservation in Costa Rica Biological stations