Río San José, Horquetas, Sarapiquí, Costa Rica

Environment

Environment

Affected by human activity

Affected by human activity

Agriculture

Agriculture

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Surrounding area

This area is located in one of the strongest agricultural sectors in Costa Rica. It is a site that is surrounded by roads and large banana farms. Despite this, it is a site with a lot of biodiversity. On the banks of the river, green iguanas and howler monkeys are easily found.

This ecosystem consists of pure round stones, there are no plants in it due to strong currents, and at any time of the year there are floods that drag everything in their path. For these reasons, the fish found here are adapted to hide in small crevices between the rocks and hold on to strong currents.

This territory is characterized by its high temperatures, which range from 20.3-30.3°C. It is a place in Costa Rica that rains all year round and has an annual rainfall of 3.500-4.000mm per year. The climate of this place is known as very Humid, very hot. The life zones around this point are very humid tropical forests.

Underwater landscape

The watercourses in the area are strong and do not have aquatic plants. But there are a lot of plants on the river bank, all their roots create a lot of shelters for aquatic creatures. There are also many trees that have their roots in the river.

In the water there are stones completely covered with algae, river sand, sunken pieces of wood and fallen leaves in the crevices of rock structures. The clear water shows all the colors of the fishes with the sun shining without any shadow. Due to the lack of shade, the water flowing down to the river bank is very hot and does not allow anything to live in these places. But the little ponds that get shade are full of tadpoles.

Fishlist:

• Neetroplus nematopus (Cichlidae)
• Amatitlania siquia (Cichlidae)
• Astyanax aeneus (Acestrorhamphidae)
• Tomocichla tuba (Cichlidae)
• Amatitlania septemfasciata (Cichlidae)
• Alfaro cultratus (Poeciliidae)

Threats to ecology

Water is a super important resource for life. This site is full of diversity, has a lot of reptiles, amphibians, mammals and birds. They all meet to feed and hydrate near the river.

For these same reasons, wildlife crossings have been created in this same spot. During the visit, howler monkeys were observed using them and crossing from one side of the river to the other.

Despite this great importance for wildlife and for humans, the water resource has been degraded by human progress. Pollution, erosion from monocultures, and poor solid waste management threaten this ecosystem.

Another big problem is that this river is used for spearfishing for human consumption. The number of species they extract in each fishing trip is incomprehensible. This causes a great impact on the ichthyofauna populations of the place. They also use chemicals to catch shrimp for consumption. This ends up poisoning the river and is a huge threat to this beautiful ecosystem.

Riparian zone

Trees near the aquatic habitat

Few - Erythrina berteroana (Fabaceae)

Trees near the aquatic habitat

Few - Cascabela ovata (Apocynaceae)

Trees near the aquatic habitat

Few - Zygia longifolia (Fabaceae)

Bibliography

• → Ed. Ciencia, Arte & Tecnología, 2013. - Peces comunes de la cuenca del río Sarapiquí by Arturo Angulo
  ISBN 9789930941355
  
• → San José, C.R. : Proyecto Hidroeléctrico Cariblanco, ICE , 2006 - Peces comunes de la cuenca media del río Sarapiquí by Juan Carlos Villegas
  
• → INDER - Caracterización Territorio Sarapiquí by Arturo Vega
  

Sitography

Comment by the expert