Title: What to Know About Costa Rica's 12 Different Ecosystems
Headings: What to Know About Costa Rica's 12 Different Ecosystems
What to Know About Costa Rica's 12 Different Ecosystems
Lowland Tropical Rainforest
Tropical Dry Forest
Cloud forest
Highland Mountain Rainforest
Páramo
Semi-Deciduous Mid-Elevation Forest
Mangrove Forest
Wetlands
Coral Reef
Caribbean Coastline
Pacific Coastline
Shallow Seas

Content: all are equally as diverse and bursting with wildlife. The trees in this type of forest are singing with bird, frog, and insect calls and the air is densely humid and moist on the skin. Lush landscape | © Ben Kucinski/Flickr
Mangrove Forest
The mangrove forests of Costa Rica can only be accessed by boat and viewed from the water. Mangroves thrive in a brackish and saltwater environment. Their specialized roots are above ground and can filter out the majority of the salt from the water they take in. Mangroves also play an important role in protecting the coastlines from destruction due to strong storm swells, and they filter the freshwater that comes from land before it enters the ocean. Mangrove forests are also a nursery for many different types of fish, including baby sharks, and caimans, crocodiles, and birds. You can observe these intricate estuary forests by taking a boat tour in Drake Bay or in Tortuguero, but there are mangrove forests in multiple places along the Pacific and Caribbean coast. Intricate design | © US Fish and Wildlife Services/Flickr
Wetlands
The wetlands of Costa Rica, such as Palo Verde and Cano Negro, are an important shallow-water ecosystem that hosts a variety of nesting and foraging waterbirds. The wetlands include the rivers, marshes, and seasonally inundated woodlands.