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Las Cruces Biological Station
The Las Cruces Biological Station / Wilson Botanical Garden is located in the southern Puntarenas province of Costa Rica, and is the newest of the three research stations operated by the Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS). Las Cruces includes a biological research station, tourist facilities, and the botanical gardens started by Robert and Catherine Wilson, and bequeathed to OTS. Las Cruces is located in a mountainous region at an elevation of approximately 1,000 meters above sea level (m.a.s.l.). Surrounded mostly by pastures, coffee plantations and other agricultural areas, Las Cruces includes a relatively small 270 Ha forest fragment that ranges from 900–1300 m.a.s.l. As such, much of the research conducted here focuses on agroecology or studies of forest fragmentation Habitat fragmentation describes the emergence of discontinuities (fragmentation) in an organism's preferred environment (habitat), causing population fragmentation and ecosystem decay. Causes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Puntarenas
Puntarenas () is a city in the Puntarenas Province, on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. As the seat of the Municipality of Puntarenas canton, it is awarded the title of city, which comprises the Puntarenas, Chacarita and El Roble districts. As the city of the first canton of the province, it is the capital city of the Puntarenas Province as well, according to the Administrative divisions of Costa Rica. Toponymy The name ''Puntarenas'' comes from a portmanteau of ''punta'' and ''arenas'', which means "point" and "sands", respectively. In English this would translate roughly to "Sand Point". The name is first referenced by the arrival in February 1720 of the pirate John Clipperton to the area, which recorded in his journals to have arrived to a "Punta de Arena", referring to the needle-like area on which the city stands today. The name is also given to the oddly shaped province of Puntarenas, which (as the most extensive province in the country), has its largest section in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Province
A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions outside Roman Italy, Italy. The term ''province'' has since been adopted by many countries. In some countries with no actual provinces, "the provinces" is a metaphorical term meaning "outside the capital city". While some provinces were produced artificially by Colonialism, colonial powers, others were formed around local groups with their own ethnic identities. Many have their own powers independent of central or Federation, federal authority, especially Provinces of Canada, in Canada and Pakistan. In other countries, like Provinces of China, China or Administrative divisions of France, France, provinces are the creation of central government, with very little autonomy. Etymology The English language, English word ''province'' is attested ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Costa Rica
Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime boundary, maritime border with Ecuador to the south of Cocos Island. It has a population of around five million in a land area of nearly . An estimated people live in the capital and largest city, San José, Costa Rica, San José, with around two million people in the surrounding metropolitan area. The sovereign state is a Presidential system, presidential republic. It has a long-standing and stable Constitution of Costa Rica, constitutional democracy and a highly educated workforce. The country spends roughly 6.9% of its budget (2016) on education, compared to a global average of 4.4%. Its economy, once heavily dependent on agriculture, has diversified to include sectors such as finance, corporate services for foreign companies, pharmaceut ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Research Station
Research stations are facilities where scientific investigation, Data collection, collection, analysis and experimentation occurs. A research station is a facility that is built for the purpose of conducting scientific research. There are also many types of research stations including: biological field stations, space stations etc. Research station sites might include remote areas of the world, oceans, as well as outer space, such as the International Space Station. Biological research stations developed during a time of European colonization and imperialism where Natural history, naturalists were employed to conduct observations on fauna and flora. Today, the discipline is represented by a number of organizations which span across multiple continents. Some examples include: the Organization of Biological Field Stations and the Organization for Tropical Studies. Space stations were also developed over a number of decades through Scientific method, scientific analysis and writing, w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Organization For Tropical Studies
The Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS)/Organización para Estudios Tropicales (OET), founded in 1963, is a non-profit consortium of over 50 universities and research institutions based in the United States, Latin America, and South Africa. OTS manages a network of Ecology, ecological research stations in Costa Rica and South Africa. The North American Office is located on the Duke University campus in Durham, North Carolina. OTS offers a variety of courses in Spanish language, Spanish and English language, English for high school, university, graduate students and professionals. Most of the coursework and research conducted at OTS stations focuses on tropical ecology, and the three research stations in Costa Rica are located in distinct ecoregions. OTS provides housing and a cafeteria for students researchers, and sometime ecotourists. OTS is involved in the policy related to tropical biology through courses, hosting meetings and conferences and managing conservation related p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heliconia Hirsuta 1zz
''Heliconia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the monotypic family Heliconiaceae. Most of the 194 known species are native to the tropical Americas, but a few are indigenous to certain islands of the western Pacific and Maluku (province), Maluku in Indonesia. Many species of ''Heliconia'' are found in the tropical forests of these regions. Most species are listed as either vulnerable or data deficient by the IUCN Red List of threatened species. Several species are widely cultivated as ornamentals, and a few are naturalized in Florida, Gambia, and Thailand. Common names for the genus include lobster-claws, toucan beak, wild plantain, or false bird-of-paradise; the last term refers to their close similarity to the Strelitzia, bird-of-paradise flowers in the ''Strelitzia'' genus. Collectively, these plants are also simply referred to as "heliconias". ''Heliconia'' originated in the Late Eocene (39 Ma) and are the oldest known clade of hummingbird-pollinated plants. Descripti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Meters Above Sea Level
Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level varies in different countries due to different reference points and historic measurement periods. Climate change and other forces can cause sea levels and elevations to vary over time. Uses Elevation or altitude above sea level is a standard measurement for: * Geographic locations such as towns, mountains and other landmarks. * The top of buildings and other structures. * Mining infrastructure, particularly underground. * Flying objects such as airplanes or helicopters below a Transition Altitude defined by local regulations. Units and abbreviations Elevation or altitude is generally expressed as "metres above mean sea level" in the metric system, or "feet above mean sea level" in United States customary and imperial units. Common abbr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pastures
Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Types of pasture Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep, or swine. The vegetation of tended pasture, forage, consists mainly of grasses, with an interspersion of legumes and other forbs (non-grass herbaceous plants). Pasture is typically grazed throughout the summer, in contrast to meadow which is ungrazed or used for grazing only after being mown to make hay for animal fodder. Pasture in a wider sense additionally includes rangelands, other unenclosed pastoral systems, and land types used by wild animals for grazing or browsing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are distinguished from rangelands by being managed through more intensive agricultural practices of seeding, irrigation, and the use of fertilizers, while rangelands grow primarily native vegetation, managed w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coffee In The Global Economy
Coffee is a popular beverage and an important agricultural product. Tens of millions of small producers in developing countries make their living growing coffee. Over 2.25 billion cups of coffee are consumed in the world daily. Over 90 percent of coffee production takes place in developing countries — mainly South America — while consumption happens primarily in industrialized economies. There are 25 million small producers who rely on coffee for a living worldwide. In Brazil, where almost a third of the world's coffee is produced, over five million people are employed in the cultivation and harvesting of over three billion coffee plants; it is a more labor-intensive culture than alternative cultures of the same regions, such as sugar cane or cattle, as its cultivation is not automated, requiring frequent human attention. Coffee is a major export commodity and was the top agricultural export for 12 countries in 2004; the world's seventh-largest legal agricultural export, by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Farmland (farming)
Arable land (from the , "able to be ploughed") is any land capable of being ploughed and used to grow crops.''Oxford English Dictionary'', "arable, ''adj''. and ''n.''" Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2013. Alternatively, for the purposes of agricultural statistics, the term often has a more precise definition: A more concise definition appearing in the Eurostat glossary similarly refers to actual rather than potential uses: "land worked (ploughed or tilled) regularly, generally under a system of crop rotation". In Britain, arable land has traditionally been contrasted with pasturable land such as heaths, which could be used for sheep-rearing but not as farmland. Arable land is vulnerable to land degradation and some types of un-arable land can be enriched to create useful land. Climate change and biodiversity loss are driving pressure on arable land. By country According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, in 2013, the world's arable land amou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Forest Fragmentation
Habitat fragmentation describes the emergence of discontinuities (fragmentation) in an organism's preferred environment (habitat), causing population fragmentation and ecosystem decay. Causes of habitat fragmentation include geological processes that slowly alter the layout of the physical environment (suspected of being one of the major causes of speciation), and human activity such as land conversion, which can alter the environment much faster and causes the extinction of many species. More specifically, habitat fragmentation is a process by which large and contiguous habitats get divided into smaller, isolated patches of habitats. Definition The term habitat fragmentation includes five discrete phenomena: * Reduction in the total area of the habitat * Decrease of the interior: edge ratio * Isolation of one habitat fragment from other areas of habitat * Breaking up of one patch of habitat into several smaller patches * Decrease in the average size of each patch of habit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Agroecology
Agroecology is an academic discipline that studies ecological processes applied to agricultural production systems. Bringing ecological principles to bear can suggest new management approaches in agroecosystems. The term can refer to a science, a movement, or an agricultural practice.Wezel, A., Bellon, S., Doré, T., Francis, C., Vallod, D., David, C. (2009)Agroecology as a science, a movement or a practice. A review. Agronomy for Sustainable Development Agroecologists study a variety of agroecosystems. The field of agroecology is not associated with any one particular method of farming, whether it be organic, regenerative, integrated, or industrial, intensive or extensive, although some use the name specifically for alternative agriculture. Definition Agroecology is defined by the OECD as "the study of the relation of agricultural crops and environment." Dalgaard ''et al''. refer to agroecology as the study of the interactions between plants, animals, humans and the envir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
