™
The beauty and diversity of the flora and fauna found in Costa Rica is unparalleled. Costa Rica has become more famous for its conservation efforts than for its coffee in recent years. Over 12% of its land area is now part of a national park system created to aid in protecting the delicate ecosystems of the remaining virgin rainforests. We hope that in viewing our photo gallery of nature’s precious gifts you will be inspired to aid in these conservation efforts. Our collection will be changing from time-to-time as we take more photos. So, please visit our site often!
Come with us on a hike through a Costa Rican Rainforest!
(Click on photos to see enlarged images)
Out of the darkness of the rainforests come many special gifts and messages for mankind.
 |
 |
At
sunrise, nature’s winds stir the rainforest canopy and gather the moisture rising
from the forest.
That same moisture will later fall as rain to nourish the forest’s flora and
fauna once
again and to fill the streams with fresh, pure water.
 |
 |
 |
Only about one percent of available light penetrates the canopy to the forest floor. Like the light from the ceiling of a great cathedral, the rainforest understory is illuminated from light sometimes appearing to come from nowhere.
|
When light penetrates the forest floor, seeds and spores of light-starved plants grow quickly.
 |
 |
Rainforest Rebirth |
|
Often rainforest plants and trees will grow in unusual ways depending on the light’s distribution as it filters through the rainforest canopy.
 |
 |
 |
|
In the rainforest understory, rich in nitrogen from the ever-ending process of decomposition, many of our common houseplants emerge. Philodendrons and ferns abound amongst the moss--even growing on rock formations.
 |  |
 |
 |
Miniature “gardens” and “nature’s own floral arrangements” can be found around every corner, under foot and up every tree—an endless display of richness and beauty:
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Dead tree trunks provide nourishment to forest creatures of all sorts and to an endless variety of plant species.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
“Nature’s own Ikebana” (An ancient form of Japanese floral arranging)
 |
 |
 |
Understory plants thrive with little light, but lots of moisture from the higher humidity within the forest.
 |
 |
 |
| Fern Fronds | “The heart of the rainforest” | “A rainforest wonder” |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Rainforest Wildflowers |
|||
Light-seeking vines grow up from the rainforest floor, while nutrient-seeking aerial roots grow down from the upper canopy.
 |
 |
| Vanilla Vine | Aerial Roots |
Many trees in the rainforest are anchored by prop roots and buttress roots.
Prop roots
Death in the rainforest gives way to new life.
An ancient Indian grave at Guayabo National Monument with tree roots illustrating nature’s continuous cycle of life and death.
Another
ecosystem in the rainforest canopy:
The branches and trunks of canopy trees drip with epiphytes like orchids and
bromeliads.
 |
 |
Bromeliads with their water reservoirs forming min-oases
for the canopy animals and
insects to get water and
give the plants their nutritious waste products.
 |
 |
 |
Hundreds of orchids bloom in the “canopy gardens”. There
are over 1000 species of orchids in
 |
| “Tree of Life” |
Hundreds of aerial plants, like bromeliads and orchids, are clinging to this huge canopy tree for life.
Rainforest Birds and Animals
 |
 |
Three-toed Sloth |
Two-toed Sloth |
The Sloth is one of the few animals in the world to survive wholly on leaves. Thus they are very sluggish due to the lack of caloric intake. They survive by blending into the background. Their coat often has a green tinge due to the thousands of organisms like moss and beetles that survive in the thick fur.
The Iguana inhabits the lower reaches of the rainforest, surviving on the myriad of resident insects. The lizards clean the leaves of excess larvae that could very quickly defoliate the forest.
 |
 |
Spider Monkey |
|
Monkeys of the rainforests many times act as pollinators and seed spreaders.
Over 820 species of birds reside in Costa Rica at least part of the year. Birds enjoy the vast amount of energy-rich fruit offered up by the rainforests. But they also contribute to the survival of the rainforest in a vital way by spreading seeds far and wide.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Scarlet-rumped Tanenger | ||
 |
||
The sweet-smelling, nectar-rich flowers lure the hundreds
of colorful butterfly species found in
 |
 |
 |
 |
During this “hike” through a Costa Rican rainforest you have seen only a very few of nature’s gifts.
Is nature mourning the loss and destruction of the world’s rainforests?
We believe that is the message we discovered in this photo we took of a branch full of lichens and moss during a hike through a rainforest in November, 2002.
Some other gifts:
|
|
“Rainforest Rainbow” |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
™
All images & text
on this site ©2002-2003 De la
Naturaleza para el Alma/Nature’s Gift to the
Soul
All Rights Reserved
Worldwide