No. 93, May 2020 Wilson Botanical Garden Las Cruces Research Station Apdo. 73-8257 San Vito, Coto Brus, COSTA RICA Who We Are he Las Cruces Biological Station diversity of insects, and in particular moths private sleeping quarters, excellent meals, is one of three field stations and butterflies. knowledgeable and enthusiastic staff, and a Towned and operated by the Las Cruces protects more than 200 well-maintained network of paths and trails. Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS) hectares of primary forest (home to some The nearest town is San Vito, the municipal in Costa Rica. The station was acquired in 2,000 native plant species) and ~150 capital of Coto Brus county. It was founded 1973 and, along with the Wilson Botanical additional hectares that are in various by Italian immigrants in the 1950’s and to Garden, offers natural history visitors and stages of forest recovery. The reserve this day they have a strong presence in the researchers alike an extraordinary place to is surrounded by a mosaic of mixed-use community. For example, a Dante Alighieri visit and conduct research. agricultural fields and forest patches, and Italian-Costa Rican Community Center Far from the noise and bustle of the it is this fragmented setting that makes Las provides Italian language instruction and country’s capital city San José, Las Cruces Cruces an ideal place to study the effects of Coto Brus is the only county in Costa Rica is located in the remote southeastern forest fragmentation and isolation on animal where Italian forms part of the elementary corner of the country between Corcovado and plant communities. The landscape curriculum! But enough said here! We National Park on the Osa Peninsula, and surrounding Las Cruces is also ideally suited hope that you will be inspired to come and the enormous La Amistad International for research on biological corridors and experience firsthand the splendid tropical Biosphere Reserve (472,000 hectares) that restoration ecology; key fields of research diversity of the Las Cruces Biological spans south-central Costa Rica and western that are of ever increasing importance. Part Station and Wilson Botanical Garden! Panama. In 1983, UNESCO declared Las of our mission at Las Cruces is to continue Cruces and the Wilson Botanical Garden to purchase land for reforestation and, Please visit the Las Cruces website at part of the Biosphere Reserve due to its in doing so, expand our protected areas http://www.tropicalstudies.org/lascruces incredible diversity and proximity to La and connect some of the isolated forest for more information or contact us directly Amistad. fragments around the station. For further by email at [email protected] The Wilson Botanical Garden, founded information on this campaign please visit the or telephone at: +506 2773-4004. Postal in 1962 by Catherine and Robert Wilson, Las Cruces website. mail can be sent to: Estación Biológica Las is arguably the most important botanical At approximately 1,200 meters elevation Cruces/Jardín Botánico Wilson; Apdo. 73- garden in Central America and a “must (3,900 feet), the prevailing temperatures at 8257; San Vito de Coto Brus, Puntarenas; see” stop on the itineraries of plant lovers, Las Cruces are cooler than one might expect. Costa Rica. birders, and other natural history groups. It Temperatures range from 21-26 °C (70-80 Reservations can also be made by is famous for its worldwide collection of °F) during the day and 15-21 °C (low 60’s) contacting the OTS office in San José tropical plants that include palms, aroids, at night. Mean annual rainfall is ~4,000 by email: threepaths.reservaciones@ bromeliads, gingers, marantas, heliconias, mm (157 inches)! The dry season runs tropicalstudies.org or by telephone +506 and ferns. More than 3,000 exotic species from January – March, and the rainy season 2524-0607. of plants can be found in the 10-hectare (~ from May – November. Most visitors and The North American OTS office is 25-acre) garden, including one of the largest researchers come during the dry season. located at Duke University, telephone: collections of palms in the world. The station is well known for its +1 (919) 684-5774 or email: ots@ There is an incredible diversity of visitor-friendly amenities: comfortable tropicalstudies.org animals that inhabit the Las Cruces reserve, and the forest fragments in the immediate surrounding area. The bird list The Organization for Tropical Studies is a nonprofit consortium of universities and has registered 410 species; close to half the research institutions in the U.S., Costa Rica, Peru, Mexico, South Africa, and Australia. number of birds found in all of Costa Rica. Founded in 1963, OTS is dedicated to providing leadership in education, research There are also more than 100 species of and the responsible use of natural resources in the tropics. To this end, OTS offers mammals, of which 60 are bats. Some of the graduate, undergraduate and professional education, facilitates research, participates in more commonly sighted mammals include conservation activities, conducts environmental education programs and maintains three agoutis, white-faced capuchin monkeys, fields stations in Costa Rica: La Selva Biological Station in the Atlantic lowland rain kinkajous, olingos, and tayras. Reptiles and forest; Palo Verde Biological Station in the Pacific deciduous dry forest; and Las Cruces amphibians also thrive in this moist, cloud- Biological Station in the premontane cloud forest near the Panamanian border. laden habitat and there is an impressive 2 Amigos Newsletter What’s New at Las Cruces? AMIGOS NEWSLETTER No. 93, May 2020 A Sanitary Emergency Chronicle One year ago, OTS was facing a panorama full of plans on how to de- “When the threat of What’s New at Las Cruces? 3 velop new academic ideas, how to offer COVID-19 has sub- A Sanitary Emergency new attractions to the natural history Chronicle sided, OTS will join visitors and how to improve the infra- Safety for Garden’s Visitors many other organiza- structure. At Las Cruces, the personnel Fresh from the Forest tions and businesses were making all needed arrangements Same place, contrasting in Costa Rica as we and plans for the many researchers and situations… endeavor to restart academic groups to arrive after May. Global Big Day at Las Cruces By then, there were also many tourist our services and carry reservations already made for the high out our mission. With season at the beginning of the next year. your support, we will Research at Las Cruces 6 One year later, we are facing a dif- not only rebuild – we Las Alturas – a GREAT ferent window. Our days show changes will thrive.” location for science in vocabulary and actions that were not A Wild Classroom common before, such as social distance, Dr. Elizabeth Braker Invaders, Be Aware home working, safety protocols, social OTS CEO policy, and more. Many personal and social changes of behavior are shaping De la Comunidad 10 our days. research stations to prevent the spread of Migration Experiences with OTS has taken measures to help pro- the COVID to the wildlife, preventing field the Scarlet Tanager tect the health of station visitors, as well work of researchers who were already in the One World – One Community as our staff. The sanitary emergency for country and their assistants. The next phase Our donors COVID-19 was declared in Costa Rica was the decrease of the number of people on March 6th. A week later Las Cruces to visit the station for the rest of the season, had already implemented several pro- and the suspension and cancellation of new tocols to maintain safety of the visitors tourist reservations started to pour. we had for those few days. The station All this has brought our activities to a was ahead of other similar facilities on minimum, knowing that there will be finan- the implementation of measures on the cial implications, not only for the station, as cleaning of rooms and other spaces, as it needs to be maintained and all associated Front Cover: Heliconia ramonensis. well as on how to serve the food, among expenses be covered, but also to the sur- Photo by Rodolfo Quirós. others. By then, we did not foresee how rounding communities, for which visitation the pandemic would affect everything to the area brings support. Back Cover: Las Cruces personnel is around us. As we have been learning how to deal preparing for reopening the station and The situation started with the with the disease and are concerned with help visitors enjoy it safely. Photo by cancellation of all the field courses for the safety of our visitors in the near future, Endal Zúñiga. which OTS is internationally known, we are also making efforts to provide good and of the university faculty-led courses experiences to meet their expectations of Editorial Committee: Rodolfo for which we provide facilities and exploring the flora and fauna of our tropi- Quirós F., Emilce Ramírez logistics. On top of this, researchers cal rain forests. As you read this, we are with current projects could not plan already preparing to reopen the station and their summer field season and had to reactivate it and our lives to the extent of cancel their reservations. Later on, the our possibilities. We hope to share the sta- Government issued a mandate to close tion with you and with more people so that the access to the natural forest in all the field experiences are rewarding. Amigos Newsletter 3 Safety for Garden’s Visitors All public restrooms at the different personnel shows up. This is the case of a Wilson Garden buildings will have new device that was built by Mauricio Barquero ornaments beside the traditional liquid soap and Diego Meza, our maintenance crew.