Monteverde : Ecology and Conservation of a Tropical Cloud Forest

The Physical Environment

Kenneth L. Clark

Robert O. Lawton

Paul R. Butler

Because biological diversity is directly related to di-
versity of the physical environment, a clear picture
of the physical setting of the Cordillera is crucial
to understand its ecology and conservation. The physi-
cal setting of Monteverde and the Cordillera de Tilaran
encompasses a wide range of environmental condi-
tions. The size, position across the trade windflow,
geology, erosional dissection, and hydrology of the
Cordillera interact to produce extraordinary physical
diversity that parallels its great biological diversity.
A major difference between tropical montane and
lowland regions is the way biological diversity is dis-
tributed across the landscape. Montane regions are
usually less diverse at the scale of 0.01-0.1 km^2 but
are as rich in species as nearby lowland areas at scales
of 10-100 km^2.
We have two goals in this chapter. First, we review
what is known of the climate and weather, geology
and geologic history, geomorphology, soils, and
hydrology of Monteverde. Our account focuses on
higher elevations in Monteverde and wetter areas on
the Caribbean slope, with less attention to the drier
environments on the lower Pacific slope. Second, we
point out areas where our knowledge is incomplete

and suggest promising lines of future research. Al-

though the geology and geomorphology of Monte-

verde are moderately well known, our knowledge of

the rates of many geomorphic processes, particularly

erosion, is poor. We also lack information on soils and

hydrology, particularly of wind-driven cloud and pre-

cipitation inputs, evapotranspiration, and stream out-

puts from forests and other land-use types in Monte-

verde. Quantitative information on how variability in

the physical environment interacts with biotic pro-

cesses at the population, community, and ecosystem

levels is scant.

2.1. Climate and Weather of Monteverde

Most of the climate and weather data were collected

at 1450 m at the Pension (1956-1971), at 1520 m at

John Campbell's residence (1972 to present), and

intermittently throughout or near the Monteverde

Cloud Forest Preserve (MCFP; Lawton and Dryer

1980, Crump et al. 1992, Clark 1994, Bohlman et al.

1995, W. Calvert and A. Nelson, unpubl. data). The

climate of Monteverde is transitional between low-

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