1. PLANTS AND VEGETATION OF MONTEVERDE

3. Plant Diversity Monteverde is home to an extremely high number of different plant species. The high level of moisture coupled with the change in elevation allows for incredible diversity and biomass.

4. Within Monteverde, the forest can be divided into three basic vegetative types: The seasonally dry evergreen forest on the west coast, the cloud forest on the continental divide, and the rain forest on the east coast.

5. Pacific Dry Forest The forest on the Pacific slope extends from roughly 700 to 1500 meters above sea level. The forest is mostly evergreen with only a few deciduous species. The annual rainfall is 2000-2500 mm. The forest is made up of tall straight trees ranging from 25-40 m, and has a closed canopy.

6. Cloud Forest The cloud forest extends from above 1500m m on the west slope and above 1300-1400 m on the east slope. The annual rainfall is 2500-3500 mm. The forest is completely evergreen, and canopy height ranges from 20-40 m to 5- 10 depending on the strength of the prevailing wind. The forest is also home to a wide variety of epiphytes.

7. Rain Forest The rain forest on the lower Atlantic slope receives and annual rainfall of 3500-7000 mm and is all but aseasonal. The canopy height typically ranges from 20-40 m but can be as low as 15 m or as high as 50 m depending on wind and elevation. it has a broken canopy.

8. Life Zones Monteverde possesses seven of the twelve life zones found in Costa Rica. They are the tropical moist forest, premontane moist forest, premontane wet forest, lower montane wet forest, lower montane rain forest, premontane rain forest, and tropical wet forest.

9. A life zone is characterized by the mean annual temperature and rainfall. While there may be variations in vegetation within a single life zone, the life zone system is a useful means of delineating the prevailing type of vegetation found in a given area.

10. Life ZoneElevation (m) Mean Annual Rainfall (mm) Mean Annual Temp. (Celsius) Dry Season Duration (months) Canopy Height (m) Tropical moist forest600-8001950-300021.5-24 degrees0-530-40 Premontane moist forest700-10001200-220017-24 degrees3.5-5ca. 25 premontane wet forest800-14502000-400017-24 degrees0-530-40 Lower montane wet forest1450-16001850-400012-17 degrees0-325-35 Lower montane rain forest1550-18503600-800012-17 degrees0-320-30 Premontane rain forest700-14004000-700017-24 degrees0-230-40 Tropical wet forest0-7004000-550021.5-24 degrees0-3.530-50 Life Zone Characteristics