Abstract
The Reserva Biológica San Luis is a small protected area located on the Pacific side of the Cordillera de Tilarán, northwestern Costa Rica, with a forest transitioning between the basal and premontane floras according to Holdridge’s Life Zones. An inventory of the vascular flora of the reserve was performed by collecting botanical samples during three years and consulting the databases of the CR, INB, MO and USJ herbaria. We report 130 families, 477 genera and 716 species of native vascular plants. Angiosperms comprise the largest group with 94.3%, followed by Pteridophytes 5.4% and Lycophytes 0.3%. The best represented life forms are herbaceous and arborescent with 35.7% and 26.8% respectively. Fabaceae and Piper are the most diverse family and genus, with 67 and 15 species respectively. Despite occupying 0.000049% of the total area of Costa Rica, this reserve protects approximately 7.3% of the vascular plants of the country.
Highlights
Costa Rica is ranked as one of the best known countries in the Neotropics floristically (Grayum et al 2004)
The Reserva Biológica San Luis is a small protected area located on the Pacific side of the Cordillera de Tilarán, northwestern Costa Rica, with a forest transitioning between the basal and premontane floras according to Holdridge’s Life Zones
We report 130 families, 477 genera and 716 species of native vascular plants
Summary
Costa Rica is ranked as one of the best known countries in the Neotropics floristically (Grayum et al 2004). There are still many unexplored sites and floristic knowledge gaps in numerical terms (species richness) in many areas of the country. Located on the Pacific slope of the Cordillera de Tilarán, the Reserva Biologica San Luis (RBSL) is a small protected area that preserves a seasonal and transitional vegetation between the lowland tropical wet forest and premontane wet forest (Holdridge 1967). This vegetation type is usually located between 500–800 m on the Pacific slope of Costa Rican mountain ranges, especially in the seasonal Central Pacific region, the North Pacific region and in the Central Valley
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