Resumo

MORERA-BEITA, Carlos; SANDOVAL-MURILLO, Luis Fernando  e  ALFARO-ALVARADO, Luis Diego. Assessment of biological corridors in Costa Rica: landscape structure and connectivity-fragmentation processes. Rev. Geog. Amer. Central [online]. 2021, n.66, pp.106-132. ISSN 2215-2563.  http://dx.doi.org/10.15359/rgac.66-1.5.

In recent years, biological corridors have proliferated worldwide in response to the accelerated process of fragmentation of natural ecosystems. Since the early 1990s, Costa Rica implemented the establishment of biological corridors as a strategy for seeking connectivity among protected areas. During the past years, forty new biological corridors have been established, equivalent to 38% of the total surface area of Costa Rica’s mainland territory. Despite their popularity, there is no research evaluating their functionality as connectivity spaces. In view of this shortcoming, the present article analyzes Costa Rica’s biological corridors from the perspectives of area, landscape structure, ecological functionality, and levels of connectivity-fragmentation. The database of the Programa Nacional de Corredores (translated as National Program of Corridors) is used and complemented by coverage analysis using Landsat images from 2010 and 2015. It is concluded that biological corridors in Costa Rica are diverse in regards to area coverage, landscape structure, ecological functionality and degree of connectivity-fragmentation. After their establishment, most biological corridors have recovered an important part of their natural coverage, nonetheless, fragmentation has increased. The abundant existence of biological corridors evidences the lack of a prioritization policy essential to advance the consolidation of these connectivity strategies throughout the country.

Palavras-chave : Biological corridors; Protected areas; Connectivity; Costa Rica.

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