Marine Biodiversity of Costa Rica, Central America [With CD (Audio)]

ISBN-13: 9781402082771 / Angielski / Twarda / 2008 / 538 str.

Ingo S. Wehrtmann; Jorge Cort?'s; Jorge Corta(c)S

Opis

Life began in the sea, and even today most of the deep diversity of the planet is marine. This is often forgotten, especially in tropical countries like Costa Rica, renowned for their rain forests and the multitude of life forms found therein. Thus this book focusing on marine diversity of Costa Rica is particularly welcome. How many marine species are there in Costa Rica? The authors report a total of 6,777 species, or 3. 5% of the world's total. Yet the vast majority of marine species have yet to be formally described. Recent estimates of the numbers of species on coral reefs range from 1-9 million, so that the true number of marine species in Costa Rica is certainly far higher. In some groups the numbers are likely to be vastly higher because to date they have been so little studied. Only one species of nematode is reported, despite the fact that it has been said that nematodes are the most diverse of all marine groups. In better studied groups such as mollusks and crustaceans, reported numbers are in the thousands, but even in these groups many species remain to be described. Indeed the task of describing marine species is daunting - if there really are about 9 million marine species and Costa Rica has 3. 5% of them, then the total number would be over 300,000. Clearly, so much remains to be done that new approaches are needed. Genetic methods have en- mous promise in this regard.

Recenzje

From the reviews:

"This book ... provide a good summary of the marine organisms of the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of Costa Rica. ... a useful resource for anyone interested in the marine life of Central America, and does a good job of highlighting the areas where research efforts should be concentrated. Summing Up: Recommended. All professional and academic libraries, lower-division undergraduates and above." (G. C. Jensen, Choice, Vol. 46 (11), July, 2009)

Spis treści

PART I The Marine Realm of Costa Rica – Diversity of Marine Habitats Jorge Cortés & Ingo S. Wehrtmann PART II A history of marine biodiversity scientific research in Costa Rica Jorge Cortés PART III Marine Fossils Teresita Aguilar PART IV Taxonomic groups Chapter 1. Phytoplankton - Roxana Víquez & Paul E. Hargraves Chapter 2 Marine benthic algae - Andrea Bernecker Chapter 3. Seagrasses -Jorge Cortés & Eva Salas Chapter 4 Mangroves - Ana Margarita Silva-Benavides Chapter 5 Foraminifera - Jorge Cortés, Claudia Mora-Baumgartner & Vanessa Nielsen Chapter 6 Sponges - Jorge Cortés, Noam van der Hal, R.W.M. van Soest Chapter 7 Hydrozoa, Scyphozoa and Cubozoa (Medusozoa) - Karina Rodríguez & Lourdes Segura-Puertas Chapter 8 Siphonophores - Karina Rodríguez & Rebeca Gasca Chapter 9. Zoanthids, sea anemones and corallimorpharians - Jorge Cortés Chapter 10 Octocorals - Odalisca Breedy Chapter 11 Stony corals - Jorge Cortés Chapter 12 Sipunculans - José A. Vargas & Harlan K. Dean Chapter 13 Polychaetes and echiurans - Harlan K. Dean Chapter 14 Stomatopods - Rita Vargas Chapter 15 Euphausids - Iván Castellanos, Eduardo Suárez-Morales & Álvaro Morales-Ramírez Chapter 16 Decapod crustaceans- Rita Vargas & Ingo S. Wehrtmann Chapter 17 Shallow water mysids - W. Wayne Price, Richard W. Heard and Rita Vargas Chapter 18 Cumaceans - Iorgu Petrescu, Richard W. Heard, Rita Vargas & Odalisca Breedy Chapter 19 Tanaidaceans - Richard W. Heard, Odalisca Breedy & Rita Vargas Chapter 20 Isopods - Richard Brusca & Ingo S. Wehrtmann Chapter 21 Gammaridean amphipods - John M. Foster, Sara E. LeCroy, Richard W. Heard and Rita Vargas Chapter 22 Hyperiid amphipods - Rebeca Gasca Chapter 23 Barnacles - Robert von Syoc Chapter 24 Copepods - Álvaro Morales-Ramírez & Eduardo Suárez-Morales Chapter 25 Sea-spiders - Roger N.Bamber Chapter 26 Marine insects - Monika Springer Chapter 27 Chitons - Enrico Schwabe & Ingo S. Wehrtmann Chapter 28 Benthic, shelled gastropods - Leonora Rodríguez, Rita Vargas & Jorge Cortés Chapter 29 Pelagic gastropods - Eduardo Suárez-Morales, Rebeca Gasca & Iván Castellanos Chapter 30 Benthic opisthobranchs - Yolanda E. Camacho-García Chapter 31 Bivalves - Julio Magaña-Cubillo & José Espinosa Chapter 32 Squids and octopuses - F.G. Hochberg & Yolanda E. Camacho-García Chapter 33 Phoronids - Christian C. Emig Chapter 34 Bryozoans - Jorge Cortés, Vanessa Nielsen & Amalia Herrera-Cubilla Chapter 35 Brachiopods - Christian C. Emig Chapter 36 Echinoderms - Juan José Alvarado & Jorge Cortés Chapter 37 Chaetognaths or arrow worms - Eduardo Suárez-Morales, Rosa Ma. Hernández-Flores & Álvaro Morales-Ramírez Chapter 38 Appendicularians (Urochordata) - Iván Castellanos, Álvaro Morales-Ramírez & Eduardo Suárez-Morales Chapter 39 Marine fish - William A. Bussing & Myrna López Chapter 40 Marine reptiles and amphibians - Mahmood Sasa, Gerardo A. Chaves & Lisa D. Patrick Chapter 41 Birds in coastal and marine environments - Gilbert Barrantes & Johel Chaves-Campos Chapter 42 Marine mammals - Laura May-Collado Chapter 43 Other taxonomic groups Fungi, kinorhynchs, invertebrate chordates - Jorge Cortés Chapter 44 Marine fish parasites - Jorge Cortés Chapter 45 Sea turtle parasites - Mario Santero & Simonetta Mattiucci PART V. Marine Biodiversity of Costa Rica: Perspectives and Conclusions - Ingo S. Wehrtmann, Jorge Cortés & Silvia Echeverría

O autorze

Ingo Wehrtmann:

• more than 50 published articles
• researcher and lecture at the Universidad de Costa Rica
• has worked in scientific institutions in Germany, Colombia, Chile, USA, Philippines and Costa Rica
• more than 20 years of experience in international scientific collaboration
• principal research area: decapod crustaceans in marine, estuarine and freshwater habitats

Jorge Cortés:

• Premio Nacional de Ciencias, Costa Rica, 1982
• more than 100 published papers
• editor of the book "Latin American Coral Reefs", 2003
• researcher and lecturer at Universidad de Costa Rica
• more than 25 years of experience in coral reef research

Blurb

This volume, compiling and updating the marine biodiversity information of Costa Rica, consists of species lists, and comments on the state-of-knowledge of most taxonomical groups. It contains information about collections and experts for each taxonomic group as well as information gaps, thus serving as a starting point and basic reference for future research. Although focusing on Costa Rica, the book provides an overview of marine species diversity of Central America.

This full color book with over 100 color illustrations should stimulate marine research in the region, and will be an asset for students and researchers as well as decision makers and conservation managers dealing with the sustainable use of marine and coastal areas.

From the foreword by the President of Costa Rica: Oscar Arias Sanchez:
'The work of Ingo Wehrtmann, Jorge Cortes and their colleagues, who have created the first-ever compilation of knowledge of our marine organisms, allows the rest of us to imagine underwater life a bit more clearly. Such imagining is crucial if our marine habitats are to be saved. This work also underscores the urgency of our task as conservationists.'

The Species' List can be obtained from http://extras.springer.com