Die Tropenstation La Gamba

Die „Tropenstation La Gamba“ in Costa Rica – Wissenschaftlicher Bericht
The Field Guide project could not have been successfully finished without the
participation of Georg Zimmermann. He wrote the greatest portion of the family
treatments. For the introductory part an essay on the geology and geological history of
the Osa Peninsula was written by the geologist Dr. Otto Malzer, and a special chapter on
the soils was contributed by Susanne Pamperl, another student who conducted a diploma
thesis in the Esquinas Forest.
Initially, we restricted our efforts for the Field Guide to the plants within the
Esquinas forest. However, Nelson Zamora, leading botanist of the "Flora of Costa Rica"
project centered at INBio (Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad, Heredia) recently joined
the project, and the decision was taken to expand the coverage of the Field Guide also to
the Corcovado National Park on the Osa peninsula. Nelson Zamora proved most helpful
and active. He revised the text of many families, helped with plant identifications, made
drawings, slides and maps located at INBio available, and agreed to act as a co-editor.
From INBio we also received support from Reinaldo Aguilar, whose excellent plant
knowledge and field experience proved indispensable, and from Maria Marta Chavarria
Díaz, who helped with plant identifications. Another important Costa Rican institution
that deserves acknowledgement is the Museo Nacional de Costa Rica, San José. The
staff members of the herbarium, Joaquin Sanchez, Armando Ruiz, Alfredo Cascante,
Mariela Bermúdez, Silvia Lobo, and Armando Estrada, as well as Guiselle Alvarado
(Dept. of Ornithology) were most cooperative and helpful through the years. Some even
agreed to act as co-authors and revised certain plant families.
Botanists from other institutions provided support as well, especially Dr. Barry
Hammel (Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis), who helped from the onset of the
project with plant identifications and who improved of many of the family accounts. In
addition, we are grateful for the cooperation of Dr. Michael Grayum (Missouri Botanical
Garden, St. Louis), Dr. Robert Dressler (Micanopy, Florida), and Dr. Günther Gerlach
(Botanical Garden Munich).
Special thanks go to the following scientific journals and institutions for
granting permission to reproduce illustrations (line drawings) and maps: Annals of the
Missouri Botanical Garden ("Flora of Panama", Missouri Botanical Garden), Nature,
Tectonophysics (Elsevier Science), Geological Society of America Special Papers
(GSA), Instituto Geográphico Nacional de Costa Rica (Map 2), EcoMapas-Project
(INBio-SINAC) (Map 3), INBio (line drawings by Claudia Aragón) and Missouri
Botanical Garden (line drawings by R.J. Bazan, J.H. Becker, H.J. Cuddy, J.E. Klein, L.
Mourrè, B. Velick, R.J. White, Y.L. Wilson, R. Wise). Map 1 was prepared by Mrs.
Bettina Berger.
Dr. Peter Stütz and Stefan Jirka were most helpful in reading and correcting
large portions of the text. For manifold technical assistance thanks go to (in alphabetical
order) Dr. Ralf Buchner, Stefanie Csekits, Manfred Dworak; Dr. Michael Kiehn, Mag.
Brigitte Krückl, Dr. Veronika Mayer, Matischa Orator, Monika Paschinger, Wolfgang
Prader, Verena Schmelz, and Mag. Susanne Sontag.Last but not least, I have to thank the
many institutions and people who supported the project through grants and generous
donations. They are listed on a foregoing page.
We would be happy if the Field Guide would prove to be a valuable
contribution to the appreciation of rainforests and their plant diversity in a relatively
poor and little known region of Costa Rica. May this be another stepping stone to
preserve these complex and vulnerable ecosystems for future generations.
Vienna, November 2001The Editors
Anschrift der Autoren:
Univ. Prof. Dr. Anton Weber, Mag. Werner
Huber, Mag. Anton Weissenhofer, Mag. Georg
Zimmermann
Inst. f. Botanik, Rennweg 14, A-1030 Wien
Tel. ++43-1-4277-54080, Fax. ++43-1-4277-
9541, anton.weber@univie.ac.at,
werner.huber@univie.ac.at,
anton.weissenhofer@univie.ac.at,
georg.zimmermann@univie.ac.at,
Nelson Zamora, INBio - Instituto Nacional de
Biodiversidad, Santo Domingo, Heredia, Costa
Rica, nzamora@inbio.ac.cr
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