Monteverde, Costa RicaBio geographer and investigator for National Geographic, Sally Horn, after coming to Costa Rica for the first time on 1982 has now begun an extensive investigation on the impact of human activity and climate change on forests in Costa Rica. For this research she has received the assistance of over 30 students and professors, who have conduct their own investigations on the climate change and the roll that human impact plays on this matter.

 

Sally Horn is a professor from the University of Tennessee in the United States. So far on her work in Costa Rica she has managed to extract sediments from the lagoons and determine, among other discoveries, what they used the soil for as much as 10,000 years ago. For example, in Guanacaste, they have planted corn for 5,450 years. Dr. Horn has been interested in Costa Rica for this research because of the biological diversity that can be found in its forests, especially in Guanacaste.

 

As part of her studies, she has also discovered that 5,000 years ago Costa Rica land was more humid, especially in the Caribbean and in the mountainous areas; it is still humid in those areas so I wonder how much humidity can make a difference regarding the soil in this case. Dr. Horn has concentrated her studies on the high mountain ranges in Talamanca, San Vito and Buenos Aires of Puntarenas and Guanacaste. Costa Rica is in fact the place she needs to conduct this research as you can see.

 

This investigation has also been set up to search for newer ways to take proper care of the Costa Rica soil and check out patterns of evolution to avoid future problems with the soil. Another study conducted by Karen Masters, a scientist residing in Monteverde, reveal that in this area there is less rain, higher night temperatures and mini droughts from 2 to 10 days. All these studies will certainly be of huge help for Costa Rica once they are done.