The couple had much work ahead. The purchased land<\/a> was \u201call basically played out, old agricultural land [though] some was in natural regeneration \u2014 secondary forests<\/a> \u2014 and some [small amount] was still in old-growth,\u201d recalls Tom Gode, president of the board of directors of the U.S.-based Cloud Forest Conservation Alliance (CFCA), which manages\u00a0Cloudbridge Nature Reserve<\/a>\u00a0today.<\/p>\n The Giddys\u2019 planned to expand the forest zone outside the national park<\/a>, so they quickly started planting trees. But they soon learned that restoring a complex transitional ecosystem isn\u2019t easy. Most early plantings didn\u2019t survive, says Gode, who came on board in 2006.<\/p>\n \u201cBy year three, they\u2019d lost almost 90% of their trees,\u201d largely due to inadequate maintenance, but also because seedlings purchased at nurseries turned out to be poorly adapted to the \u201cisland habitat\u201d of the high-altitude cloud forest. Undaunted, the couple treated their failures as learning opportunities. It was time, they knew, to try something new.<\/p>\n Contents<\/p> To understand why the Costa Rican cloud forest is important to global biodiversity, one needs to understand how so-called \u201cisland habitats\u201d function, with their dynamics defined by a discipline known as\u00a0island biogeography<\/a>, or insular biogeography, a field created in the 1960s by ecologist Robert H. MacArthur and biologist E.O. Wilson. An insular environment is an area of habitat suitable to a particular ecosystem<\/a>, but surrounded by unsuitable habitat \u2014 traditionally defined as a terrestrial island isolated by ocean.<\/p>\n But today, scientists know that \u201chabitat islands\u201d come in all types and shapes, and aren\u2019t only encircled by the sea. Costa Rica\u2019s cloud forest, for example, is a habitat island demarcated not by water<\/a> but isolated by altitude, with the \u201cshore\u201d of that cloud-enshrouded enclave isolated even further by encroaching human-caused development and deforestation.<\/p>\n Chirrip\u00f3 National Park itself is an island of habitat, with its biodiversity<\/a> especially vulnerable due to the park\u2019s size (just 50,849 hectares, or 125,651 acres). That\u2019s because the smaller a habitat is, the fewer the species that can occupy it. This makes extinctions more likely, a dynamic defined by island biogeographers as the \u201cspecies-area relationship<\/a>.\u201d But conversely, the bigger an island habitat, the more resilient it is \u2014 a fact that boosts the value of the Giddys\u2019 restoration effort.<\/p>\n Today, climate change<\/a> is making cloud forest survival even more precarious, as higher altitudes turn hotter and drier. In future, there may be nowhere left for high-altitude-adapted species to climb to find optimal temperature and moisture levels, even as lowland species continue moving upward to compete with upland species, with unknown results.<\/p>\n All this makes the protection and restoration of cloud and transitional montane forest more important than ever.<\/p>\n In 2006, with 90% of their seedlings not surviving, the Giddys needed a new restoration plan. Together with Gode, they decided to let nature lead and determine what to plant and where.<\/p>\n Instead of buying nursery trees<\/a>, they harvested seeds directly from nature, found at the appropriate altitude. And it worked. It\u2019s a technique they continue using today.<\/p>\n \u201cWe go into the old-growth forest. We gather up the seeds, or in some cases, we transplant seedlings, and we run our own nursery,\u201d Gode explains. Doing so, they plant fewer trees<\/a>, but far more survive. Over time, the NG0 reversed the reserve\u2019s 90% tree loss, turning it into a 50% survival rate.<\/p>\n Which still wasn\u2019t good enough. After several research projects<\/a> at Cloudbridge provided invaluable scientific input, the conservation team revamped again. Employing cardboard as mulch and adding\u00a0microrhizomes<\/a>\u00a0to the soil, they boosted survivability to an impressive 90%.<\/p>\n Local knowledge<\/a> proved invaluable too, Gode says. The team learned the most difficult places to plant were east-facing slopes because they get hot, early morning sun, which dries out seedlings. So they tried \u201cisland planting,\u201d putting out a few hardy trees in barren fields. Birds<\/a> roosted in them and brought seeds into the fields. More trees and shrubs<\/a> grew, with the pioneer trees offering shade.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a crapshoot whether any of [the trees] would survive, but realistically, we do know that even if one of them survives, the birds will use it \u2026 It\u2019s effective,\u201d says Gode. Island planting is supplementary to the primary mode of restoration: doing intensive planting in areas that need it.<\/p>\n One problem facing the restorers was knowing precisely where to place seedlings and seeds. That issue was made more difficult because Cloudbridge is located in an\u00a0ecotone<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 an area of transition between two biological communities. \u201cBecause of our elevation, Cloudbridge is a transitional forest. If you go above Cloudbridge, it\u2019s almost 100% oaks. You go below Cloudbridge, there\u2019s almost no oaks. It all changes right here,\u201d Gode explains. To address the ecotone effect, the restorers typically plant an area half with oaks and half with other species.<\/p>\n They also don\u2019t try to imitate\u00a0natural ecological succession<\/a>\u00a0in their plantings. Instead of reforesting with pioneer species (naturally the first to come after deforestation), they jump right to seeding with climax species (trees that would naturally arrive last and live the longest).<\/p>\n One reason for this counterintuitive strategy concerns seed size and distribution: \u201cWe plant a forest closer to an old-growth forest than we do a natural<\/a> regenerated forest. [That\u2019s because] natural regeneration is primarily [carried out by] airborne seeds, or seeds that the birds carry in. But a lot of our [climax species] seeds here are [huge], the size of a [ripe] avocado, which obviously, a bird\u2019s not going to carry in.\u201d<\/p>\n These are seeds only a large animal such as Baird\u2019s tapir (Tapirus bairdii<\/em>), the largest wild land mammal currently living in Central and South America, can disperse. But when Cloudbridge was founded, no Baird\u2019s tapirs were living among the degraded pastures.<\/p>\n In the far distant past, other megafauna, now extinct, likely would\u2019ve played the tapir\u2019s seed-spreading role, including the elephant-like gomphotheres. However, species-area relationships apply here too: Stressed small island habitats are most likely to see their large species go extinct first.<\/p>\n Lacking resident tapirs or gomphotheres, humans became Cloudbridge\u2019s climax forest seed dispersers, though they also relied on gravity to distribute the roundish avocado-sized seeds. \u201cWe took an approach 10 years ago to plant the ridge lines, with the understanding that the [big climax forest] seeds would [fall from maturing trees] and roll down the hill,\u201d says Gode.<\/p>\n Today, Cloudbridge staff and volunteers have recorded sightings of Baird\u2019s tapir, though the animals remain transient, usually showing up only in the dry season. The forest probably isn\u2019t large enough yet for tapirs to take up residence here, says Gode.<\/p>\n \u201cIn order for the forest<\/a> to mature to something that resembles an old-growth forest, we would be talking centuries and centuries,\u201d Gode explains. \u201cOur forest is jump-starting literally centuries ahead of what natural<\/a> regrowth would do.\u201d And it\u2019s working!<\/p>\n With livestock gone and climax trees regrowing, more wild animals<\/a> began returning. \u201cIf we go back 18 years, we didn\u2019t see wildlife; we didn\u2019t see birds here,\u201d Gode recalls. \u201cYou might spot a vulture go overhead, and I could probably count all the [local] bird species on one hand.\u201d<\/p>\n As of today, the staff has cataloged 305 bird species at Cloudbridge \u2014 a sixtyfold increase<\/a> in less than 20 years. That includes the return of the resplendent quetzal (Pharomachrus mocinno<\/em>), an unmistakable beautiful cloud forest bird found in Central America\u2019s high places and listed as near threatened on the IUCN Red List.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s one of the most iconic species of the cloud forest<\/a>. That\u2019s something that\u2019s very magical, and something people are really excited to be able to see here occasionally,\u201d says Casey McConnell, Cloudbridge\u2019s general manager.<\/p>\n In addition, the team confirms that the recovering forest has been used by all six wild cat<\/a> species found in Costa Rica: the oncilla (Leopardus tigrinus<\/em>), margay (Leopardus wiedii<\/em>), jaguarundi (H<\/em>erpailurus yagouaroundi<\/em>), ocelot\u00a0(Leopardus pardalis<\/em>), puma (Puma concolor<\/em>) and jaguar (Panthera onca<\/em>).<\/p>\n Operations manager Max King points out that it\u2019s \u201cvery strange\u201d to have both the ocelot and oncilla spending time here. \u201cNormally, an ocelot, which is bigger than an oncilla, will kill the oncilla, because they have similar niches within the ecosystem.\u201d But the two felines seem to be coexisting.<\/p>\n Why that is, the team is still investigating, but King suggests it might be due to the uniqueness of Cloudbridge. \u201cI think part of that is \u2026 the transitional nature of the forest,\u201d allowing the ocelot and oncilla to take advantage of different forest types<\/a> within a small area.<\/p>\n Cloudbridge now has a resident female puma, who has successfully reared its young there. \u201cThis shows you [the forest can already support] an apex predator. It shows the health of the forest,\u201d King says. Jaguars have also appeared in Cloudbridge, but aren\u2019t residents; instead, they move through the preserve on the way between adjacent\u00a0Chirrip\u00f3<\/em><\/a> National Park and the lands below.<\/p>\n The restored forest is also home to lesser-known wild species, including\u00a0Dice\u2019s cottontail (Sylvilagus dicei<\/em>),<\/a>\u00a0a rabbit species found only in a small area of mountainous Costa Rica and Panama, and listed as vulnerable by the IUCN.<\/p>\n Despite the successful restoration effort, Cloudbridge still must deal with ongoing edge effects and, like everywhere else on the planet, accelerating climate<\/a> warming.<\/p>\n Edge effects occur when a forest runs up against a drastically different ecosystem<\/a>, in this case open livestock pasture and croplands. Edge forests tend to be less diverse, drier, and suffer more damage from winds<\/a>, and are at more risk of burning. Bird species from deeper in the forest, don\u2019t thrive in edge habitat.<\/p>\n Climate change<\/a> is also making the small, edge-impacted reserve more vulnerable. McConnell explains that the weather \u201cis not as predictable as it has been in the past.\u201d As climate<\/a> change-driven heat rises higher up the mountain, the cloud forest is drying out.<\/p>\n McConnell has also seen wild species coming up from the lowlands as the heights warm, putting them in competition with higher-altitude species. That includes the chestnut-headed oropendola (Psarocolius wagleri<\/em>). \u201cIt\u2019s a bird that \u2026 previously would not be seen \u2026 at these elevations,\u201d she says, but now it\u2019s at Cloudbridge \u2014 and not in small numbers, but in whole flocks.<\/p>\n The effects of climate change are also shifting how the Cloudbridge organization approaches restoration. \u201cWhen we started, we planted based on where we found seeds. If we found it close to the stream, we planted close to streams \u2026 Now, we plant them randomly everywhere because we don\u2019t know what\u2019s going to survive [or where], and nature will sort it out over the next umpteen years\u201d as the world warms, says Gode.<\/p>\n The reserve, although small in size, could also have a positive impact on the local climate<\/a>. The renewed forest is cooler and wetter than the degraded pasture and cropland it replaced. It also acts as a buffer, helping protect the cloud forest<\/a> in adjoining Chirrip\u00f3 National Park. Increasing the size of the Chirrip\u00f3 ecosystem will also potentially increase its resilience in the face of increased warming or drought.<\/p>\n In addition, planting large, old-growth species may lead to more carbon storage more quickly than other similarly sized restoration projects, though that research has yet to be done. Cloudbridge has educational value too: It gets a few thousand visitors annually, tourists who learn about the threat climate change poses to the cloud forest<\/a>.<\/p>\n The privately owned preserve relies almost entirely on tourists and volunteers to fund its operation. At this point, most of the reserve has been replanted, with the NGO having grown as many as 50,000 trees. \u201cI think we\u2019ve been a little bit a victim of our own success,\u201d King remarks. \u201cWe\u2019ve run out of space.\u201d<\/p>\n But that limitation isn\u2019t deterring the group from moving forward. It plans to work with local landowners to help them restore their forests, and hopes to build natural corridors so wildlife can continue moving through the landscape. If the team is able to significantly replicate its success across the region, it could further reduce climate change<\/a> impacts, especially since trees help generate the mists vital to cloud forest survival.<\/p>\n Ian Giddy passed away in 2009, but Genevieve Giddy is still affiliated with Cloudbridge. She visits when she can and gives presentations both in the U.S. and Canada about the work she and her husband started more than 20 years ago: The seeds they planted in the montane soil, and in people\u2019s hearts, have grown into a functioning ecosystem with ongoing stewardship \u2014 a thriving forest<\/a> community amid the clouds.<\/p>\n Banner image:<\/strong>\u00a0A resplendent quetzal, an iconic bird of Central America\u2019s cloud forest. Image by Cephas via\u00a0Wikimedia Commons<\/a>\u00a0(CC BY-SA 4.0<\/a>).<\/em><\/p>\n![\"Cloudbridge](\"https:\/\/imgs.mongabay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/03\/29150218\/Cloudbridge-1.jpg\")
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Saving an island habitat in the clouds<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>
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forest in Chirrip\u00f3 National Park.” width=”1536″ height=”1024″ \/>Early seed collecting and planting<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
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Dancing in the space between<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
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Return of the resplendent quetzal<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
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Warming mountaintops<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
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