Day 4 Las Cruces Biological Field Station

Took my crew to the mouth of the Rio Java, where it empties into Quebrada Garrote for a few kilometers before joining the Rio Coto Brus. The landscape in the lower reaches has been mostly transformed into pasture land with some crop fields so our idea is to assess how stream habitat quality changes as a result of land use in the Rio Java Basin.  I must say, I am impressed with how the Costa Ricans protect their riparian buffers. They had some of the best fencing I've seen anywhere to keep their cows off the river. As a result, the river is less degraded in the lower reaches than I would have predicted. After doing a site at the mouth, we headed back to San Vito to conduct a survey on the river as it runs through the urban/industrial landscape. That site was more degraded than the lower site due to road construction along the river's edge. I suspect it is only a matter of time before the road completely washes away.