The transformation and degradation of tropical forest is thought to be the primary driving force in the loss of biodiversity worldwide. Developing countries are trying to counter act this massive lost of biodiversity by implementing national parks and biological reserves. Costa Rica is no exception to this rule. National development strategies in Costa Rica, since the early 1970s, have involved...

The preservation of land as national parks has been arguably the most successful feature of a nationwide increase in environmental awareness, referred to as the “greening” of America. The many and varied units in the national park system provide collective reassurance that, despite environmental excesses in other areas, the people of the nation understand the value of nature in its purportedly ...

Mercury (Hg) is a toxic, global contaminant that threatens ecosystem and human health. Human activities have increased atmospheric concentrations 3-5 fold during the past 150 years. Airborne Hg enters environmental cycles in complex ways, resulting in the contamination of even remote places. The National Park Service (NPS) protects some of the most pristine and sensitive wilderness in North Ame...

This paper summarises efforts to control Sleeping sickness [Human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT)] by Tsetse flies and Trypanosomiaisis (T & T) control for the 7 consecutive years although started a decade ago in Tanzania National Parks (TANAPA). These efforts are critical for curbing HAT incidences and HAT epidemics. HAT cases have had profound negative impacts on human health, affecting local r...

The United States (U.S.) National Park Service has initiated research on the atmospheric deposition and fate of semi-volatile organic compounds in its alpine, sub-Arctic, and Arctic ecosystems in the Western U.S. Results for the analysis of pesticides in seasonal snowpack samples collected in spring 2003 from seven national parks are presented herein. From a target analyte list of 47 pesticides...

Birds in U.S. national parks find strong protection from many longstanding and pervasive threats, but remain highly exposed to effects of ongoing climate change. To understand how climate change is likely to alter bird communities in parks, we used species distribution models relating North American Breeding Bird Survey (summer) and Audubon Christmas Bird Count (winter) observations to climate ...