Manual de Plantas de Costa Rica 219 
ince Standley, many others have contributed to our current floristic knowledge 
of the country (see the chapter on History), and some 12,000 localities have been 
botanized (see Map 2). Nevertheless, botanical exploration and taxonomic/ 
systematic activity have been particularly intense during the last 15 years. This recent 
activity is largely due to a long-standing collaboration among the Instituto Nacional de 
Biodiversidad, the Missouri Botanical Garden, the Museo Nacional of Costa Rica, and 
the community of local and international specialists. The effort has resulted in at least 
861 additions to the spermatophyte flora, including species new to science and those 
new to the country. This accounts for ca. 40% of the 2164 species added so far to the 
flora since Standley (1937b—1938b). 
Although ferns are not due to be treated in the Manual de plantas de Costa Rica, 
we should mention that our knowledge of this important group has also grown consid- 
erably in recent years. An estimate by Grayum & Churchill (1987) at the beginning 
of the Manual project showed 900 species from the country, as compared to our cur- 
rent estimate of 1112 species. That these numbers suggest an increase (212 species) of 
more than twice the number of new ferns for which we have records (89 species) is 
probably due, in part, to the difficulty in keeping track of newly discerned (versus 
newly described) species (see also below). The following numbers and lists take into 
consideration the new ferns for which we have kept records. 
m Sitios de Recolecta del INBio (1989-2000) 
s 
Escala 
1:2500000 
0 50 
So. Gate... 
“*PUNTARENAS - 
Isla del Coco 
g 
Wry 
; Kilometros 
Fuente: Sistema de Informacion Atta, 
Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidac 
Escala - as 
1:200000 Proyeccion: Coordenadas Geograficas 
Elaboré: Heiner Acevedo 
Map 2 
