The Texas A&M Soltis Center for Research and Education is located in San Juan de Peñas Blancas, San Ramón, Costa Rica. The Center is the result of the generosity of Texas A&M University alumni Charles W. “Bill” Soltis and his wife Wanda, who in 2009 donated the new facility to the university along with a long-term lease on the adjacent 250 acres of land.
The site hosts both primary and secondary growth rainforest, the later of which was selectively logged between the 1950’s and the 1990’s. It is best classified as a lower montane forest, located in the transitional area between the upper and lower montane cloud forests and the lowland rainforests. Temperatures average 23°C with 4200 mm/yr of rainfall; a short drier period typically occurs between January and April. Estimates suggest that the site hosts more than 2000 species of vascular plants, with dominant vegetation types including plants in the Sapotaceae, Moracea, and Malvaceae families.
Measurements at the site include:
- Eddy-covariance for carbon dioxide and water vapor fluxes
- Net radiation
- Profiles of carbon dioxide, water vapor, air temperature, and photosynthetically active radiation within the canopy
- Sap flow in surrounding trees
- Leaf wetness and temperature
- Soil moisture, temperature, and heat flux
- Standard weather variables (precipitation, temperature, wind speed)
The site is part of the AmeriFlux Network for measuring ecosystem carbon, water and energy fluxes across the Americas. This research is supported by the Office of Science (BER), U.S. Department of Energy.
Soltis Center Weather Data
Weather conditions at the Soltis Center
Project News and Features
Researchers Miller and Moore feature in Conservation Matters “Meet a Scientist” column
Graduate student Luiza Maria Aparecido featured in AGU’s EOS
Project team featured in TAMU Foundation Spirit Magazine
Researchers Cahill, Moore, Andrews, and Merket interviewed in YouTube Video
Profile of the Soltis Center in The Eagle highlights the project
Project Data Archives
Related Websites
AmeriFlux Site Information Page
The Texas A&M University Soltis Center for Research and Education
Project Page for Improving Land-Surface Modeling of Evapotranspiration Processes in Tropical Forests
CloudNet tropical montane cloud forest research coordination network
Contact Information
PI: Gretchen Miller, Associate Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Texas A&M University