Tiny patch, big value: A small dry forest patch supports wildlife conservation in Guanacaste, Costa Rica

Tropical dry forests are among the most threatened tropical ecosystems due to ongoing agricultural expansion and development. Despite this, small forest patches persist within fragmented landscapes, though their conservation value remains poorly understood. To evaluate the role of one such patch in supporting wildlife, we deployed camera traps across three zones (Dense Forest, Grassland, and Sparse Forest) within the Murren Reserve, a small dry forest patch on the southern coastline of Guanacaste, Costa Rica. Camera traps detected 16 vertebrate species, with opportunistic encounters adding 16 more. The most detected species included the white-nosed coati (Nasua narica), raccoon (Procyon lotor), and white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). Additionally, we recorded nationally endangered species, including the ocelot (Leopardus pardalis), puma (Puma concolor), and mantled howler monkey (Alouatta palliata), as well as nationally threatened species such as the spotted skunk (Spilogale an..., , , # Data from: Tiny patch, big value: A small dry forest patch supports wildlife conservation in Guanacaste, Costa Rica

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.0000000dg](10.5061/dryad.0000000dg)

## Description of the data and file structure

We evaluated vertebrate biodiversity across distinct zones within a small tropical dry forest by deploying camera traps in the Murren Reserve, Costa Rica. We placed cameras across three zones (Dense Forest, Grassland, and Sparse Forest) during the dry and wet seasons of 2024. Because of incorrect time and date metadata from images captured during the wet season, we focused most analyses on dry season data. We compared daily species richness and overall species composition between zones using generalized linear mixed models, dissimilarity analyses, and rarefaction curves. We also documented opportunistic vertebrate observations to supplement the camera data.

*A note about the inclusion of location data of threatened species*:  The study site covers ~13 ha (a...,