Sistema Regional de Información
en línea para Revistas Científicas de América Latina,
el Caribe, España y Portugal

From the sustainable development management model, cities must seek balance relationships between natural resources and economic and social development in such a way that the environmental conditions inside and outside these urban spaces do not reach undesirable patterns and conditions. This study arises from the need to possess a system for monitoring the socio-environmental sustainability of cities through criteria and indicators. With the participation of national experts, a preliminary list of 327 indicators was generated which were then grouped based on their characteristics into 82 indicators distributed along 9 distinctive criteria, namely: water, energy, fauna, urban green areas, soil, environmental management, solid and liquid waste management, land use planning and society & governance. By means of bibliographic review, only 43 indicators were found to hold complete and operative information to be evaluated. Through a participative workshop involving the national experts, the theoretical feasibility of applying the selected indicators was evaluated. The final result is a compendium of 19 socio-environmental indicators, which comply with at least 80% pertinence, relevance, robustness and data availability. However, the experts point out that cost, scale and quality are all variables that must be used in selecting, adapting or creating indicators that allow for the monitoring of socio-environmental sustainability in Costa Rican cities.

This paper presents the implementation of a methodology for determining the growth of urban sprawl in the capital cities of the Central American Region (CAR) during the period 1975-1995-2014. The objective of the investigation is to recreate the urban sprawl of the Central American capital cities throughout the studied years by means a methodology involving remote sensing and the implementation of various techniques for the processing and post-processing of Landsat satellite images. Additionally, photointerpretation, classification and GIS (Geographic Information Systems) digitalization techniques were used in determining the urban sprawls of each country for the period under consideration to provide a baseline for the comparative analysis of each capital city taking into account geopolitical elements and some related studies. (Se recomienda hacer pausa con punto para describir finalmente la utilidad del estudio). This study serves as input for future research on the analysis of urban planning as well as territorial planning.

Since 2010, the local press has been reporting an accelerated process of erosion on the sandy beaches of the Costa Rican Caribbean coast, it has even been documented within protected areas. To quantify this process and identify coastal erosion hotspots in the Caribbean south, a methodology was proposed for detecting and delineating the shoreline using aerial photographs and high-resolution satellite imagery to determine the rate of coastline retreat, the employed photographs and images cover the period between 2005 and 2016. By such means it was possible to identify eleven erosion hotspots, as well as estimation of their retreat rates for the periods 2005-2010 and 20102016. The localities that have experienced the greatest erosion of their sandy beaches are Cahuita National Park, Westfalia and Bananito Beach.

Since 2010, the local press has been reporting an accelerated process of erosion on the sandy beaches of the Costa Rican Caribbean coast, it has even been documented within protected areas. To quantify this process and identify coastal erosion hotspots in the Caribbean south, a methodology was proposed for detecting and delineating the shoreline using aerial photographs and high-resolution satellite imagery to determine the rate of shoreline retreat, the employed photographs and images cover the period between 2005 and 2016. By such means it was possible to identify eleven erosion hotspots, as well as estimation of their retreat rates for the periods 2005-2010 and 2010-2016. The localities that have experienced the greatest erosion of their sandy beaches are Cahuita National Park, Westfalia and Bananito Beach.

The present case study describes the work carried out under the Environmentally-Displaced People Project: new processes of exclusion in Costa Rica, executed by the Institute of Social Studies in Population (IDESPO) of the Universidad Nacional, Costa Rica. It describes the displacement experienced by the community of Calle Lajas due to a landslide that occurred on November 3, 2010, which resulting in human fatalities and material losses including the relocation of the community to the current Lajas Compartir settlement. The situation experienced by the relocated community was assessed by a census and interviewing its population; both surveying techniques evidenced the challenges and lessons learned involved in risk management and attending populations that experience environmental displacements.

Geographical knowledge is the basis for the theoretical and practical construction of space as a conception of the environment, as well as for the necessary environmental cultural formation of social actors in the contexts of production and reproduction of life. The understanding of the geographical particularities of the space where the daily life of the individual elapses contributes to the perception of the risks brought by extreme hydrometeorological hazards. The article is the result of the analysis, from a geographical perspective, of the study of Cuba's national perception of risks from hydrometeorological hazards for the period 2009-2011, with the inclusion of related thematic maps. It aims at contributing to Cuba's Environmental Agency efforts in environment social studies, risk management of disasters and local geographic education. Keywords: Hydrometeorological hazards; Risk perception; Social vulnerability; Environmental cultural formation; Geographical education.

The potential use of the precepts and concepts of genetic conservation in urban green spaces is examined through a theoretical reflection. Usually, urban green spaces are considered as part of the urban real-estate and its use is frequently associated with an aesthetic aspect of the city. Its planning does not consider technical nor scientific aspects. Additionally, studies of cities disregard the genetic conditions of species in an environment generally already considered hostile. It is proposed the development of genetic conservation studies to improve the quality of the biological diversity in urban green spaces with evermore functional purposes.

In order to investigate the fluctuation in the foliar concentration of nutrients during the growing season, a study was carried out in four fig orchards with intensive production systems, in the Comarca Lagunera, Durango, Mexico. A soil characterization was carried out, as well as monthly sampling and analysis, from April to October, of N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Fe, Cu, Mn, Zn and Ni. With respect to the foliar concentration of nutrients, in most cases they did not show significant differences between orchards, within each sampling date. The foliar concentration of N, Mg and Zn was highest at the beginning of the cycle (April-May) and then decreased during the cycle. On the other hand, the concentration of P, Ca, Cu and Ni showed a lower concentration at the beginning than at the end of the cycle, while K, Fe and Mn did not obtain a definite trend during the season. All the nutrients were within the levels of sufficiency reported in the literature, with the exception of Ca and Mg which were lower, despite which they did not show symptoms of deficiency. It was concluded that this species shows large seasonal variations during the cycle, in most of the nutrients; therefore, it is recommended that the sampling of leaves for nutrimental diagnostic purposes be made in June, in the period between the end of the harvest of brevas and before fruit harvest, which was when there was less variability among orchards.

The production of inoculum is a process that requires its optimization, since, to a great extent, it depends on generating a greater biological efficiency in the cultivation of mushrooms, reducing the economic costs, as well as problems of contamination and time in the cultivation cycles. In the present investigation, during 2016, the colonization of four substrates was evaluated (corn stubble, Quercus sp. sawdust, Senecio cinerarioides sawdust and maize stubble in combination with S. cinerarioides sawdust) with liquid and solid inoculum of F. mexicana (strains IE 974, IE 984, IE 985, IE 986). As results, it was obtained that the colonization rate of the different substrates varied among the four strains (p≤ 0.0001). Substrates with solid inoculum showed lower growth rates compared to liquid inoculum, substrates with liquid inoculum were colonized in a period of 17 days and with solid inoculum took 50 days and in some cases, there were parts that were not colonized; which was also related to the substrate used, presenting an interaction (p≤ 0.0001) between the type of inoculum and the substrate that affects the growth rate. The incorporation of liquid inoculum in the cultivation of fungi allows to increase the density and speed of mycelial growth, as well as the early appearance of primordia, which contributes to reduce the time in the cultivation cycle.    

Worldwide, the most important phytoparasitic nematode genus is Meloidogyne, since it affects more than 3 000 plant species and its infection is characterized by the formation of galls in the root of the infected plant. In Sinaloa, the current distribution of Meloidogyne is unknown, because the most recent reports are from the year 2000 and 2001, identifying the species M. incognita, M. arenaria, M. hapla and M. javanica, distributed in the state. In the present work of investigation, the objectives were to identify morphologically and molecularly the species of the root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne spp.), as well as, to determine its distribution in the culture of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L), in Sinaloa, Mexico. Cultivated lots with tomato were sampled in the different horticultural zones of Sinaloa, Mexico, during the agricultural cycles 2013-2014, 2014-2015, 2015-2016 and 2016-2017, in the open field, shade mesh and greenhouses, where samples of soil and roots, to perform morphological and molecular identification. The species identified in the samples collected were M. enterolobii, M. incognita and M. arenaria with 88, 10 and 2% incidence respectively. These results indicate that M. enterolobii, M. incognita and M. arenaria are distributed in the state of Sinaloa in the tomato crop, being M. enterolobii the predominant species.