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

Sun and Beach tourism products are in full maturity and in some modes and regions are showing declining trends. The experience of developing tourism products indicates that one way to change that trend is to redesign them, supplemented with other factors which may enrich and convert them into new products. Due to their features, Nature Tourism products are best suited to play this role in the Caribbean with its varied, spectacular and unique natural scenery.

This study is part of the project “Pedagogical and vocational professional orientation for achieve pedagogical career” that is accomplished in Center of pedagogical studies for general education in the University “Hermanos Saíz Montes de Oca” from Pinar del Río in Cuba. The authors start on exposing the main studies dealing the roll of art in professional orientation, otherwise some thematic axis are analyzed in order to include the approach of pedagogic professional orientation taking into account Cuban pedagogy. The mains methods applied are documental analysis and conceptual cartography with the objective to identify the main characteristics of artistic approach of pedagogic professional orientation. Some conclusions are arrived that evidence the reach of the goal.

The world in general requires, at present, of competent professionals in every business entity, which constitute the main resource of organizations and it is the training of them, one of the key ways to promote the integrity of these and the development of the business entities. The importance of the training process and to improve it, it requires the knowledge of this through history. When making a compilation of the major historical moments of the training process in the World, from the perspective of various authors and systematized by the researchers, a characterization of the historical evolution of the training in the world is done with the use of the method document review, than the possibility of recognizing the evolution that has distinguished this process in the global context and able to assume the strengths and limitations that have arisen stems from what strategic actions can be traced to contribute to its improvement.

A brief history review regarding the previous research on the study of the Cuban cumacean is presented. The diagnostic characters to recognize the four families recorded in Cuba: Bodotriidae (Cyclaspis and Vaunthompsonia); Diastylidae (Leptostylis and Oxyurostylis); Leuconidae (Leucon) and Nannastacidae (Campylaspis, Cubanocuma, Cumella and Elassocumella), are given. A total of 27 species recorded for the country can be classified by using the given dichotomy keys. The diagnosis for each family and genus, as well as a figure for each species, are also pointed out.

In this work is characterized the relationships of Diadema antillarum Philippi, 1845, Lytechinus variegatus Lamarck, 1816 and Echinometra viridis A. Agassiz, 1863 by the richness and trophic diversity, breadth and overlap of the niche and their feeding strategies. Thirty-one adult individuals were collected at random for analysis of stomach contents (D. antillarum = 13, L. variegatus = 13 and E. viridis = 5). In the diet, 28 trophic resources were identified and 57% were vegetables. From the breadth of the trophic niche these species are general consumers and their diet is mainly based on vegetable trophic resources. The most abundant dietary resources were the Polysiphonia and Oscillatoria filamentous algae. Feeding strategies show interindividual variations in the use of trophic resources and the compartmentalization of the niche, which presupposes the coexistence without competition of their populations.

Several fireworms Hermodice carunculata (Pallas, 1766) were observed feeding on coral colonies or transplanted fragments of the threatened staghorn coral Acropora cervicornis (Lamarck, 1816), in outplanting sites at Bayahibe, Dominican Republic. The fireworm H. carunculata has a highly negative impact on A. cervicornis populations, causing several lesions on the living tissue of branches and partial or complete mortality at the outplanting sites. This is the first report of predation on transplanted colonies in a coral restoration program in the Dominican Republic.

The reef of Phragmatopoma caudata (Canalipalpata: Sabellariidae) in Barco Viejo or Desembarco Beach, Samaná, Dominican Republic, was evaluated. This type of reef is composed by the remains of sediments and rocks that are progressively cemented by these sabellariid worms over time. The reef is 115 m long, 1.59 m of maximum height, and 19.58 m of maximum width, forming two shelves. The sand particles in the reef and those present in the beach had different particle size; beach particles were smaller than those present in the reef. The worm tube diameter was on average 5.5 cm long and 4 mm in wide. The worm population study suggests that there was a decrease in the population. Nineteen species of different phyla were recorded from the reef. The Margalef index was 5.04, which is above the common maximum. Shannon index value rated 0.54, which is considered extremely low. Based on these results, it may be inferred that the morphology of this reef provides the beach with sand and protects it from adverse environmental conditions. This reef is a place with high biodiversity in the area.

The Mysida of the mexican Caribbean are still very poor studied up today. This paper is the first contribution to the knowledge of the group of crustaceans in the Coral Reef National Park Puerto Morelos, Quintana Roo. The material was collected from different substrates with SCUBA, mainly sponges, macroalgae and coral rubble. A total of eight species of mysids were documented for this reef park. The species Heteromysis elegans, Brattegard, 1974; H. (Olivemysis) floridensis Brattegard, 1969 y H. (O.) siciliseta Brattegard, 1970, are new records for the Mexican Caribbean.

The results of a characterization of the bird community of Sierra Martín García National Park are presented in a series of points established within six types of environments (humid subtropical forest, low montane humid forest, middle area transition forest, dry forest, lowland subtropical thorn scrub and coastal plain). A total of 1395 individuals and 90 species were recorded in 37 families of birds. Of the total number of species recorded, 14 are endemic, 56 resident, 18 migratory and two introduce. Coastal plain presented the highest value of species richness (68), while the humid forest and the subtropical thorn scrub recorded the lowest values, each with 24 species. The greatest abundance of individuals was documented by the coastal plain (448) and the smaller by the transition forest (103). The bird community of this protected area presents a high species diversity (H’= 3.9 and D = 0.97). The coastal plain showed the highest diversity value (H’= 3.7 and D = 0.96). The dry forest and the lowland subtropical thorn scrub had the lowest diversity value (H’= 2.9 and D = 0.93). According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) criteria, seven species are considered threatened and two nearly threatened.