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

The purpose of this article is to contribute to the formulation of ethical-political perspectives that reconcile social equity criteria with the expansion of moral consideration for non-human living beings. This compromise has been difficult between Western environmental analysts and actors because they respond to theoretical and methodological perspectives that generally affirm forms of intrinsic value of nature without concern for social equity or, on the contrary, defend social rights based on premises that maintain anthropocentric roots. A brief presentation of various approaches in the field of environmental ethics and environmental justice is made, including the Latin American perspective on the rights of nature. The aim is to point out contributions and omissions for the above-mentioned debate. With this in mind, it is affirmed that a socio-environmental ethics that conciliates humans and not humans must be intercultural.                                                                                                         

Many individuals of Homo sapiens consider this species as separate from the rest of creatures of the Animal Kingdom. This implies that there is a disconnection of the relations between the human being and the natural environment, whose causes are varied and their consequences are usually harmful. The present paper reviews the ecological characteristics of humans, such as the number of individuals, their distribution on the planet, life expectancy and relationships with other species and the environment. In addition, I analyze the sociocultural repercussions generated by the actions of our species on the environment. The ecological characteristics of the human being show that we should not consider ourselves as the most important species on the planet and rather consider that we are an integral part of the ecosystems. However, human-induced impacts on ecosystems, both on abiotic and biotic elements, are often harmful and affect all species, including ours. I suggest, therefore, that a reassessment of our species status and our role in the environment is required.  

The paper analyses the argumentative values of laughter in Horace, Persius, Juvenal, Martial and Petronius. Its goal is to determine the various functions of laughter and to contrast them among these three Latin literary genres: Satire, Epigram and Novel. To that end, it revises a corpus consisting of the works of the referred authors in search of references to laughter and it stablishes a classification of the argumentative values of laughter: a) promotion of the addresser’s image, b) degradation of the addressee’s image, d) exposition of an opposition towards a point of view, d) exposition of an approval of a point of view, and e) establishment of a communion with the audience. In conclusion, we identified three argumentative uses of laughter in Horace, one in Juvenal, one in Martial, and two in Petronius.                           

Este texto corresponde a la presentación del libro: “El módulo didáctico: La lectura: habilidad para transversalirzar la singularidad de un cantón”, llevada a cabo en el Museo Regional de San Ramón el 6 de abril de 2017.

Objetivo. El objetivo de la Revista Educación de la Universidad de Costa Rica es difundir la investigación científica y promover la reflexión académica en diversos campos del quehacer universitario.

La revista Pensamiento Actual es una publicación electrónica semestral de la Coordinación de Investigación de la Sede de Occidente de la Universidad de Costa Rica, se divulga los meses de junio y diciembre. Su objetivo general consiste en divulgar la producción científica que se realiza en la Sede de Occidente y en la comunidad académica nacional e internacional, por medio de artículos científicos, ensayos, producción artística, entre otros, con carácter original, novedoso y de acceso libre. No tiene ningún tipo de costos o cargas depublicación por parte de los autores.

A sequential account of a whole scientific relationship is made between the Alberto Manuel Brenes Biological Reserve (ReBAMB) and the University of Medical Sciences (UCIMED). In this review of the work done, we first discuss how the scientific relationship between the working groups of both institutions is established. The following are the projects carried out in which a basic methodology is outlined, the details of which guide the reader to the publications generated as a result of this alliance. These publications are listed below by quantity, by subject and by research stage. Prior stage of relationship between groups Subject of study. Biological and health characteristics of primates from Costa Rica with a total of 17 publications, all cited in the references, Research stage in the ReBAMB. First subject of study. Search of active chemical components against parasitosis with 5 publications. Second research topic. Study of the endofauna of some small animals of the ReBAMB with 4 relevant publications, as two of them present the report of 3 new protozoa in the world, Eimeria rebambensis, E. melanomytis and E. caliginosa, parasitizing the rodent Melanomys caliginosus. In addition the report of a new wild transmitter of Trypanosoma cruzi, parasite that causes Chagas disease. It highlights the importance of ReBAMB as an inexhaustible source of scientific production and the positive experience it means in science, the union of two universities, one public and one private.                                                                                                                         

In the Alberto Manuel Brenes Biological Reserve (ReBAMB) and its buffer zone (BZ) there were not quantitative data available to detect changes in bird populations and communities in the future. Therefore, our objective was to determine the abundance and diversity of birds in the ReBAMB and its BZ to generate information that serves for long-term monitoring. The study was conducted using the methodology of counting points between October 2009 and June 2011 in eight sampling routes, 3 within the ReBAMB and 5 in its BZ. 1506 individuals of 190 species distributed in 43 families were recorded. 161 are residents, 29 are migratory, 23 endemic and 10 threatened with risk of extinction or with small populations. The most abundant species were Bubulcus ibis (7.57%) and Chlorospingus flavopectus (7.3%). Others had abundances lower than 5% (167 were less than 1%). In addition C. flavopectus and Troglodytes aedon were the only species observed in seven of the eight routes. The route with the highest number of individuals (358) and more exclusive species (20) was Las Rocas. The species-richest location was San Lorenzo (68) and the highest index of diversity is shared between Las Rocas and Quetzal (D = 0.97). The similarity between routes did not exceed 50%, indicating that there are significant differences in species composition. The combination of natural and modified habitats in the study area allows conservation of a high diversity of species, from generalists to forest-dependent and threatened and endemic. These results may serve as a reference for future research to evaluate conservation efforts in this reserve and its BZ.                                                                                                                            

The Alberto Manuel Brenes Biological Reserve (ReBAMB) covers 7,800 hectares and represents the main forest block in San Ramón (Alajuela, Costa Rica). Due its Biological Reserve status (a management category), the activities that can be carried out at the reserve are very limited and restricted to two main goals: conservation and research. The buffer zone of approximately 28,552 hectares, surrounding the ReBAMB, is also very important in terms of conservation and development. Among other goals, the buffer zone promotes sustainable activities, such as Ecotourism. The Ecotourism projects have been emerging in some towns located within the buffer zone, an area where the natural richness is definitely the main attraction for visitors.Most of the targeted initiatives were low budget projects belonging to local families. We conducted a study to identify the main historical, cultural and natural attractions as well as the available touristic services. We proposed four different touristic routes in the buffer zone, with the purpose of creating an attractive touristic product that promotes sustainable development in this zone. The routes are: Ruta Bosque Nuboso La Paz, Ruta Ecológica de Aventura San Ramón, Ruta del Quetzal Agroecoturística Zapotal, Ruta de Observación de Aves.

Phenology of the tree species Talauma gloriensis was studied from March 2014 to 0ctober 2015.  This species has averaged 16.6 m high in the Alberto Manuel Brenes Biological Reserve forest, Alajuela, Costa Rica. Eight mature trees were marked in order of appearance and observed every month using binoculars. Leaf abscission and budding were continuous throughout the research, while flowering and fruit production occurred in small periods throughout the year, this species is subannual.  Fruiting was correlated with air temperature (n = 8, r = 0.86, p < 0.05), and precipitation (n = 8, r = 0.54, p < 0.05).  Bud formation was inversely associated with precipitation (n = 8, r = -0.42, p < 0.05) and air temperature (n = 8, r = -0.80, p < 0.05), and flowering was associated with air temperature (n = 8, r = -0.91, p < 0.05).