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

In 2022, MDPI became the fourth largest publisher by their total number of indexed papers and the largest by their number of indexed open access papers per year. This analysis studies the distribution of MDPI papers in Web of Science and Scopus by country and by year. Scientists from Romania and Poland preferred to publish in MDPI journals to a higher degree than those from other countries. The contribution of publications in MDPI journals reported abnormally high numbers in other former Eastern Bloc countries, while the authors from the USA and England showed moderate interest in MDPI. The share of MDPI papers by year in all countries increased linearly over the recent few years, but the patterns in particular countries were very different. In Germany, France, and Japan, a “saturation” was observed; the number of MDPI papers in 2022 was only slightly higher than in 2021, whereas in South Korea, Spain, and Poland, the trend reversed in 2022, that is, there were fewer MDPI papers published in 2022 than in 2021.

The objective of this article is to conduct a general analysis of the latest studies on school libraries published in Spain and, on the other hand, an in-depth study of the research related to the profile of the person in charge of the school library. To address this review, a search, identification, and location of specific information related to school libraries and the professional profile of the person in charge of the school library in Spain has been carried out, collected from monographs, magazine articles, collective works, et cetera. We conclude that there are different studies about school libraries, with themes frequently repeated, but there is not so much specific bibliography that deals with the professional profiles of the school library; therefore, to address its analysis, it is necessary to resort to works of a general nature in which mentions in this regard appear.

Droughts of considerable magnitude are recorded in Mexico, mainly in the northern and central-northern states. The territory of the state of Potosi presents increasingly frequent drought events, even in the most humid areas such as the Huasteca. The objectives of this study were to analyze the meteorological drought hazard from a multivariate analysis based on three bivariate Archimedean copulas at a regional scale, to recognize the perception of the inhabitants to this phenomenon and to identify the adaptation measures implemented in three communities, in the Middle and Huasteca regions of San Luis Potosi. Based on meteorological data, climate coverages were generated and their particularities were evaluated. The characterization of the droughts was based on the gust theory, using the “drought” package of the statistical program R. The Standardized Precipitation Index was used to determine the drought events. The evaluation included a univariate and multivariate analysis based on three bivariate Archimedean copulas. Finally, the joint probability of both drought duration and severity simultaneously exceeding the specified threshold was estimated and its results were spatially represented. By means of participatory methodologies, the perception of the inhabitants about drought was assessed, as well as the identification of the actions implemented to counteract the effects of this phenomenon in three communities of the municipality of San Antonio, SLP. The process included the application of semi-structured interviews with open and closed questions to rural producers in the three communities, as well as participatory workshops with local stakeholders. In the state of Potosi, drought is a recurrent phenomenon that affects an increasing surface area and increases the number of municipalities affected, even in the areas considered the wettest in the state of Potosi. The average duration of droughts, in the three time scales, was comparatively longer in the southwest of the Huasteca and in the north of the Middle region. The longest and most severe droughts occurred in the southwestern and northeastern Huasteca and in the central-northern Middle region. For different time scales and return periods, the north of the Middle region and the southwest of the Huasteca present a high danger of drought. On the 12-month time scale, Xilitla, Huehuetlán, Aquismón and Ciudad del Maíz are the municipalities with the highest hazard. The areas with the highest drought hazard concentrate between 218 (3-month time scale and 5-year return period) and 31 localities (12-month time scale and 100-year return period), in which an estimated 146,211 inhabitants have been and could be affected by this phenomenon in the future. At the local scale, the inhabitants of the communities recognize an increase in drought events, as well as an increase in the number of drought events. 90% of the producers, confirm that there is a change in rainfall patterns particularly since 2016 and the problem is increasing. They recognize that in recent years there have been climatic anomalies that were not common before. These distortions have negatively impacted their livelihoods. Producers admit that the lack of rainfall and high temperatures severely affect crops, due to the fact that farmland dries out faster than usual. In response, they have implemented different measures to safeguard their livelihoods, such as the production of sugar cane for piloncillo. Some actions implemented include covering the soil with leaf litter or cane residues to increase moisture retention in the soil, tying or wrapping bundles of weeds or stalks and placing them between each furrow in a spaced manner (locally known as engavillado), modifications to the topography of the farmland, and runoff management. However, the measures implemented so far proved to be insufficient to cope with the 2023-2024 drought. The impacts associated with drought are severe, because their livelihoods are highly sensitive and dependent on rainfall. The combination of methodological approaches allows a complementarity in the generation of new knowledge on regional drought patterns, with the way in which communities suffer, perceive, interpret and coexist with these meteorological and climatic events.

The concept of territory has been intensely discussed in the field of geography during the last decades not only because borders have been weakened by the global economy but, above all, because, in multi-ethnic countries such as Mexico, it is not sustainable that it means the same for all cultures. Five hundred years after the conquest, Mexico is still a country where local traditions hybridize and syncretize with the traditions of Western culture. This article addresses the issue of territoriality in two festive manifestations that are celebrated at the same time in the town of Calpulalpan, municipality of Jilotepec, in the State of Mexico. In both manifestations there are traces of indigenous Mexico and colonial Mexico. During the festivities related to the Carnival, two types of ritual routes are carried out in Calpulalpan: on the one hand, the local authorities organize processions in which they march in an orderly fashion carrying three sacred images that start from the parish church and visit two other churches on their way. On the other hand, some inhabitants characterized as xhitas, drink and run unpredictably from one house to another shouting “this way, this way!”, thundering their chicotes and making way for an older xhita who carries, inside a glass case, a small effigy of the Lord of Humility, invocation of Christ that serves as the patron saint of the community. The xhitas are young people from Calpulalpan who agree to participate -disguised and masked- in the festivities for seven consecutive years in which they manifest their devotion. Through a geographic analysis with a cultural approach, combined with an ethnographic look, it is shown that both types of routes refer to the notion of “territory” from the point of view of identity, but that the limits and the formal structure of the territory that such routes imply, do not coincide spatially. For the authorities, both civil and religious, the ordered procession confirms the existence of legally supported limits. On the other hand, for the Xhitas, the erratic trajectory in search of neighbors, up to the doors of their house, reminds that the territory is not marked on the ground but in the people who are part of the community. In order to describe the differences, thematic maps are presented, constructed with field work based on the survey of GPS points during the 18 holidays in which the Xhitas demonstrate. Our research question was: do the authorities and the inhabitants of Calpulalpan coincide in the limits and spatial structure of the territory they conceive, or are there two discordant spatialities? Based on previous texts, we constructed the following hypothesis: the displacement of the Xhitas, during their festivities, reveals a popular conception of the land that belongs to them while confirming the way in which they conceive themselves as a group with common interests, and such conception does not coincide with the limits and organization of the territory formally accepted by their authorities. While for the Xhitas the territory is dynamic and evolving, for the authorities, both civil and religious, territorial integrity tries to be safeguarded through processions and formal documents. Understanding territory as a changing and fluid space means opening the door to a conception that in the West has been rejected and that in Mexico has been systematically combated by both colonial institutions and those formed during the independent era. Territory in the West is, above all, an entity of precise limits, preferably defended by legal norms. What we see in Calpulalpan is a territory that still exhibits features of the traditional societies of ancient Mexico, such as political autonomy and boundary permeability.

This study employs photogrammetry to evaluate and monitor the recovery of the cypress forest on Guadalupe Island, Mexico, an ecosystem significantly impacted by fires and overgrazing. Two drone surveys were conducted over the forest area during the summers of 2016 and 2019 using natural color (RGB) and near-infrared (NIR) cameras. This work presents the first complete 3D reconstruction of the cypress forest on the island. The image processing products include the canopy height model (CHM), digital surface model (DSM), and digital terrain model (DTM), which were utilized to calculate the number, density, height and crown projected areas of trees. The CHM showed a high correlation with the forest's structure (R = 0.92), based on field measurements of tree heights. Our study accounted for approximately 67,340 trees taller than two meters in 2019. Over 90% of the cypress population consisted of young trees between 2 and 3 meters tall, which have recovered significantly following a fire in 2008 that burned 70% of its extent. A horizontal expansion of 134 hectares was observed from 2016 to 2019 in the regeneration process.

Land productivity (LP) is considered a fundamental indicator to measure land degradation and desertification. Frequently, TP is quantified in terms of Net Primary Productivity (NPP) in order to determine land productivity dynamics (LDP) by estimating three dimensionless metrics: trend, status and yield. In Mexico, there is still no nationwide study that quantifies and analyzes the PT indicator in areas with similar conditions (land cover and bioclimatic characteristics). The objective of this research was to quantify the TP indicator on a national scale, by determining the dynamics of land productivity (DPT) in the period 2000-2019. The analysis was based on eight dominant climatic regions with similar vegetation cover where Net Primary Productivity (NPP) was calculated by incident photosynthetically active radiation (MJm-2 yr-1), the fraction of photosynthetically active radiation intercepted by green tissues and solar radiation use efficiency (gMS MJ-1). Subsequently, TP was determined through a multitemporal analysis of PPN to calculate three metrics: trend, state and yield. Land productivity dynamics (LPD) was evaluated with the combination of the above three metrics and five classes were obtained: improving, stable, stressed, moderately degraded and degraded. Finally, 20 land and vegetation uses were identified according to the dynamics and degradation of TP in the eight climatic regions. Data analysis was performed using the R language (v4.2.3) integrated in the QGIS geographic information system (v3.28). Average annual PPN varied across the country, ranging from less than 500 g m-2 yr-1 in the arid climate region to just over 3,000 g m-2 yr-1 in the very humid region of the country. The lowest PPN value was located in the very arid climatic region (31 g m-2 yr-1) and the highest value (4,366 g m-2 yr-1) was observed in the very humid region of the country. The stable trend metric was found in 86% of the national territory, improvement in 9.6% and decrease in 3.9% of the total national territory. The PT status metric presented stable condition in almost 88% of the territory, improvement in 10.9% and decrease in 1.3%. While the TP yield metric had a degraded condition in 53.2% of the country's surface and 46.7% was classified as non-degraded. The TPD was stable in 78% of the national territory, improvement was observed in 11.78%, degradation in 4.26%, moderate degradation in 5.3% and stressed condition in 0.56% of the national territory. In slightly more than 70% of the area occupied by type of land use and vegetation, there were no changes in TPD. However, it was found that the 20 classes of land use and vegetation were exposed to degradation and moderate degradation of TP dynamics. The most exposed vegetation was identified in coniferous forests (humid climatic regions), coastal vegetation (sub-humid and semi-arid climatic regions), human settlements (sub-humid climatic region), secondary vegetation of arid climates and other wooded areas (mainly in semi-arid climatic regions). Although all 20 land use and vegetation classes were exposed to degradation and moderate degradation of TP dynamics, it was observed that, in all of them, the class of improvement of TP dynamics was present, mainly in areas without apparent vegetation and other wooded surfaces. According to the results obtained, it is clear that land productivity varies from one climatic region to another, and that it is dynamic through the years, so the use of multitemporal analysis is required to monitor land productivity through time. This allows having solid information necessary in decision making for the conservation and improvement of land productivity and reduction of land degradation and desertification in Mexico. The results obtained in this study contribute to have quantitative information of the land productivity indicator, which can be useful for future research measuring land degradation and desertification in Mexico.

The morphometric properties of the catchment areas in the Sierra de Manantlan Biosphere Reserve are essential components in understanding the hydrological dynamics and the estimation of water production. The methodology used to estimate runoff volume was the Curve Number (CN) method developed by the Soil Conservation Service (SCS) of the United States, supported by geographic information systems (GIS). The reserve is located in the states of Jalisco and Colima, Mexico, with 139,577 hectares and is notable for its natural and cultural diversity. It provides water resources to local communities and its area of influence through an extensive river network. It comprises the headwaters of the Ayuquila, Marabasco, and Purificación watersheds. The reserve’s elevation ranges from 780 to 2,800 meters above sea level, with an average slope of 35.6%. The western portion features a dendritic fluvial system, while the eastern part consists of a karstic system. The fluvial network is highly dissected, associated with steep slopes, varied geological material, and heterogeneous soils. The average annual precipitation is 1,252.8 mm, and the estimated surface runoff is 105,699 hm³, distributed across 3,113 surface flows with a total length of 3,413.4 km. The river system reaches a maximum stream order of 7, with a drainage density of 2.42 and orographic coefficient 6.1—characteristics typical of mountainous areas with high relief and branched river networks. In conclusion, the hydrographic structure and hydrometric dynamics of the reserve are influenced by geomorphological processes of each physiographic unit, the local environment and productive activities, such as changes in crop patterns and land use.

There are various databases that compile satellite data and reanalysis to estimate solarimetric values in areas lacking measurement instruments. However, these currently maintain an unknown margin of error for Mexico. Regarding to that, the work objective was to evaluate public radiation and irradiance databases with geographic-temporal availability for the country. This information was complemented with the cloud cover factor, also estimated via remote sensing. The evaluation was carried out by comparing terrestrial data (solarimetric, meteorological, and tide-gauge stations) with estimated data on a monthly interval using statistical metrics for the period 2014–2023. As a result, 15 global estimation databases were compiled, such as The National Solar Radiation Database (NSRDB), Prediction of Worldwide Energy Resources (POWER), the fifth-generation reanalysis database of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ERA5), and Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES), among others. Each proved functional, with errors up to 25 % for Mexico; however, the best solarimetric estimation results were obtained with POWER and CERES_EBAF, showing underestimations of 0.8 % to 16 % absolute error and strong correlations (0.66 to 0.99). For the cloud cover factor, each database consulted is feasible depending on the required temporal and spatial resolution. Finally, it is determined that the percentage of cloud cover directly affects the estimation capacity of the solarimetric databases.

The use of fire in forests and agriculture is regulated by environmental legislation, mainly under a restrictive approach to forest fire prevention. This study conducted a systematic review of the federal and state normativity that regulates the use of fire in forests and agriculture in Mexico. First, we identified laws, codes and related standards and determined whether they incorporate the principles of environmental law and concepts associated with integrated fire management. We identified the extent of fire restrictions in the states and the penalties for negligent use of fire. We also assessed changes in the number of fires and areas burned since the relevant state legislation was enacted. The results suggest that federal legislation incorporates environmental law principles and integrated fire management concepts, moving from a restrictive approach to integrated fire management. In contrast, most states maintain restrictive regulations: five states have permanent bans on the use of fire, 40% of states have temporary bans, while the rest allow its use with minor restrictions. There were no significant differences in penalties for burning or causing wildfires. In addition, the number of wildfires decreased in 30% of the states, while the area burned increased in 22% of the states after the law was enacted. The discrepancy between federal and state regulations may hinder the transition to integrated fire management.

Given that the Atuel river falls under the jurisdiction of two provinces, water conflicts in this arid region have generated controversy for several years. Within the context of hydrographic analysis and the complexities of landscapes, geography becomes crucial as it links the fluvial and social dynamics and their interactions within the territory. This study aims to provide an exploratory approach to the river flows as they pass through the province of Mendoza, facilitating an understanding of the natural and anthropic effects on the river. Conventional exploratory data analysis tests (normality, randomness, independence, and homogeneity) were employed to analyze hydrological measurements, with the results being physically interpreted and related to the fluvial environment. The results confirmed the anthropic impacts contributing to the hydrographic alteration of the Atuel river, as evidenced by differences between the upstream and downstream stations affected by human activities. Thus, it can be inferred that the river regime and the landscapes towards the end of the water system in Pampean lands have been altered by consumptive water uses, in addition to storage in existing dams.