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

[Introduction]: From the Los Laureles reservoir it is generated an enormous amount of water quality data that are often not analysed and interpreted in a comprehensive manner, a limitation that also occurs in others reservoirs in the country and over the Central American region. This situation limits the knowledge for taking preventive actions in the face of contamination scenarios when the parameters are observed or analysed separately. [Objective]: The purpose of the research was to calculate and use different water quality indices in the Los Laureles reservoir during the time 2002-2016 with historical data, and analyse possible natural or anthropic factors that have contributed to its deterioration. [Methodology]: The indices were calculated using WQI software (version 1.2), based on historical information generated by the SANAA Laboratory at three sampling points (curtain, centre and tail), and including up to 23 physicochemical, microbiological, metals and metalloids parameters. Three different guidelines were used: one guideline of water quality for human consumption use and two guidelines for water life protection use. [Results]: The quality indices categorized the water quality of the Los Laureles reservoir for the use of human consumption as marginal to poor. The categorisation of use for aquatic life protection was regular. The decrease in the values of the indices and the categorization of water quality was observed when more parameters and samplings were included. [Conclusion]: In the comprehensive study, a historical decrease in quality was recorded due to the increase in the values of the parameters that exceeded the guidelines up to more than 25 times, even when it is only a parameter that will contribute to its decrease. In other words, the number of times that a parameter exceeded the guidelines had more influence than the number of failed parameters.

[Introduction]: In 2006, the Peru government created the Ventanilla Wetlands Regional Conservation Area (RCA) to conserve a representative sample of wetlands, protect soils and vegetation, prevent degradation and biodiversity loss, and promote their economic and academic use. [Objective]: The aim was to evaluate the RCA in what it was its buffer zone from months before its creation to 2021 by using remote sensing tools (ICEDEX and NDVI) to assess the state of vegetation and soil saturation. [Methods]: It consisted in the delimitation of the study area, acquisition of satellite images, pre-processing and processing of the images by using vegetation and soil saturation indexes and unsupervised classification, and interpretation of the results. [Results]: We found that about soil saturation there was a loss of 45.99 ha and a gain of 18.63 ha, the loss was accentuated in the northern zone of the RCA and the gain in the coastal strip, meanwhile for vegetation there was a gain of 27.63 ha and a loss of 5.04 ha, the gain was mainly in the coastal strip and the loss in the limits of the RCA. This evidence a process of eutrophication in the RCA, possibly due to anthropogenic causes, which are the main threats to this ecosystem. [Conclusions]: The variation of vegetation and soil saturation since the creation of the RCA was demonstrated by remote sensing tools and these suggest a possible eutrophication process that should motivate increased efforts for the conservation of this ecosystem.

[Introduction]: Mobile sources, both globally and nationally, play a critical role in the generation of black carbon emissions, a short-lived climate forcer that has a great impact on the climate. [Objective]: Solutions are proposed that allow the mitigation of black carbon emissions generated by the transport sector within a framework of economic and technical feasibility. [Methodology]: The emissions generated by mobile sources were modeled, taking 2016 as the base year, for which the Copert 5.2 software was used. Subsequently, scenarios of reduction opportunities were established, which were evaluated considering their reduction potential, the concordance with public policies and the cost of the technology. [Results]: Mobile sources emitted 471.9 tons of black carbon into the atmosphere during 2016, which is equivalent to 217 031.7 and 707 712.2 tons of CO2e (taking 460 and 1 500 as global warming potential, respectively). It is proposed: the use of low-emission fuels, the incorporation of electric vehicles and technological improvements in the engine system to reduce exhaust emissions. [Conclusions]: The most feasible emission mitigation measures are those related to the incorporation of low-emission fuels, such as biodiesel and low-sulfur diesel. It is vitally important to include concrete actions for the reduction of black carbon emissions within national climate change policies, since their reduction has positive impacts in the short term.

[Introduction]: Understanding risk is the fundamental basis for prevention and building resilience, just as local management is the raw material for actions at the national scale in issues of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR). Nonetheless, municipalities and local communities in Latin America generally lack specialized systems in locating and understanding the problematic in its different manifestations. [Objective]: Describe and analyze the methodology, structure and criteria used by the Integral System for Social Construction of Risk (SIESGO), as well as the advantages of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology as assessment tools for DRR. [Methodology]: Implementation of the National Center for Disaster Prevention of Mexico (CENAPRED) guide (revised and improved) for the evaluation of physical and social vulnerability in a cloud-based GIS that allows the use of geospatial technology for the integral optimization of the process. [Results]: Construction of a system for risk evaluation by automatically calculating the Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) of the study area and its corresponding thematic maps generated through a GaaS (GIS as a Service) application, in interaction with sources of threat. [Conclusions]: Through implementing this solution it is possible to determine not only the location of each of the elements of the risk geosystem, but also to extract the possible relationships that are generated between these elements from the superposition of the information layers. SIESGO is presented as an efficient and easy-to-use tool that configures the ideal way for decision-making and the socialization of relevant information on the subject of interest.

[Introduction]: Most of the research dealing with connectivity route use cost-distance maps generated from the creation of ranges of the variables employed. [Objective]: This research evaluates the effect of the selected method for cost-distance map computation over the network of connectivity routes among viable vegetation patches in the protected areas of Granma province, Cuba. [Methodology]: The process generates two cost-distance raster (one with ranges and one without ranges) from which the connectivity routes are obtained. Additionally, the research includes the analysis of the effect of the selected method for raster computation over the connectivity route network. [Results]: The method identifies 3 080 routes. Route density for raster with ranges reaches 1 000 route/km2, while route density for raster without ranges reaches 3 000 route/km2. The 59 % of the routes for the raster with ranges is altitudinal, while the 75.8 % of the routes for the raster without ranges is altitudinal. [Conclusions]: The modification in the computation of the cost raster to displacement generates changes in the route network and concentration of the routes at the sites of connection between zones in the study area. Additionally, the values of route density change depending on the method of the cost raster computation, as well as the altitudinal condition of the routes.

[Introduction]: Studies on adaptive management in socio-ecological systems recognize that natural resources (e.g., forests) are not isolated, but are interwoven in their ecosystems with social, institutional, economic, and political components. This study addresses adaptive management based on the use of the camedor palm (Chamaedorea quezalteca), in the La Sepultura Biosphere Reserve (RIBESE), Chiapas, Mexico. The camedor palm resource is considered the most used non-timber forest product (NTFP) by rural and indigenous communities in Central America. The contribution of the study goes beyond the ecological aspects of the palm, it was approached as a complex and dynamic socio-ecological system (SES). [Objective]: To analyze the management of camedor palms through an analysis of the adaptive renewal cycle of SSE. [Methodology]: Semi-structured interviews were applied to key actors, a participatory workshop with palm producers, and the empirical application of the adaptive cycle model proposed by Holling. [Results]: Three stages represented by adaptive cycles were identified: 1) an unregulated exploitation of wild palm populations (1960-2004); 2) regulation and local participation in the management and conservation of palms (2005-2014); and 3) co-management and community reorganization for the sustainable use of palms (2015-2020). [Conclusion]: The evolutionary and adaptive process of the SES has been influenced by intrinsic changes in community development and by external factors, such as the international palm market, public policies, conservation and development programs, and the interaction of governmental and non-governmental actors.

Reserva Biológica Tirimbina es una iniciativa privada de conservación ubicada en La Virgen de Sarapiquí, Heredia, Costa Rica. Sus orígenes se dieron gracias a la visión de conservación del estadounidense el Dr J. Robert Hunter, quien aparte de incorporar cultivos novedosos en la zona decidió mantener e incentivar la protección de varias hectáreas de bosque tropical en los años 60, y a investigadores como el Dr Allen M. Young que se vieron inspirados por la exuberante biodiversidad del bosque tropical. Hoy en día Tirimbina se encuentra en manos de la Asociación Tirimbina para la Conservación, Investigación y Educación, una agrupación costarricense sin fines de lucro que se encarga de gestionar la reserva con un modelo de conservación en el que el ecoturismo genera ingresos no solo para la protección del bosque, sino para continuar financiando proyectos de investigación científica y educación ambiental que generan beneficios a nivel local y nacional.

[Introduction]: Los Nevados National Natural Park - PNNN is one of the main protected areas of the Colombian Andean region, it is home to a large paramo ecosystem that provides different ecosystem services to the region, the quantification and analysis of its natural cover and land use is essential for conservation processes. [Objective]: To determine the main land cover and land use (CT-US) of the PNNN and its buffer area in an area of ​​1,250 km2 located on the right flank of the department of Tolima in Colombia, standardizing the land cover classification scheme for Colombia. [Methodology]: It involved the use of remote sensing techniques for the processing of a RapidEye image from the year 2010, as well as image interpretation techniques, supervised classification, field work for the validation of results, and the development of thematic cartography at 1:25,000 scale. [Results]: a radiometric improvement of the RapidEye image was obtained, also, 10 CT-US patterns were generated for the supervised classification, within the validation of results an overall reliability of 89.52 % and a kappa coefficient of 0.88 were obtained. Additionally, 14 homologated categories were generated under the land cover classification scheme for Colombia and cartography of the PNNN and its buffer zone was generated at a 1:25,000 scale. [Conclusions]: This study allowed to obtain the context of the coverage of the PNNN for 2010 and its buffer zone, which will serve as background and support for future research involving the planning of natural resources in Latin America and the Andean region.

[Introduction]: The material construction of the modern world, based on models of extractive specialization, has generated the material decapitalization of nature, especially affecting Latin America, as it is one of the largest exporters of raw materials. The concept of metabolism in the social sciences is a theoretical-methodological proposal that quantifies the inputs and outputs of matter and energy in social-ecological systems. With this information, it is possible to determine whether an economic activity, such as tourism, is resilient or is exceeding the regenerative capacity of resources. [Objective]: This article aims to investigate the methods that can be used in the socio-metabolic research of tourism. [Methodology]: Through a process of exploration in the literature, a body of knowledge was identified that revealed pre-existing methodologies as a possibility for evaluating and, if necessary, modifying production and consumption patterns in various tourist areas. [Results]: A balance is presented in relation to said methods, the elements that compose them, as well as the possibility of adoption by the tourism sector; thus a contribution to the study of the relationship between tourism and the environment is determined. [Conclusions]: Finally, it is concluded that these methods can support a better understanding of the interdependencies between social welfare and physical services provided by the metabolism of tourism activity with a view to sustainability.

[Introduction]: Between 2010 and 2020, the Sarapiquí Fire Department in Costa Rica dealt with 1,926 fauna related incidents predominantly pertaining to the rescue of bees, snakes, crocodiles, and sloths. [Objective]: To determine the spatio-temporal distribution of these rescue services by identifying critical points (districts), as well as the years and months of greatest attention to cases. [Methodology]: The database of fauna attention/incidents from 2010 to 2020, supplied by the firefighter's brigade of Sarapiquí was refined. This information was georeferenced by using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to identify the spatial distribution of the four fauna groups registered: bees (Apidae), crocodiles (Crocodylidae), sloths (Megalonychidae) and snakes (Viperidae/Elapidae). Regarding the temporal distribution, a descriptive analysis was realized which led to determining the months and years with the highest incidences. [Results]: Most of the incidents were recorded in 2018 and 2019 (total of 505), April and May were the months that concentrated the highest incidences (241 and 197, respectively); incidents involving bees received the most attention. At the spatial level most of the cases were attended in the districts of Puerto Viejo, Horquetas and La Virgen. [Conclusions]: The results of this research are basic for the establishment of recommendations for fauna conservation strategies.