Monitoreo de pastos marinos en Perezoso, Cahuita, Costa Rica (sitio CARICOMP) / Seagrass monitoring at Perezoso, Cahuita, Costa Rica (CARICOMP site)

The seagrass of Perezoso (Cahuita National Park, Caribbean coast of Costa Rica) was monitored using the CARICOMP protocol. Productivity (2.7 +/- 1.15 g/m2/d; n=74) was intermediate, compared to other Caribbean sites. Total biomass was intermediate to high (750-1500 g/m2) at most CARICOMP sites (Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Venezuela) including Costa Rica (822.8 +/- 391.84 g/m2; n=32). Turnover rates were high (5.5 +/- 1.36%; n=74) compared to what was found in March and August at other sites. Shoot densities average 725 shoots/m2, in the Caribbean region, while in Costa Rica the value was higher (1184 +/- 335.5 shoots/m2). Average leaf length and width in the entire region were 14.4 cm and 10.6 mm, respectively, similar to what we found, but leaf area index average 3.4 m2 m(-2), higher than what was found in Costa Rica (0.92 m2 m(-2)). At Cahuita, seagrass productivity was significantly lower in March 2005 compared with the previous six years, and biomass has decreased with time. Seagrass productivity and biomass are being affected by the maximum temperatures, which increased by almost 10 degrees C from 1999 to 2005, and show a high negative correlation. Turnover rate and temperature were not correlated. Recreational boating, swimming and nutrient loading from deforested lands in the coast, the upstream rivers and local pollution are potential sources of impact to the seagrass beds at Cahuita.

The countries and languages that dominate biological research at the beginning of the 21st century

Traditionally,studies of scientific productivity are biased in two ways: they are based on Current Contents, an index centered in British and American journals, and they seldom correct for population size, ignoring the relative effort that each society places in research. We studied national productivity for biology using a more representative index, the Biological Abstracts, and analyzed both total and relative productivity. English dominates biological publications with 87% (no other individual language reaches 2%). If the USA is considered a region by itself, it occupies the first place in per capita production of biology papers, with at least twice the productivity of either Asia or Europe. Canada, Oceania and Latin America occupy an intermediate position. The global output of scientific papers is dominated by Europe, USA, Japan, Canada, China and India. When corrected for population size, the countries with the greatest productivity of biology papers are the Nordic nations, Israel, Switzerland, Netherlands, Australia, Saint Lucia and Montserrat. The predominance of English as the language of biological research found in this study shows a continuation of the trend initiated around the year 1900. The large relative productivity of the USA reflects the importance that American society gives to science as the basis for technological and economic development, but the USA’s share of total scientific output has decreased from 44% in 1983 to 34% in 2002, while there is a greater growth of science in India, Japan and Latin America, among others. The increasing share obtained by China and India may reflect a recent change in attitude towards funding science. The leadership of Nordic nations, Israel, Switzerland, Netherlands and Australia can be explained by cultural attitude. Apparently, a positive trend is emerging in Latin America, where Chile improved its ranking in per capita productivity but Argentina, Costa Rica, Uruguay, Brazil and Cuba fell. Nevertheless, the most productive countries in total number of papers are Brazil, Mexico and Argentina: large countries with a long tradition of funding scientific research

Tradicionalmente, los estudios sobre productividad científica tienen dos sesgos: se basan en el Current Contents, un índice basado en revistas de países industrializados, y rara vez toman en cuenta el tamaño de la población, con lo cual dejan por fuera a la mayoría de la producción de países no industrializados (e.g. América Latina) e ignoran el esfuerzo relativo que cada sociedad dedica a la ciencia. Estudiamos la productividad por país usando Biological Abstracts, que incluye más revistas y tomamos en cuenta el tamaño de la población. El idioma inglés domina la literatura científica con un 87% de los artículos (ningún otro idioma llega al 2%). Si se considera a los EEUU como una región, ocupa el primer lugar en productividad por habitante de artículos científicos en el área de la biología, con al menos el doble de la productividad que Asia o Europa. En tanto Canadá, Oceanía y América Latina ocupan lugares intermedios. Mundialmente, la producción total es dominada por Europa, EEUU, Japón, Canadá, China e India. Si se toma en cuenta el tamaño de la población, los países con mayor productividad son las naciones nórdicas, Israel, Suiza, Holanda, Australia, Santa Lucía y Montserrat. El dominio del inglés comenzó a desarrollarse desde cerca del año 1900. La gran producción relativa de los EEUU refleja la importancia que la sociedad estadounidense da a la ciencia como base para el desarrollo tecnológico y económico, pero la porción estadounidense de la producción científica mundial ha bajado de 44% en 1983 a 34% en 2002, al tiempo que se acelera el crecimiento de la producción científica en India, Japón y América Latina, entre otros. La proporción creciente de la literatura de China e India podría reflejar un cambio reciente en actitud hacia la inversión en ciencia. El liderazgo de las naciones nórdicas, Israel, Suiza, Holanda y Australia puede explicarse debido a la actitud cultural. Parece estar emergiendo una tendencia positiva en América Latina, donde Chile mejoró su ubicación en producción por habitante, pero Argentina, Costa Rica, Uruguay, Brasil y Cuba desmejoraron. Sin embargo, en producción bruta total, los países más productivos son Brasil, México y Argentina: países grandes con larga tradición de financiar la investigación científica

Efecto de extractos de artrópodos sobre la multiplicación del Toxoplasma gondii dentro de macrófagos peritoneales de ratón / Effect of arthropod extracts on the multiplication of Toxocara gondii in mouse peritoneal macrophages

Treatment of toxoplasmosis usually causes secondary effects. It is important to find active substances extracted from natural organisms. In this work we studied some arthropod extracts that have effect against Toxoplasma multiplication inside mouse macrophages. After studying 382 extracts, 23 were selected on the basis of the activity and we found that 13 extracts from orders Polydesmida, Lepidoptera, Orthoptera and Hymenoptera exerted an important inhibition of Toxoplasma multiplication.

Las ciencias del mar en la Revista de Biología Tropical en su 50 aniversario / Marine science in Revista de Biologia Tropical in your 50th anniversary

The first paper published in the Revista de Biología Tropical (RBT) on anything related to marine science was in 1963. Since then the number of marine-related papers has increased to 637, which represents 27 percent of the total production of RBT (excluding the Supplements), and 33 percent since 1979. Most publications are Full Articles on Ecology (135 papers). The marine ecosystem of which there is more publications is the coral reefs (28); and fish is the most studied taxonomic group (165). Almost half of the Supplements are marine related (12). The RBT must continue its efforts to maintain itself as a leading marine science publication in Latin America

Regeneración de la vegetación arbórea en una pequena reserva forestal urbana del nível premontano húmedo, Costa Rica / Regeneration of tree cover in a small urban forest reserve from the moist Premontane region

The tropical premontane moist forest is one of the most destructed life zones in Costa Rica. For such regions, a small natural preserve system has been proposed. An inventory of trees greater than 3.5 cm in diameter at breast height was done in one hectare urban forest patch that was left under natural regeneration for 30 years. The inventory included 940 individuals of at least 55 species and 32 families. A Holdridge Complexity Index of 58 was obtained. There was a strong dominance by small-diameter trees of successional and exotic species