Chapter 1
Echinoderm Research and Diversity
in Latin America
Juan José Alvarado and Francisco Alonso Solís-Marín
1.1 Introduction
The phylum Echinodermata consists of approximately 7,000 living species and
13,000 extinct species (Pawson 2007). Studies on echinoderms have focused on
experimental ecology due to their important role in marine ecosystems, with
several species identified as ‘‘keystone species’’ (Uthicke et al. 2009). These
species can have effects on community structure and function through several
trophic levels and on a wide geographic scale (Birkeland 1989). However, growing
global pressures resulting from fishing echinoderms have put them under threat
(Micael et al. 2009).
Latin America (LA) comprehends all the countries in America that speak
Spanish or Portuguese; including the French speaking country of Haiti, that is
located in Hispaniola Island, shared with Dominican Republic. LA includes
Mexico, Central America, and the islands of the Caribbean and South America.
However, the term has been used with different meanings that have created some
confusion (Colburn 2002). In total it includes 22 countries with an area of
J. J. Alvarado (&)
Centro de Investigación en Ciencias del Mar y Limnología (CIMAR),
Universidad de Costa Rica, San Pedro, 11501-2060, San José, Costa Rica
e-mail: juanalva76@yahoo.comjuan.alvarado@ucr.ac.cr
J. J. Alvarado
Posgrado en Ciencias Marinas y Costeras, Universidad Autónoma
de Baja California Sur, La Paz, México
F. A. Solís-Marín
Colección Nacional de Equinodermos ‘‘Ma. E. Caso Muñoz’’,
Laboratorio de Sistemática y Ecología de Equinodermos, Instituto de Ciencias
del Mar y Limnología (ICML), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM),
Apdo. Post 70-305, 04510, México, DF, Mexico
e-mail: fasolis@cmarl.unam.mx
J. J. Alvarado and F. A. Solís-Marín (eds.), Echinoderm Research and Diversity
in Latin America, DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-20051-9_1,
Ó Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013
1
Echinoderm Research and Diversity
in Latin America
Juan José Alvarado and Francisco Alonso Solís-Marín
1.1 Introduction
The phylum Echinodermata consists of approximately 7,000 living species and
13,000 extinct species (Pawson 2007). Studies on echinoderms have focused on
experimental ecology due to their important role in marine ecosystems, with
several species identified as ‘‘keystone species’’ (Uthicke et al. 2009). These
species can have effects on community structure and function through several
trophic levels and on a wide geographic scale (Birkeland 1989). However, growing
global pressures resulting from fishing echinoderms have put them under threat
(Micael et al. 2009).
Latin America (LA) comprehends all the countries in America that speak
Spanish or Portuguese; including the French speaking country of Haiti, that is
located in Hispaniola Island, shared with Dominican Republic. LA includes
Mexico, Central America, and the islands of the Caribbean and South America.
However, the term has been used with different meanings that have created some
confusion (Colburn 2002). In total it includes 22 countries with an area of
J. J. Alvarado (&)
Centro de Investigación en Ciencias del Mar y Limnología (CIMAR),
Universidad de Costa Rica, San Pedro, 11501-2060, San José, Costa Rica
e-mail: juanalva76@yahoo.comjuan.alvarado@ucr.ac.cr
J. J. Alvarado
Posgrado en Ciencias Marinas y Costeras, Universidad Autónoma
de Baja California Sur, La Paz, México
F. A. Solís-Marín
Colección Nacional de Equinodermos ‘‘Ma. E. Caso Muñoz’’,
Laboratorio de Sistemática y Ecología de Equinodermos, Instituto de Ciencias
del Mar y Limnología (ICML), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM),
Apdo. Post 70-305, 04510, México, DF, Mexico
e-mail: fasolis@cmarl.unam.mx
J. J. Alvarado and F. A. Solís-Marín (eds.), Echinoderm Research and Diversity
in Latin America, DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-20051-9_1,
Ó Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013
1