Preface
The Iberoamerican Echinoderms Network (Red Iberoamericana de Equinodermos)
(RIE) (http://zicatela.umar.mx/*redequinos/2/) was created in August 2006 at the
12th International Echinoderms Congress in New Hampshire, United States, as an
initiative to strengthen academic connections between Iberoamerican echinoderm
researchers. The RIE seeks to fortify the links of researchers in the different
countries of the region, being a bridge of communication and exchange of ideas. It
seeks to be the platform for discussion and communication of priority projects for
Latin America echinoderms. It seeks to offer the opportunity of collaborative
work, to place the region among the principal research and conservation regions of
the world. Likewise, the RIE intends to support students interested in echinoderm
research. To enrich their formation, it will offer information about researchers who
could help in their projects, courses, seminars, or symposia, as well as providing
literature. The goal of the RIE is to develop workshops, congresses, special
journals supplements and books, and to support the development of the knowledge
of the echinoderms in Latin America.
The first effort of the RIE was the preparation and publication of a Special Issue
of the Revista de Biología Tropical (International Journal of Tropical Biology and
Conservation) (Alvarado, J. J. and Cortés, J. (Editors). 2005. Research on Echinoderms in Latin America, Volume 53, Supplement 3: 387 p.) (http://www.ots.ac.
cr/tropiweb/intpages/suppl/sup53-3.html). This initiative was born during the 11th
International Echinoderms Congress in Münich, Germany, in 2003. This Special
Issue compiled 28 papers from 12 countries by 62 authors, touching topics as diverse
as paleontology in the Uruguayan region and fisheries models of sea cucumbers in
Baja California. The second output of the RIE was a second supplement of the
Revista de Biología Tropical (Alvarado, J.J. and Cortés, J. (Editors). 2008. Research
on Echinoderms in Latin America II, Volume 56, Supplement 3: 360 p.) (http://www.
ots.ac.cr/tropiweb/intpages/suppl/sup56-3.html). This issue compiled 21 papers
from eight countries by 46 authors in Latin America (including an invited paper from
the Canary Islands). Those papers demonstrated the high degree of knowledge of
some countries in topics such as diversity, ecology, aquaculture, and fisheries. It also
identified countries where more efforts are needed.
xi
The Iberoamerican Echinoderms Network (Red Iberoamericana de Equinodermos)
(RIE) (http://zicatela.umar.mx/*redequinos/2/) was created in August 2006 at the
12th International Echinoderms Congress in New Hampshire, United States, as an
initiative to strengthen academic connections between Iberoamerican echinoderm
researchers. The RIE seeks to fortify the links of researchers in the different
countries of the region, being a bridge of communication and exchange of ideas. It
seeks to be the platform for discussion and communication of priority projects for
Latin America echinoderms. It seeks to offer the opportunity of collaborative
work, to place the region among the principal research and conservation regions of
the world. Likewise, the RIE intends to support students interested in echinoderm
research. To enrich their formation, it will offer information about researchers who
could help in their projects, courses, seminars, or symposia, as well as providing
literature. The goal of the RIE is to develop workshops, congresses, special
journals supplements and books, and to support the development of the knowledge
of the echinoderms in Latin America.
The first effort of the RIE was the preparation and publication of a Special Issue
of the Revista de Biología Tropical (International Journal of Tropical Biology and
Conservation) (Alvarado, J. J. and Cortés, J. (Editors). 2005. Research on Echinoderms in Latin America, Volume 53, Supplement 3: 387 p.) (http://www.ots.ac.
cr/tropiweb/intpages/suppl/sup53-3.html). This initiative was born during the 11th
International Echinoderms Congress in Münich, Germany, in 2003. This Special
Issue compiled 28 papers from 12 countries by 62 authors, touching topics as diverse
as paleontology in the Uruguayan region and fisheries models of sea cucumbers in
Baja California. The second output of the RIE was a second supplement of the
Revista de Biología Tropical (Alvarado, J.J. and Cortés, J. (Editors). 2008. Research
on Echinoderms in Latin America II, Volume 56, Supplement 3: 360 p.) (http://www.
ots.ac.cr/tropiweb/intpages/suppl/sup56-3.html). This issue compiled 21 papers
from eight countries by 46 authors in Latin America (including an invited paper from
the Canary Islands). Those papers demonstrated the high degree of knowledge of
some countries in topics such as diversity, ecology, aquaculture, and fisheries. It also
identified countries where more efforts are needed.
xi