Bats may exhibit plasticity in echolocation pulses as response to intrinsic and extrinsic factors, and the estimation of the magnitude of such variation can provide confidence in acoustic monitoring. Myotis nigricans (Schinz, 1821) is a widely distributed but relatively understudied Neotropical species for which, during fieldwork, we found maternity colonies in the Lagunas de Montebello National Park, in Chiapas, South-east Mexico, and no previous information in the area. Therefore, we aimed to provide an acoustic characterization on the basis of intraspecific variability for its recognition using bat detectors. For this purpose, we examined the moulding of shape, frequency-based and time-based acoustic parameters, specifically by the effect of age group (sub-adults vs. adults) and acoustic environment (open space vs. background vegetation). By graphic comparison of echolocation pulses between acoustic environments, we observed changes in shape by an increase in bandwidth and steeper modulation along background vegetation. Statistically, on univariate basis, we did not find a significant effect of age group, but we did of acoustic environment, specifically on highest frequency (higher average), duration (shorter average) and interpulse interval (shorter average) along background vegetation. On multivariate basis, we confirmed shorter average interpulse interval along background vegetation. The overall classification accuracy was relatively high (82.22%): 80% in open space and 84% along background vegetation. Our work reinforces previous knowledge about sound constraints imposed by vegetation clutter, and provides a reliable framework for acoustic monitoring of this species across structurally variable, and hence acoustically variable, environments in the area.

The PREDICTS project-Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems (www.predicts.org.uk)-has collated from published studies a large, reasonably representative database of comparable samples of biodiversity from multiple sites that differ in the nature or intensity of human impacts relating to land use. We have used this evidence base to develop global and regional statistical models of how local biodiversity responds to these measures. We describe and make freely available this 2016 release of the database, containing more than 3.2 million records sampled at over 26,000 locations and representing over 47,000 species. We outline how the database can help in answering a range of questions in ecology and conservation biology. To our knowledge, this is the largest and most geographically and taxonomically representative database of spatial comparisons of biodiversity that has been collated to date; it will be useful to researchers and international efforts wishing to model and understand the global status of biodiversity.

Forests are a key habitat for bats, but tend to be lost and fragmented in some agri-environment schemes. We studied the effects of forest cover change on phyllostomid bats in agricultural landscapes with increment of open areas in an upland region in Chiapas, southeast Mexico. We tested whether with forest cover increase there is a directly proportional response on assemblage species diversity measures, on the capture success and body condition of particular ensembles. Depending on the spatial analysis window, and presumably on vagility, we found positive and significant associations with the sanguivore ensemble’s capture success, as well as with the nectarivore and shrub frugivore ensembles’ body condition. We support the idea that appropriate amounts of forest over small geographic extents may propitiate favorable environments for some phyllostomids, which can also provide important ecological services. Furthermore, the arrangement of ecologically similar species proved to be valuable for exploring adaptive traits, and adequate for conservation strategies of species-rich taxa.

We registered one juvenile female Lampronycteris brachyotis in a tropical semideciduous forest of Espita county, Yucatán. This is the first record of the species in the state of Yucatán, which extends its distribution in the Peninsula.