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Copyright of Therya is the property of Asociacion Mexicana de Mastozoologia, A. C. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Agro Productividad is the property of Colegio de Postgraduados and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The Swallow-tailed Kite (Elanoides forficatus) is one of several species of raptors that passes through Cuba during migration. This paper describes the migratory route of this specie in Cuba. Observations were conducted daily from 06:00 h until 18:00 h from July until November between 2012-2015. Counts were done in Cabo de San Antonio, in the most western part of Cuba. We detailed the species beginning and ending dates of migration at our site, as well as the raptors counted per hour. Two arrival peaks were observed. The greatest abundances were between 08:00 and 10:00 hr and between 16:00 and 18:00 hr. Results suggest that the species migrates through Cuba from mid-July to the end of September with a migration peak in August. The total number of individuals detected per year has been increasing. The largest numbers was observed in 2014 with a total of 2, 841 individuals. The abundance of the specie is related of the climatic variables. The study confirms the importance of Guanahacabibes peninsula for the migratory raptor and constitutes the main migratory corridor of this specie in the insular Caribbean. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Avances is the property of Instituto de Informacion Cientifica y Tecnologica and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The tropical dry forest is one of the most endangered ecosystems in the world, mainly due to deforestation and fragmentation. In Mexico more than half of its surface has disappeared, affecting biodiversity. The objective of this study was to compare the richness, diversity, and relative abundance of medium and large mammals in two sites with different management and conservation status, and where tropical dry forest is present. We also sought to find out which variables of habitat and human influence are related to the presence of the most common species. The study sites were in Pastorias, Actopan, Veracruz and San Juan Bautista Cuicatlan, Oaxaca, Mexico. The first site is highly transformed by anthropogenic activities, while the second is within the protected natural area of the Tehuacan-Cuicatlan Biosphere Reserve (TCBR). In Pastorias 11 camera-traps were set up from september 2015 to september 2016; while in Cuicatlan 10 camera traps were set up from october 2013 to july 2014. The sampling effort was 3 526 days/trap, which yielded 443 independent records for the first site, and 2 690 days/trap that yielded 378 independent records for the second site. In each locality, 13 species of mammals were recorded. In particular, three of these species are endangered (Tamandua mexicana, Leopardus wiedii, and Lynx rufus) and two are under threat (Herpailurus yagouaroundi and Galictis vittata). The true diversity of medium and large mammals between communities was different. According to the relative abundance, index (RAI) the most abundant species are Odocoileus virginianus, Urocyon cinereoargenteus and Canis latrans. Regression analyses suggest that the variables of season, the cover of secondary vegetation and distance to the nearest human locality were related to the record of these species. Despite the anthropogenic pressure in Pastorias, tropical dry forest remnants still maintain high species richness, which is very similar to that of a site as preserved as Cuicatlan. However, the low RAIs value of several mammals may indicate that habitat quality could not maintain large population numbers. Therefore, it is necessary to develop programs to conserve this ecosystem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Was performed a diagnosis to identify the species of the Scarabaeidae family present in guava cultivation, to determine the distribution and ecological indices of abundance and relative frequency of species associated with the cultivation. The sampling was carried out by light traps, in 35 fields of guava, in five Basic Units of Production and a small property, all belonging to the Ceballos Agroindustrial Enterprise, between May 2013 and June 2015. It was determined that the species of the Scarabaeidae family associated with the cultivation, were Cyclocephala cubana Chap., Phyllophaga patruelis Chev. Phyllophaga puberula Duval, Phyllophaga pilositarsis Blackwelder, Anomala calceata Chev., Strategus sarpedon Burm., Digitonthophagus gazella Fabricius and Dyscinetus picipes Burm. The most abundant species were C. cubana Chap. 60% (very abundant) and A. calceata Chev. with 10% (abundant). The species C. cubana, P. patruelis, P. puberula, P. pilositarsis, A. calceata and S. sarpedon, were very frequent, while D. gazella and D. picipes were frequent in guava cultivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. Opossum populations (Didelphismarsupialis) were characterized in an ecotourism area in Santa Elena, district of the city of Medellín and in the periurban and urban areas of the city of Caldas, Antioquia; using phototraps. Materials and methods. 7 Moultrie Game Spy® cameras were placed to determine relative abundance index (RAI) and rotated every three weeks. Baits were used to make observation easier. Results. For the Santa Elena district the sampling effort was 360 days / trap, in which 22 photographs of the species were obtained. Didelphismarsupialis had a total RAI of 0.18; of which 0.06 represented its abundance in the native forest and the remaining value was part of the area with pine trees. For the peri urban zone of the city of Caldas the sampling effort was 679 days / trap. The species Didelphismarsupialis had a total RAI of 0.4; which represents an approximate number of 26 individuals at the Santa Inés practice center. In the urban area of the city of Caldas it was not possible to establish this pattern. Conclusion. The study indicates that despite the transformation of the peri urban area in the Aburrá Valley it is possible to find elements representative of its peri urban mammals, even in small private reserves. The Didelphidae family has adapted to highly modified ecosystems, even in areas with invasive species such as exotic monocultures of exotic species, livestock pastures and anthropic transformation given by the fragmentation of forests, however these marsupials are forced to migrate locally to changes in the microclimate of forest fragments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Agro Productividad is the property of Colegio de Postgraduados and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Zeledonia is the property of Asociacion Ornitologica de Costa Rica and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Boletín Científico Centro de Museos de Historia Natural is the property of Universidad de Caldas and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Baird's tapir (Tapirus bairdii) is endangered primarily because of habitat loss and fragmentation, and overhunting throughout its distribution range. One of the priority land areas for the conservation of this species is the Northern part of its range in the Chimalapas forest, Oaxaca. The aim of this research was to determine the relative abundance, population structure, habitat preferences and activity patterns of Baird's tapir (Tapirus bairdii) in the Chimalapas forest, Oaxaca, Mexico, through the non-invasive technique of camera-trap sampling. A total of five sampling sessions were undertaken among 2009-2013, and used a total of 30 camera-traps in each period. The determinant factor of the sampling design was the hunting between two study areas. A total sampling effort of 9 000 trap-days allowed to estimate an index of relative abundance (IRA) of 6.77 tapir photographs/1000 trap-days (n=61). IRA varied significantly between sampling stations (Mann-Whitney, p<0.01). The frequency of Baird's tapir photos was higher in the dry season in tropical rain forest without hunting (x², p<0.5). In the rainy season, the tropical rain forest and secondary vegetation habitats showed higher photo frequency than expected from random (x², p<0.5). Considering population structure, a 95.08% of adult animals was obtained in photographic records (n=58). Three types of activity pattern were observed, with more nocturnal records (88.33%; Kruskal-Wallis, p<0.05). The Chimalapas forest appears to be the second most important terrestrial priority ecoregion, just after the Mayan Forest (Campeche, Chiapas, Quintana Roo), for the conservation of tapir populations, not only for Mexico but also for Central America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad is the property of Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Instituto de Biologia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Caribbean Ornithology is the property of Society for the Conservation & Study of Caribbean Birds and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Here I report the richness of bird species from Barranca del Cupatitzio National Park, Uruapan, Michoacan, Mexico, recorded monthly from August 2003 to June 2005 by means of specimen collection, visual and aural detection, and photo trapping techniques. I recorded 128 species, belonging to 93 genera, 35 families and 12 orders. The second order Jackknife estimator indicated that 90.8% of all possible species were recorded and at least 13 more species can be potentially found. Out of the 128 species recorded, 93 species are permanent residents, 25 migratory, 4 transient, 5 vagrant and 1 introduced. The endemism included 12% of the species endemic to Mexico and 51.8% of the endemics to the Mexican Transvolcanic Belt. One species is considered as threatened and 6 subject to special protection by Mexican law. Using risk, endemism and distribution criteria, 20 species were identified as priority species for conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wildlife management decisions should be based on solid baseline information, with monitoring populations as a necessary activity whenever the management objective is maintaining abundance at a previously stated level. Developing a monitoring program requires careful experimental and statistical considerations in order to get confidence about its capability in detecting predefined trends. Our objective was to develop a monitoring program for two canid species (the Grey Fox Pseudalopex griseus and the Culpeo Fox P. culpaeus), based on visitation indices to bait stations. Using MONITOR software we estimated the sampling effort necessary to detect a 50% decrease in their populations during the next 5 years (annual rate of -12,94%) and during the next 10 years (annual rate of -6,70%), with a minimum power of 80%. We assume that the environmental cost of making a Type II error (failing to detect a real population trend) is greater than that of making a Type I error (sounding a false alarm) and used three alpha levels 0.05, 0.10 and 0.15. We also tested an increasing sampling effort (number of bait stations lines), and activating them during one, two and up to three times in a single year. We fed the MONITOR program with the mean visitation index to the 20 transects activated on several occasions during the previous year in the study area. In order to detect a 50% decrease over the next 5 years, any monitoring program should be based on at least two annual replicates of the bait stations. A monitoring program accessible to the protected area manpower and financial resources and considering the conservation status of the target species would be one developed to detect a 50% decrease over the next 10 years, activating 16 lines once a year, during two or three consecutive nights and an alpha of 0.10. We also discuss alternatives to use only the first nigh of visit in order to assimilate bait stations to scent stations and make these results comparable with other studies in Patagoniqa, Argentina. Monitoring programs like the one presented here would be valuable to help managers when deciding about harvest quotas for the fur trade, or anticipating conflicts and solutions with sheep rangers by detecting increasing trends in Culpeo populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The conventional methods of sampling used in the study of bat communities (mist netting, entomological nets, pellets shotgun and harp traps) imply the capture and in many occasions the death of the animal, causing stress in the community. The use of acoustic methods is a recent non-invasive alternative that allows the characterization of the structure and composition of the community. In a sample obtained in the Cave of El Indio, Tapaste (Havana), mist netting, entomological net and the monitoring of echolocation calls were used simultaneously. Six species were found: Brachyphylla nana, Phyllonycteris poeyi, Monophyllus redmani, Pteronotus quadridens, P. macleayi and P. parnelli. The bioacoustic method and the entomological net offered more precise information about relative abundance and species diversity than the mist net. However, the results obtained with the entomological net were more influenced by the position of the collect stations and required more physical effort than the biacoustic method. Both conventional and bioacoustic methods show similar results about temporal segregation among species during the first nocturnal exodus: P. quadridens started the exodus before P. poeyi, who started before B. nana. Each method of sampling complements the information given by the others. Investigations of bats communities should combine different methods to attain its most precise and complete characterization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Daily commercial fishing data were used to determine the relative abundance of the shovelnose guitarfish Rhinobatos productus (Ayres, 1856) in Bahia Almejas, Baja California Sur (Mexico), from August 1991 to December 1995. Data suggest that seasonal trends exist in the catch, with maximum values from May to August. In order to determine if the seasonality is a result of variations in the abundance, catch effort data (number of nets laid) were included in the calculations and the results were expressed in terms of catch per unit effort (CPUE; org/net/week and org/nef/month). The cyclical behavior of R. produetus abundance follows lunar cycles, sea temperature and probably food availability, all critical factors if we consider that the species uses the area for its reproduction. The species enters massively into the bay during one month and leaves in just two weeks. An alternate trend was identified in the relative abundance between years, with the uneven years (1993 and 1995) as the abundant ones. The relative abundanceof R. productus increased from 1991 to 1995, even with the respective decreases in the even years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]