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Bats are an ecologically and taxonomically diverse group accounting for roughly a fifth of mammalian diversity worldwide. Many of the threats bats face (e.g., habitat loss, bushmeat hunting, and climate change) reflect the conservation challenges of our era. However, compared to other mammals and birds, we know significantly less about the population status of most bat species, which makes prioritizing and planning conservation actions challenging. Over a third of bat species assessed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) are considered threatened or data deficient, and well over half of the species have unknown or decreasing population trends. That equals 988 species, or 80% of bats assessed by IUCN, needing conservation or research attention. Delivering conservation to bat species will require sustained efforts to assess population status and trends and address data deficiencies. Successful bat conservation must integrate research and conservation to identify stressors and their solutions and to test the efficacy of actions to stabilize or increase populations. Global and regional networks that connect researchers, conservation practitioners, and local stakeholders to share knowledge, build capacity, and prioritize and coordinate research and conservation efforts, are vital to ensuring sustainable bat populations worldwide.

Species occupying semi-arid and dry regions around the globe face an uncertain future due to increases in the frequency and severity of droughts. In this study we modelled the potential effect of climate change on bat communities within two high-drought risk regions of the world and assessed the magnitude and direction of the predicted shifts in climatic suitability, locating climate change refugia and identifying species at greatest risk of population declines. To do this, we compared climate suitability models for 43 species using three global climate models and three emissions scenarios for current (1950–2000) and future (2061–2080) climates within two regions where droughts are predicted to increase, the Western Palaearctic and Western North America. Our models predicted an overall reduction in bat richness with future climates. Areas projected to support high species richness in the current climate coincided with greatest predicted species loss and greatest future drought risk. For species with the potential to extend their range, high velocity range shifts would be required to keep pace with these changes, particularly in the Western Palaearctic, where additional barriers to movement include seas and areas of high human population density. Predicted refugial zones were limited and occurred in similar areas across continents (montane and high latitude with some coastal areas). The area of climate suitability was predicted to contract for around half of study species, with nine identified as species of conservation concern due to low overlap between current and future modelled ranges. The best-case scenario for bat diversity in semi-arid and dry regions in the future is likely to be reduced species richness, with many species facing rapid range expansion over challenging landscapes to access climatically suitable areas. Conservation of bats in high drought risk regions will likely depend on protection of identified refugia and networks of water sources, as well as global measures to protect biodiversity and human wellbeing, such as reduction in global carbon emissions.

The genus Myotis is a diverse group of vespertilionid bats found on nearly every continent. One clade in this group, the subgenus Chrysopteron, is characterized by reddish to yellowish fur and, in some cases, visually striking dichromatic wing pigmentation. Here, we describe a new dichromatic species of Myotis (Chrysopteron) from the Nimba Mountains in Guinea. The new species is superficially similar to Myotis welwitschii, but phylogenetic analyses based on cytochrome b data indicated that it is actually more closely related to M. tricolor. Discovery of this new taxon increases the number of Myotis species known from mainland Africa to 11 species, although patterns of molecular divergence suggest that cryptic species in the Chrysopteron clade remain to be described. This discovery also highlights the critical importance of the Nimba Mountains as a center of bat diversity and endemism in sub-Saharan Africa.

Acoustic signalling is the most important form of communication in anuran amphibians. Here we recorded and analysed the calls of 18 male Guenther’s frogs (Hylarana guentheri) from the wild during t...

Land-use change and climate change are driving a global biodiversity crisis. Yet, how species' responses to climate change are correlated with their responses to land-use change is poorly understood. Here, we assess the linkages between climate and land-use change on birds in Neotropical forest and agriculture. Across > 300 species, we show that affiliation with drier climates is associated with an ability to persist in and colonise agriculture. Further, species shift their habitat use along a precipitation gradient: species prefer forest in drier regions, but use agriculture more in wetter zones. Finally, forest-dependent species that avoid agriculture are most likely to experience decreases in habitable range size if current drying trends in the Neotropics continue as predicted. This linkage suggests a synergy between the primary drivers of biodiversity loss. Because they favour the same species, climate and land-use change will likely homogenise biodiversity more severely than otherwise anticipated.

We provide consensus on the benefits of nature experience for mental health, and a model for integrating them into urban design., A growing body of empirical evidence is revealing the value of nature experience for mental health. With rapid urbanization and declines in human contact with nature globally, crucial decisions must be made about how to preserve and enhance opportunities for nature experience. Here, we first provide points of consensus across the natural, social, and health sciences on the impacts of nature experience on cognitive functioning, emotional well-being, and other dimensions of mental health. We then show how ecosystem service assessments can be expanded to include mental health, and provide a heuristic, conceptual model for doing so.

Determining the processes responsible for phenotypic variation is one of the central tasks of evolutionary biology. While the importance of acoustic traits for foraging and communication in echolocating mammals suggests adaptation, the seldom-tested null hypothesis to explain trait divergence is genetic drift. Here we derive F ST values from multi-locus coalescent isolation-with-migration models, and couple them with estimates of quantitative trait divergence, or P ST , to test drift as the evolutionary process responsible for phenotypic divergence in island populations of the Pteronotus parnellii species complex. Compared to traditional comparisons of P ST to F ST , the migration-based estimates of F ST are unidirectional instead of bidirectional, simultaneously integrate variation among loci and individuals, and posterior densities of P ST and F ST can be compared directly. We found the evolution of higher call frequencies is inconsistent with genetic drift for the Hispaniolan population, despite many generations of isolation from its Puerto Rican counterpart. While the Hispaniolan population displays dimorphism in call frequencies, the higher frequency of the females is incompatible with sexual selection. Instead, cultural drift toward higher frequencies among Hispaniolan females might explain the divergence. By integrating Bayesian coalescent and trait analyses, this study demonstrates a powerful approach to testing genetic drift as the default evolutionary mechanism of trait differentiation between populations.

Male-biased dispersal and female philopatry are common traits among social mammals, often leading to elevated relatedness within social groups. However, exceptions do occur, with documented cases of female-biased dispersal, dispersal by both sexes, and philopatry of both sexes. In this study, we examined levels of dispersal and relatedness based on analyses of the mitochondrial D-loop and 12 nuclear microsatellite markers in the woodland specialist Ussuri tube-nosed bat ( Murina ussuriensis ), a relatively widespread, yet locally rare species that is thought to be threatened by loss of its forest habitats across its range. A total of 85 individuals were captured in lowland temperate forest on the island of Yakushima and 28 individuals in montane forest in Hokkaido, Japan. In the former, haplotypes showed extreme spatial clustering among females consistent with strong philopatry, but spatial mixing among males suggesting dispersal over short distances. These findings were broadly supported by microsatellite analyses, which indicated considerable genealogical structure within sampling locations but a lack of spatial structure, again indicating that some gene flow does occur in one or both sexes. The Hokkaido data, although limited, did not show these patterns and instead suggest that differences in environmental and behavioral variables may influence movement ecology of individuals at these 2 sites and consequently fine-scale genetic structure within this species.

Phylogeographic reconstructions of codistributed taxa can help reveal the interplay between abiotic factors, such as altitude and climate, and species-specific attributes, in shaping patterns of population genetic structure. Recent studies also demonstrate the value of both rangewide sampling and species distribution modelling (SDM) in comparative phylogeography. Here, we combine these approaches to study the population histories of four phylogenetically related forest-dependent bat species. All are endemic to the mountainous island of Taiwan but show differences in their tolerance to altitude, with Murina gracilis considered to be a high-altitude specialist, M. recondita and Kerivoula sp. low-altitude specialists, and M. puta an altitudinal generalist. We tested the prediction that contrasting habitat preferences would impact on patterns of past and contemporary gene flow and found broad concordance between the results of population genetic analyses and species distribution models based on the Model for Interdisciplinary Research on Climate. Both lowland species showed evidence of genetic divergence between the east and west of the island, consistent with SDMs that indicated the Central Mountain Range (CMR) has presented a long-term and continuous barrier to gene flow since before the Last Glacial Maximum. In contrast, Murina gracilis and M. puta showed lower degrees of historical isolation and genetic differentiation associated with the CMR, reflecting greater gene flow, possibly coupled with past population growth in M. puta. Together our results highlight the usefulness of combining distribution models with phylogeographic analyses to understand the drivers of genetic structure.

In this study we investigated the importance of two species of fruit bat (Rousettus leschenaulti and Cynopterus sphinx) as seed dispersers for a species of fruit tree (Syzygium oblatum) found in the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden in South-West China. We found that although R. leschenaulti and C. sphinx were the two primary seed dispersers of S. oblatum over half of the fruit produced by the tree (65%) fell to the ground. Out of the fruit collected, R. leschenaulti and C. sphinx were able to disperse seeds up to 73 m from the parent tree with the highest density of feeding roosts occurring at 21.3 m (SE = 5.2 m). We found no signs that either species of bat used the parent tree as a feeding roost, instead choosing specific trees that were at lower densities compared with other trees in the forest that were not used. When comparing the viability of seeds in three different habitats (under parent tree, in forest gap, under feeding roost) survival analysis revealed that seedling survival was significantly higher in the forest gap (91.7% ± 4.41%) than under the parent tree (78.3% ± 1.67%), but was not significantly different to seedling survival underneath feeding roosts (86.7 ± 1.67%). Further work also showed that the seeds did not have to be removed from the fruit or ingested by the bat in order to germinate. We conclude that although S. oblatum is not dependent on R. leschenaulti and C. sphinx for successful germination of its seeds, these two species of bat are important seed dispersers and can move seeds to areas where there is a greater chance of germination success and survival.

Aim The extent to which the ranges of temperate biota in East Asia have been shaped by geological and climatic changes during the Pleistocene remains poorly understood. Previous molecular-based studies of the greater horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum), which is widespread across China and Japan, suggest that this species was able to persist in multiple refugia in this region. However, limited availability of samples precluded a detailed analysis of past distributions. By integrating ecological niche modelling with phylogenetic analyses, we aim to resolve the impact of past events on the population genetic structure of R. ferrumequinum and provide detailed descriptions of potential distribution patterns during this time. Location Central/East China and Japan. Methods Phylogenetic analyses were carried out using 1098 bp of the mitochondrial ND2 gene and 13 microsatellite loci from bats sampled at 26 localities across China and Japan. Haplotype data were used in isolation-with-migration models (IMa) to estimate divergence dates between different lineages, and mismatch distribution analyses were undertaken to test for signs of population expansion. Geographical structuring of the microsatellite data was examined by spatial clustering. Ecological niche modelling was performed based on high-resolution palaeoclimate data inferred for the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Results Phylogenetic analyses identified deep levels of divergence between three major lineages broadly corresponding to Central China, East China and Japan. The divergence of all three lineages was estimated to have occurred before the LGM. A strong correlation was observed between the ecological niche model and phylogenetic data, with both methods inferring that R. ferrumequinum populations in Central China did not undergo significant range contractions during glacial episodes. The impact of glacial cycles on East China would have been more severe, with some locations being unable to support viable populations. Zones of secondary contact were identified between Central/East China and East China/Japan, which probably result from some historical gene flow between isolated populations. Main conclusions Integrating ecological niche modelling within phylo-geographical studies provides support for a complex demographic history for R. ferrumequinum in East Asia, as well as persistence during glacial episodes in multiple refugia across their range.

Bats (Chiroptera) are the second-most abundant mammalian order in the world, occupying a diverse range of habitats and exhibiting many different life history traits. In order to contribute to this highly underrepresented group we describe the sleep architecture of two species of frugivorous bat, the greater short-nosed fruit bat (Cynopterus sphinx) and the lesser dawn fruit bat (Eonycteris spelaea). Electroencephalogram (EEG) and electromyogram (EMG) data were recorded from multiple individuals (>or=5) by telemetry over a 72-h period in a laboratory setting with light/dark cycles equivalent to those found in the wild. Our results show that over a 24-h period both species spent more time asleep than awake (mean 15 h), less than previous reported for Chiroptera (20 h). C. sphinx spent significantly more of its non-rapid eye movement sleep (NREM) and rapid eye movement sleep (REM) quotas during the light phase, while E. spelaea divided its sleep-wake architecture equally between both light and dark phases. Comparing the sleep patterns of the two species found that C. sphinx had significantly fewer NREM and REM episodes than E. spelaea but each episode lasted for a significantly longer period of time. Potential hypotheses to explain the differences in the sleep architecture of C. sphinx with E. spelaea, including risk of predation and social interaction are discussed.

The influence of Pleistocene climatic oscillations on shaping the genetic structure of Asian biota is poorly known. The Japanese pipistrelle bat occurs over a wide range in eastern Asia, from Siberia to Japan. To test the relative impact of ancient and more recent events on genetic structure in this species, we combined mitochondrial (cytochrome b) and microsatellite markers to reconstruct its phylogeographic and demographic history on continental China and its offshore islands, Hainan Island and the Zhoushan Archipelago. Our mitochondrial DNA tree recovered two divergent geographical clades, indicating multiple glacial refugia in the region. The first clade was mainly confined to Hainan Island, indicating that gene flow between this population and the continent has been restricted, despite being repeatedly connected to the mainland during repeated glacial episodes. By contrast, haplotypes sampled on the Zhoushan Archipelago were mixed with those from the mainland, suggesting a recent shared history of expansion. Although microsatellite allele frequencies showed clear discontinuities across the sampling range, supporting the current isolation of both Hainan Island and the Zhoushan Archipelago, we also found clear evidence of more recent back colonization, probably via post-glacial expansion or, in the latter case, occasional long distance dispersal. The results obtained highlight the importance of using multiple sets of markers for teasing apart the roles of ancient and more recent events on population genetic structure. © 2010 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2010, 99, 582–594.

In response to the rapid decline of greater horseshoe bats (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum) in Europe, conservation efforts have previously focused on protecting maternity roosts and hibernacula. Currently, there is little information available on the ecology of this species outside of these 2 main periods. This study investigates patterns of roost use, ranging behavior, habitat use, and diet of R. ferrumequinum using data collected from a transitional roost studied over 3 years in Dorset, United Kingdom. The roost was predominantly used during the spring and autumn, and acted as a link between maternity roosts and hibernacula. Compositional analysis of ranging behavior collected in the spring revealed that R. ferrumequinum selected grazed pastures and broad-leaved woodland compared with other available habitat. Diet analysis revealed that there was little difference between the diet of individuals using the transitional roost and the nearest known R. ferrumequinum maternity colony. Broad-leaved woodlands within 4 km of transitional roosts used by R. ferrumequinum in the spring should be protected to help conserve this species.

Echolocating bats are able to orientate, navigate and forage without visual cues. To probe the role of vision in bats, we studied the visual opsin genes from the echolocating little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus). Short-wavelength sensitive (SWS1) opsin, middle/long-wavelength sensitive (M/LWS) opsin and rhodopsin cDNA sequences were identified from the Ensembl database and validated by the sequencing of genomic DNA. We retrieved the published orthologous genes from eleven additional representative species of mammals from GenBank and conducted an evolutionary analysis. We found that the M/LWS opsin and rhodopsin genes were both under strong purifying selection, whereas the SWS1 opsin gene has undergone positive selection at two amino acid sites and one lineage, though the main evolutionary force is still purifying selection. Two-ratio model of the SWS1 opsin gene revealed that the ω ratio for the little brown bat lineage was nearly three times lower than the background ratio, suggesting a much stronger functional constraint. Our relative rate tests show the little brown bat has a lower nonsynonymous substitution rate than those in other mammals (on average 32% lower) for the SWS1 opsin gene. However, no such significant differences were detected for the M/LWS opsin and rhodopsin genes. The results of the relative ratio tests are consistent with that of tests for selection, showing a history of purifying selection on the little brown bat opsin genes. These findings suggest a functional role of vision in the little brown bat despite being nocturnal and using echolocation. We speculate that this echolocating bat may be able to use visual cues to orientate, navigate and forage at night, to discriminate color under moonlight and starlight conditions, or to avoid predation by diurnal raptors.

Phylogeographical studies are typically based on haplotype data, occasionally on nuclear markers such as microsatellites, but rarely combine both. This is unfortunate because the use of markers with contrasting modes of inheritance and rates of evolution might provide a more accurate and comprehensive understanding of a species' history. Here we present a detailed study of the phylogeography of the greater horseshoe bat, Rhinolophus ferrumequinum, using 1098 bp of the mitochondrial ND2 gene from 45 localities from across its Palaearctic range to infer population history. In addition, we re-analysed a large microsatellite data set available for this species and compared the results of both markers to infer population relationships and the historical processes influencing them. We show that mtDNA, the most popular marker in phylogeography studies, yielded a misleading result, and would have led us to conclude erroneously that a single expansion had taken place in Europe. Only by combining the mitochondrial and microsatellite data sets are we able to reconstruct the species' history and show two colonization events in Europe, one before the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and one after it. Combining markers also revealed the importance of Asia Minor as an ancient refugium for this species and a source population for the expansion of the greater horseshoe bat into Europe before the LGM.

Population genetic structure has important consequences in evolutionary processes and conservation genetics in animals. Fine-scale population genetic structure depends on the pattern of landscape, the permanent movement of individuals, and the dispersal of their genes during temporary mating events. The lesser flat-headed bat (Tylonycteris pachypus) is a nonmigratory Asian bat species that roosts in small groups within the internodes of bamboo stems and the habitats are fragmented. Our previous parentage analyses revealed considerable extra-group mating in this species. To assess the spatial limits and sex-biased nature of gene flow in the same population, we used 20 microsatellite loci and mtDNA sequencing of the ND2 gene to quantify genetic structure among 54 groups of adult flat-headed bats, at nine localities in South China. AMOVA and F(ST) estimates revealed significant genetic differentiation among localities. Alternatively, the pairwise F(ST) values among roosting groups appeared to be related to the incidence of associated extra-group breeding, suggesting the impact of mating events on fine-scale genetic structure. Global spatial autocorrelation analyses showed positive genetic correlation for up to 3 km, indicating the role of fragmented habitat and the specialized social organization as a barrier in the movement of individuals among bamboo forests. The male-biased dispersal pattern resulted in weaker spatial genetic structure between localities among males than among females, and fine-scale analyses supported that relatedness levels within internodes were higher among females than among males. Finally, only females were more related to their same sex roost mates than to individuals from neighbouring roosts, suggestive of natal philopatry in females.

Autopsies carried out on 26 short-nosed fruit bats (Cynopterus sphinx, Pteropodidae, Chiroptera) from Guangdong Province, South China, revealed that the hearts of three individuals were found lying in the right hemithoracic cavity with their base-to-apex axes directed to the right. This is the reverse of what is normally seen in mammals and is similar to the rare congential heart defect known as dextrocardia which has been described in humans. A comparison of the two orientated hearts found that there was no significant difference in heart mass (MH) or relative heart mass (RHM). We observed that the short-nosed fruit bat has higher RHM compared to non-flying mammals but lower RHM when compared to insectivorous bats, and similar RHM when compared to those of other fruit bats.

Steve Early, Labor’s Civil Wars (Chicago: Haymarket Books, 2011), 440 pages, $17.00, paperback. Leadership driven union density or membership driven mobilization? Labor activist and writer Steve Early chronicles the divisions that opened up in a labor movement desperate to curb decline during the first decade of the 21st century. Divisions that led to a split in the AFL-CIO and in the largest US union, SEIU. Early's detailed knowledge of the issues and players makes for a fascinating trip through labor politics, largely ignored in the mainstream media. This article can also be found at the Monthly Review website , where most recent articles are published in full. Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website.