Diversity and conservation of bats in a private protected area of southern México

Abstract

Species inventories represents the first step for the study of biological diversity. Achieving bat completeness inventories requires the use of several sampling methods. The species inventories are particularly important in zone with scarce or without biological information. This work updates the inventory of bat species of Private Protected Area known as the Jaguaroundi Ecological Park (hereafter PEJ, by its Spanish acronym),
located in southern Veracruz. The sampling for this study was carried out between August and November 2015, using two methods (mist nets and ultrasonic detectors). We registered 33 species of bats, 23 species with mist nets (20 registered only with this method), and 13 species with ultrasonic detectors (10 registered only with this method). We recorded 23 species in ever green seasonal forest, 20 species were founded
in secondary forest and 17 species in areas near water bodies. Overall, the PEJ harbor 34 bat species including previous and new records. Three of this species (Lophostoma brasiliense, Myotis albescens and M. nigricans) are included in the Official Mexican standard (NOM-059-SEMARNAT 2010) and one species (Peromyotis subflavus) on the IUCN Red List. This updated bat inventory of the PEJ represents a significant contribution to the knowledge of bats diversity in southern Veracruz as well as the role in conservation of Private Protected Areas in México.