This study investigated geographic variation in a suite of reproductive behavioral traits in Hyalinobatrachium fleischmanni across several sites in Mexico and Ecuador. We made observations on the frequency of egg-mass brooding behavior and compared brooding encounter rates between wet and dry forest types. Brooding encounter rates were significantly higher in the drier region, suggesting a potential relationship between paternal care and climatic conditions. We also compared calling and oviposition sites between geographic regions and tested for associations with the distributional range of the frog-eating bat, Trachops cirrhosus. In regions where H. fleischmanni and T. cirrhosus co-occur, both calling males and egg masses were more frequently found on ‘less exposed’ lower surfaces of leaves, where risk of attack from aerial predators may be reduced. We also provide novel information on brooding behavior and clutch guarding, and discuss the implications of our results in the framework of existin...

Bat acoustic libraries are important tools that assemble echolocation calls to allow the comparison and discrimination to confirm species identifications. The Sonozotz project represents the first nation‐wide library of bat echolocation calls for a megadiverse country. It was assembled following a standardized recording protocol that aimed to cover different recording habitats, recording techniques, and call variation inherent to individuals. The Sonozotz project included 69 species of echolocating bats, a high species richness that represents 50% of bat species found in the country. We include recommendations on how the database can be used and how the sampling methods can be potentially replicated in countries with similar environmental and geographic conditions. To our knowledge, this represents the most exhaustive effort to date to document and compile the diversity of bat echolocation calls for a megadiverse country. This database will be useful to address a range of ecological questions including the effects of anthropogenic activities on bat communities through the analysis of bat sound.

Water hyacinth (Pontederia crassipes) is a floating hydrophyte plant considered one of the 100 most harmful invasive alien species in the world. Its main uses have been developed along three lines: (1) control, (2) eradication, and (3) wastewater bioremediation. The objective of this work was to conduct a systematic literature review (SLR) focused on the documented uses of Pontederia crassipes, and to determine if there is evidence of its use as a raw material (plant biomass) for the generation of biodegradable products. This systematic literature review was conducted in six international databases, considering three inclusion criteria and three exclusion criteria. The available information about Pontederia crassipes showed a small percentage of studies aimed at the use of its biomass as a raw material for the creation of various biodegradable products, such as cardboard, paper, packaging and some other products, since this species is adaptable and prolific in multiple regions of Mexico.

Context: The processes of fragmentation, habitat loss, degradation and their combined effects are formidable threats to amphibian populations. Aims: We evaluate the effect of three land use-type variables and nine landscape matrix quality factors on amphibian presence in four coffee agro-ecosystems and two cloud-forest fragments in central Veracruz, Mexico. Methods: Each site was thoroughly searched using the visual-encounter survey technique along different trails in the most feasible microhabitats for detecting amphibians during four rainy seasons (2005, 2006, 2008 and 2009). Centred on the location where each amphibian species was first recorded, we established what we refer to as a buffer area within a radius of 1.5 km. A Co-Inertia mathematical model was used to determine which of the explanatory variables contributed to maintaining amphibian diversity. The landscape variables were landscape-quality index, open areas, canopy cover (low, intermediate, dense) at the matrix level, river, road and human population density and site size. Local variables were elevation, plant-structure and biological-impact indices. Key results: During the study we recorded 1078 amphibians belonging to 26 species, 17 genera and 10 families. The variables explaining the composition of amphibian diversity were river and human population density, low canopy cover at the matrix level, elevation, site size and plant-structure index. Amphibian diversity increased as the structural complexity of the habitat increased, and the former was positively correlated with fragment size. Conclusion: The present study indicated that coffee agro-ecosystems and the cloud-forest fragments in the region form a gradient in habitat quality and landscape variables that exert a differential influence on amphibian assemblages, and that each species responds uniquely to different variables. Implications: Coffee agro-ecosystems and forest fragments cannot be seen as homogenous patches with a certain habitat quality, separate from the landscape matrix in which they are immersed. Stakeholders are not advised to rely on a single strategy to conserve the amphibian community, but rather should aim to maintain a heterogeneous landscape with forest fragments and coffee agro-ecosystems that have a complex vertical plant structure at the habitat level, especially in highly river-dense landscapes.

We describe a new species of Pseudoeurycea from the cloud forests of Huatusco in the state of Veracruz, México. This species belongs to the P. cephalica complex. Pseudoeurycea cafetalera sp. nov. is sister to the clade formed by P. cephalica and P. quetzalanensis. The new species is diagnosed by a stout body, long stout legs, short digits, somewhat webbed hands and feet, a distinctive coloration and by divergent mitochondrial DNA sequences.