Neotropical wetlands comprise contrasting habitats with highly diverse avifauna, including herbivores, insectivores and carnivores, of both terrestrial and aquatic species. Therefore, comparisons between wetland bird assemblages based only on species identity may disregard turnover within ecological groups, and eclipse important variations between habitat types. We studied bird assemblages from mangrove and estuary habitat types from a coastal lagoon system in Oaxaca, Mexico. For this, we used 640 point counts to obtain data on bird species using those habitats between October 2009 and May 2012. We ascertained guild structure by classifying 139 species in a scalar hierarchy of two-levels: 17 key-resource guilds nested within seven trophic guilds. To evaluate variation in guild structure between habitat types, we contrasted richness and diversity across trophic guilds and tested for variation in abundance within key-resource guilds. We exposed a tendency of greater diversity within terrestrial guilds in mangrove and within aquatic guilds at the estuary. However, these differences were compensatory and neither richness nor diversity varied between habitat types in comparisons across the sets of trophic guilds. Parallel analyses at two hierarchical levels supported the theoretical prediction of greater change at lower levels. Herpetofauna, wood invertebrates, aquatic invertebrates and seeds emerged as dietary components that may explain the distribution of abundance in key-resource guilds. Although the guilds from mangrove and estuary produced comparable sets of richness and diversity values, the actual identity of guilds with high values varied between habitats. On the other hand, species abundance comparisons within guilds pinpointed specific associations with habitat types and this method represents a suitable strategy for identifying habitat preferences in complex wetland bird assemblages.

Introduction: The expansion of conventional agriculture has caused the loss of natural habitats for the fauna, but the coffee agroecosystems of Oaxaca can provide an alternative habitat for mammals, which is associated with the cultural value that human communities assign to them. Objective: To assess the diversity and cultural value of medium and large mammals associated with the coffee plantation, and what they represent for the inhabitants of San Gabriel Mixtepec, Oaxaca, Mexico. Method: A mixed method was used. For the diversity analysis, the mammal species were identified through camera traps. To determine the Cultural Importance Index (IIC), semi-structured interviews and participatory workshops were carried out with the residents, who also helped to identify the different uses of the medium and large mammals. Results: A total of 26 species grouped into seven orders, 14 families, and 23 genera were recorded. Alpha diversity was greater in the dry season than in the wet season. Some species were detected in only one of the two seasons. Six hundred and thirty-nine records of cultural uses of mammals were obtained; use as food was the most mentioned. Twelve types of uses were identified. The species with the greatest cultural importance were Odocoileus virginianus (IIC = 0.92), with 11 uses, followed by Dasypus novemcinctus (IIC = 0.61), with 10 uses, Conepatus leuconotus (IIC = 0.60), with eight uses and Didelphis virginiana (IIC = 0.52), with 11 uses. Conclusion: The results show the importance that human residents assign to mammals associated with coffee agroecosystems, both for their use for subsistence and to complement the family economy. Furthermore, the residents themselves emphasize the importance of their traditional knowledge and the need to adopt sustainable management practices for the mastofauna, because they recognize the importance it has in the community and the benefits it can have on the environment.

Derived from an extensive survey on the common vampire bat Desmodus rotundus (Geoffroy, 1810) in some localities along the Central region, and the Pacific and Atlantic slopes of Mexico, Chirodiscid fur mites of the genus Alabidocarpus were found exclusively in the country's southern region in the state of Oaxaca, where they turned out to be a new species. Here, we describe the adults and juveniles of this new Chirodiscid species. The present study increases the number of species of Alabidocarpus associated with American bats to seven; therefore, we include an updated key to known species in the American continent.