The
PCMM has a a first
priority to Project the caves
that hold either large colonies
of bats, that are diverse, or
that serve for roost for endemic
or extinction-risk species,
and that are being affected
by human activities. Out of
the 138 species of mexican bats,
out program works with 45 species
that present serious tretas
for their conservation. This
group holds the migratory species,
extinction-risk, and endemic
species (that only live in Mexico).
Current
projects:
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Priority
cave monitoring
•
We have conducted long-term
monitoring on the population
sizes and threats to priority
caves. We have performed a
continuous work within those
caves to prepare management
plans or protected areas.
We are working with the three
levels of the government and
different institutions to
protect priority caves, the
species that inhabit them
and their surrounding habitat.
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Caves
where we have conducted
Environmental Education programs |
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Endemic
bats •
The research team of Bioconciencia is
performing the first studies on the ecology
of the endemic bats Musonycteris harrisoni,
or banana bat, the flat-headed bat Myotis
planiceps which was rediscovered
by our team and the fishing bat Myotis
vivesi, an endemic species of the
Gulf of California.
Recently a new story on the rediscovery
of the flat-headed bat has been published
both in English and Spanish (see
more information here)
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Endemic
bats that are priority for the program |
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•
Migratory
bat conservation •
We are studying the factors that
determine migration, the routes
and their conservation status.
We need to know how the shifts
in vegetation are affecting migration,
the routes bats follow, their
reproduction seasons or their
diet. This would help us understand
their conservation status and
therefore contribute to their
solution. |
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Migration
of the free-tailed bats Tadarida
brasiliensis |
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Vampire
bat research and control
•
We are studying the biological cicle
of the rabies virus in blodd-feeding
bats. We have developed a workshop
to show the importante of bats and
the methods there exist to control
vampire bat populations. We deliver
this course in localities where
rabies in cattle has been detected
to be caused by bats., and also
we have delivered this course to
other researchers that perform control
and public workers that work in
areas affected by vampire bats.
If you are interested in this course
(delivered in Spanish) please let
us know. |
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| Banana
bat (Musonycteris harrisoni)
feeding on Cleome spinosa,
Colima Mexico |
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Pollination
environmental services monitoring
•
We have launched the first project
dedicated to monitor the pollination
environmental services that pollen
and nectar bat feeders such as
Leptonycteris nivalis
and L. yerbabuenae provide.
Our study is using different agave
species as indicators, we intend
to understand the role bats play
in their pollination, and by having
documented the flower, fruit and
nectar production of agaves on
the long term, we will have a
picture of the status of the bats
that are pollinating these species.
This project will have a coupled
environmental education program
showing the importance of the
pollination services bats performed
to rural communities and the general
public. This study will be taking
place in Sonora, Tehuacan Valley
and Nuevo Leon States of Mexico.gggg |
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| Agave
marmorata in bloom,
Tehuacan Cuicatlan Reserve,
Puebla, Mexico |
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Vampire
bat research and control
•
We are studying the biological cicle
of the rabies virus in blodd-feeding
bats. We have developed a workshop
to show the importante of bats and
the methods there exist to control
vampire bat populations. We deliver
this course in localities where
rabies in cattle has been detected
to be caused by bats., and also
we have delivered this course to
other researchers that perform control
and public workers that work in
areas affected by vampire bats.
If you are interested in this course
(delivered in Spanish) please
let us know. |
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Common
vampyre bat, Desmodus rotundus |
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Emerging
diseases •
Fragmentation and biodiversity loss
are directly connected with the
transmission of diseases in birds
and bats. Our project intends to
understand the dynamics of infectious
diseases as rabies in bat communities
with relation to fragmentation in
Northern Puebla Sierra and the prevalence
of this virus in hematophagous bats
such as Desmodus rotundus
and Diphylla ecaudata. |
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Diphylla
ecaudata in nothern Puebla |
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