@article {14, title = {Factors influencing the occurrence of the Endangered Baird{\textquoteright}s tapir Tapirus bairdii : potential flagship species for a Costa Rican biological corridor}, journal = {Oryx}, volume = {48}, year = {2014}, month = {Jan-07-2014}, pages = {402 - 409}, abstract = {

Baird\’s tapir Tapirus bairdii is categorized as Endangered on the IUCN Red List and is considered rare and locally extirpated from most of its historic range in Costa Rica. We conducted camera-trap and track surveys at 38 forested sites in and around the San Juan\–La Selva Biological Corridor in the Northern Zone of Costa Rica. Cameras were set along established game trails and natural funnels and operated for 14\–38 days per site. Additionally, we documented tapir tracks at many sites. We used survey photographs and track presence to create detection histories to estimate the habitat and survey-specific variables that influence the probability of detection and the probability of occurrence of Baird\’s tapir. The two major protected areas within and adjacent to the corridor were most positively associated with tapir occurrence, and forest cover and native and exotic tree plantations were also positively associated with tapirs\’ use of sites. Although the Baird\’s tapir is rare, our findings suggest that it is more resilient and better able to use available habitat in the fragmented corridor than previously thought. This is most likely a consequence of increased forest cover from reforestation and tree plantations and limited hunting pressure. Given its charismatic nature we recommend that Baird\’s tapir could be used as a flagship species for the San Juan\–La Selva Biological Corridor, to raise local awareness about conservation and increase economic growth from ecotourism.

}, issn = {0030-6053}, doi = {10.1017/S0030605313000070}, url = {http://www.journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S0030605313000070https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0030605313000070}, author = {Cove, Michael V. and Pardo Vargas, Lain E. and de la Cruz, Juan Camilo and Spinola, R. Manuel and Jackson, Victoria L. and Sa{\'e}nz, Joel C. and Chassot, Olivier} } @article {10, title = {A new species of Macbrideola from Costa Rica}, journal = {Bolet{\'\i}n de la Sociedad Micol{\'o}gica de Madrid}, volume = {38}, year = {2014}, chapter = {63-66}, abstract = {

Macbrideola spinosispora is described as a species new to science based on material collected in a lowland tropical rainforest in Costa Rica. This new species can be distinguished from other members of the genus by the violaceous color of the sporotheca, the loose and flexuous capillitium and the conspicuously spiny spores. Images are provided of diagnostic morphological features.

}, keywords = {ecology, mycobiota, Protozoa, Reserva Ecol{\'o}gica Bijagual, Stemonitales, taxonomy}, author = {Walker, L. M. and Moreno, G. and Stephenson, S. L.} } @conference {9, title = {Neoichnology of Costa Rican bats: track morphology and trackmaking ability of phyllostomid and emballonurid bats}, booktitle = {2014 Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America}, year = {2014}, month = {10/2014}, address = {Vancouver, British Columbia}, abstract = {

Of the four groups of animals to have developed powered flight, only bats are unknown from the trace fossil record. In comparison, pterosaurs, flying quadrupeds like bats, are recognized from at least three valid ichnogenera that are known from every continent except Antarctica. With a body fossil record of over 52 million years combined with the rapid colonization of most continents, bats are ideal candidates to have produced trace fossils. Modern bats display a wide range of terrestrial abilities, from aerial insectivores, to those that forage for insects and other arthropods on the ground, to the New Zealand short-tailed bat and common vampire bat that possess a suite of terrestrial behaviors including running and hopping. We present the first broad survey of trackmaking ability in an ecologically diverse family of Neotropical bats, the Phyllostomidae, as well as representatives from another New World family, the Emballonuridae. In late June and early July 2014, trackmaking trials were conducted with members of the five Costa Rican subfamilies of Phyllostomidae: Carollia perspicillata and C. sowelli (Carollinae), Lonchorhina aurita and Micronycteris microtus (Phyllostominae), Demanura phaeotis and Artibeus lituratus (Stenodermatinae), Desmodus rotundus (Desmodontinae), and Hylonycteris underwoodi (Glossophaginae), and the emballonurid Saccopteryx bilineata. These bats represent different ecological niches and hindlimb morphologies resulting in differing terrestrial behaviors and track morphology. Most bats were limited to an uncoordinated terrestrial gait that we have termed the breaststrokelike crawl, while a few, notably Desmodus, proved terrestrially adept. Tracks produced corresponded primarily to the forelimbs, while hindlimb tracks were much less likely to be preserved. Various track morphologies produced include linear and arcuate tracks corresponding to digit one of the manus, and isolated and clustered pedal traces featuring four or five subparallel digit impressions. Only Desmodus produced definitive trackways. This research will better illuminate what bat tracks and trackways may look like in the rock record, and future research will address how trackways, such as those produced by Desmodus, compare to pterosaur trackways.

}, keywords = {Reserva Ecol{\'o}gica Bijagual}, author = {Jones, M. T. and Hasiotis, S. T.} } @conference {8, title = {Neoichnology and Tracemaking Behavior of Desmodus rotundus }, booktitle = {44th Annual Symposium of the North American Society for Bat Research}, year = {2014}, month = {10/2014}, address = {Albany, New York}, abstract = {

Trace fossils are useful tools for interpreting the behavior of extinct and ancient organisms as well as providing clues to the potential distribution and occurrence of organisms in areas where body fossils are absent. Tracks and trackways of flying organisms are present in the fossil record, including insects, birds, and pterosaurs; bat trace fossils, however, are not known. The absence of bat trace fossils may be due to their small size, unfavorable preservation conditions of the environment, or misidentification. The lack of traces is likely not due to an aversion to terrestrial locomotion, as modern bats display a range of terrestrial abilities from strictly aerial insectivores to the unique terrestrial behaviors of the common vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus) and the New Zealand short-tailed bat (Mystacina tuberculata). We present the first study of the trackway-making ability of the common vampire bat, and compare it to the terrestrially inept genus Carollia. Four Desmodus rotundus were captured at Reserva Ecol\ógica Bijagual de Sarapiqu\í in the Caribbean lowlands of Costa Rica during early summer 2014. A custom-built Plexiglas\® and PVC enclosure allowed the bats to walk across sediment but prevented them from flying. The resulting trackmaking behaviors were video recorded and trackways were cast with plaster and analyzed. All Desmodus exhibited a more typical quadrupedal gait than did Carollia. Desmodus, in contrast, did not display the breaststrokelike crawl performed by the less terrestrially-adept species. Trackways produced by Desmodus are characterized by deep manus impressions and scattered, more infrequent pedal tracks.

}, keywords = {Reserva Ecol{\'o}gica Bijagual}, author = {Jones, Matthew and Hasiotis, Stephen} } @article {7, title = {Effect of clonal reproduction on genetic structure in Pentaclethra macroloba (Fabaceae: Mimosoideae)}, journal = {Revista de Biolog{\'\i}a Tropical}, volume = {62}, year = {2014}, chapter = {443-454}, keywords = {Costa Rica, genetic diversity, La Selva Biological Station, Reserva Ecol{\'o}gica Bijagual, sprouting, tropical forest}, author = {Keith D. Gaddis and Helen L. Zukin and Inca A. Dieterich and Elizabeth Braker and Victoria L. Sork} }