1. Camera traps deployed in grids or stratified random designs are a well-established survey tool for wildlife but there has been little evaluation of study design parameters.2. We used an empirical subsampling approach involving 2,225 camera deployments run at 41 study areas around the world to evaluate three aspects of camera trap study design (number of sites, duration and season of sampling) and their influence on the estimation of three ecological metrics (species richness, occupancy and detection rate) for mammals.3. We found that 25-35 camera sites were needed for precise estimates of species richness, depending on scale of the study. The precision of species-level estimates of occupancy (ψ) was highly sensitive to occupancy level, with <20 camera sites needed for precise estimates of common (ψ > 0.75) species, but more than 150 camera sites likely needed for rare (ψ < 0.25) species. Species detection rates were more difficult to estimate precisely at the grid level due to spatial heterogeneity, | 701Methods in Ecology and Evoluঞon KAYS et Al.

The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic reveals a major gap in global biosecurity infrastructure: a lack of publicly available biological samples representative across space, time, and taxonomic diversity. The shortfall, in this case for vertebrates, prevents accurate and rapid identification and monitoring of emerging pathogens and their reservoir host(s) and precludes extended investigation of ecological, evolutionary, and environmental associations that lead to human infection or spillover. Natural history museum biorepositories form the backbone of a critically needed, decentralized, global network for zoonotic pathogen surveillance, yet this infrastructure remains marginally developed, underutilized, underfunded, and disconnected from public health initiatives. Proactive detection and mitigation for emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) requires expanded biodiversity infrastructure and training (particularly in biodiverse and lower income countries) and new communication pipelines that connect biorepositories and biomedical communities. To this end, we highlight a novel adaptation of Project ECHO’s virtual community of practice model: Museums and Emerging Pathogens in the Americas (MEPA). MEPA is a virtual network aimed at fostering communication, coordination, and collaborative problem-solving among pathogen researchers, public health officials, and biorepositories in the Americas. MEPA now acts as a model of effective international, interdisciplinary collaboration that can and should be replicated in other biodiversity hotspots. We encourage deposition of wildlife specimens and associated data with public biorepositories, regardless of original collection purpose, and urge biorepositories to embrace new specimen sources, types, and uses to maximize strategic growth and utility for EID research. Taxonomically, geographically, and temporally deep biorepository archives serve as the foundation of a proactive and increasingly predictive approach to zoonotic spillover, risk assessment, and threat mitigation.

Aim: Comprehensive, global information on species’ occurrences is an essential biodiversity variable and central to a range of applications in ecology, evolution, biogeography and conservation. Expert range maps often represent a species’ only available distributional information and play an increasing role in conservation assessments and macroecology. We provide global range maps for the native ranges of all extant mammal species harmonised to the taxonomy of the Mammal Diversity Database (MDD) mobilised from two sources, the Handbook of the Mammals of the World (HMW) and the Illustrated Checklist of the Mammals of the World (CMW). Location: Global. Taxon: All extant mammal species. Methods: Range maps were digitally interpreted, georeferenced, error-checked and subsequently taxonomically aligned between the HMW (6253 species), the CMW (6431 species) and the MDD taxonomies (6362 species). Results: Range maps can be evaluated and visualised in an online map browser at Map of Life ( mol.org ) and accessed for individual or batch download for non-commercial use. Main conclusion: Expert maps of species’ global distributions are limited in their spatial detail and temporal specificity, but form a useful basis for broad-scale characterizations and model-based integration with other data. We provide georeferenced range maps for the native ranges of all extant mammal species as shapefiles, with species-level metadata and source information packaged together in geodatabase format. Across the three taxonomic sources our maps entail, there are 1784 taxonomic name differences compared to the maps currently available on the IUCN Red List website. The expert maps provided here are harmonised to the MDD taxonomic authority and linked to a community of online tools that will enable transparent future updates and version control.

Sturnira is the most speciose genus of New World leaf-nosed bats (Phyllostomidae). We name Sturnira adrianae, new species. This taxon is born polytypic, divided into a larger subspecies (S. a. adrianae) widespread in the mountains of northern and western Venezuela, and northern Colombia, and a smaller subspecies (S. a. caripana) endemic to the mountains of northeastern Venezuela. The new species inhabits evergreen, deciduous, and cloud forests at mainly medium (1000–2000 m) elevations. It has long been confused with S. ludovici, but it is more closely related to S. oporaphilum. It can be distinguished from other species of Sturnira by genetic data, and based on discrete and continuously varying characters. Within the genus, the new species belongs to a clade that also includes S. oporaphilum, S. ludovici, S. hondurensis, and S. burtonlimi. The larger new subspecies is the largest member of this clade. The two new subspecies are the most sexually dimorphic members of this clade. The smaller new subspecies is restricted to small mountain systems undergoing severe deforestation processes, therefore can be assigned to the Vulnerable (VU) conservation category of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Improving area of occupancy estimates for parapatric species using distribution models and support vector machines. Ecological

The knowledge of the distribution of bat species in Ecuador has changed significantly in recent years, from new records to taxonomic revisions that have shaped distribution maps to a broader biogeographic understanding. A review of the richness patterns and potential distribution of bats in Ecuador is presented, based on the analysis of records published or stored in scientific collections using Ecological Niche Modeling (ENM) tools. Although maps resulting from ENM are limited both because of the lack of equilibrium and limitations on the representativeness of samples, they constitute a better depiction of distribution than minimal convex polygons or altitudinal ranges. According to the Ecuadorian Red List, 19 species of bats are currently threatened, mainly because of habitat conversion as a consequence of recent colonization, so a better understanding of distribution and spatial richness will result in better proposals for research-priority and conservation-priority areas. Methodology: The analysis was based on 21,455 records, corresponding to 162 species. This information was reviewed and validated using Geographic Information Systems. A maximum entropy algorithm implemented in Maxent was used to evaluate and generate potential distribution models of the species. Those species with insufficient data to generate a model or for which the evaluation was unsatisfactory were eliminated from the analysis. The remaining species models were used to create a composite map representing the richness of bat species for Ecuador, which in turn was used to assess the conservation status of bat diversity in the country. Results: Following review and validation of the data, 10,916 records were used to determine the potential distribution of 81 species of bats, based on ENM. A map of potential bat species richness was obtained for the country with the overlap of the models, representing areas that due to climatic conditions, allow a higher or lower species richness of bats living in sympatry. We determined that the central and northeastern foothills of the Andes are the most suitable areas enclosing the highest richness of bats in Ecuador. Researchpriority and conservation-priority areas were identified. Discussion and conclusions: Information on protected areas of Ecuador was overlaid on top of the potential richness map, showing that only 5.6% of the area with the greatest potential bat richness is protected. Accordingly, we determine the existing information gaps and identify priority areas for research and conservation of bats in Ecuador. Three research-priority areas were defined: (1) the Southeastern tropics, between Pastaza and Morona Santiago provinces; (2) the Northern Andes towards the cordillera's western slopes; and (3) areas of the Western dry tropical forests, between the provinces of Guayas and Manabí.

The Yasuni Round-eared bat, Lophostoma yasuni, was described in 2004 by morphological analysis of the holotype, the only specimen attributed to this taxon to date. A molecular analysis using cytochrome-b sequences and a new morpholo-gical analysis that includes the holotype of L. yasuni and two specimens of L. carrikeri from near the type locality of L. yasuni were carried out. The new molecular and morphological evidence places L. yasuni within the clade of L. carrikeri. We propose that L. yasuni should therefore be considered as a synonym of L. carrikeri. An emended diagnosis for L. carrikeri extending ranges of craniodental measurements for this species is presented.

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