eprintid: 10085093
rev_number: 30
eprint_status: archive
userid: 608
dir: disk0/10/08/50/93
datestamp: 2019-11-05 15:10:00
lastmod: 2021-10-04 01:26:04
status_changed: 2020-01-09 13:25:01
type: article
metadata_visibility: show
creators_name: Zamora-Gutierrez, V
creators_name: Amano, T
creators_name: Jones, K
title: Spatial and taxonomic biases in bat records: drivers and conservation implications in a megadiverse country
ispublished: inpress
divisions: UCL
divisions: B02
divisions: C08
divisions: D09
divisions: F99
note: © 2019 The Authors. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
abstract: Biases in data availability have serious consequences on scientific inferences that can be derived. The potential consequences of these biases could be more detrimental in the less‐studied megadiverse regions, often characterized by high biodiversity and serious risks of human threats, as conservation and management actions could be misdirected. Here, focusing on 134 bat species in Mexico, we analyze spatial and taxonomic biases and their drivers in occurrence data; and identify priority areas for further data collection which are currently under‐sampled or at future environmental risk. We collated a comprehensive database of 26,192 presence‐only bat records in Mexico to characterize taxonomic and spatial biases and relate them to species' characteristics (range size and foraging behavior). Next, we examined variables related to accessibility, species richness and security to explain the spatial patterns in occurrence records. Finally, we compared the spatial distributions of existing data and future threats to these species to highlight those regions that are likely to experience an increased level of threats but are currently under‐surveyed. We found taxonomic biases, where species with wider geographical ranges and narrow‐space foragers (species easily captured with traditional methods), had more occurrence data. There was a significant oversampling toward tropical regions, and the presence and number of records was positively associated with areas of high topographic heterogeneity, road density, urban, and protected areas, and negatively associated with areas which were predicted to have future increases in temperature and precipitation. Sampling efforts for Mexican bats appear to have focused disproportionately on easily captured species, tropical regions, areas of high species richness and security; leading to under‐sampling in areas of high future threats. These biases could substantially influence the assessment of current status of, and future anthropogenic impacts on, this diverse species group in a tropical megadiverse country.
date: 2020
date_type: published
publisher: Wiley
official_url: https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.5848
oa_status: green
full_text_type: pub
language: eng
primo: open
primo_central: open_green
article_type_text: Journal Article
verified: verified_manual
elements_id: 1714617
doi: 10.1002/ece3.5848
language_elements: English
lyricists_name: Jones, Katherine
lyricists_id: KEJON62
actors_name: Jones, Katherine
actors_id: KEJON62
actors_role: owner
full_text_status: public
publication: Ecology and Evolution
issn: 2045-7758
citation:        Zamora-Gutierrez, V;    Amano, T;    Jones, K;      (2020)    Spatial and taxonomic biases in bat records: drivers and conservation implications in a megadiverse country.                   Ecology and Evolution        10.1002/ece3.5848 <https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.5848>.    (In press).    Green open access   
 
document_url: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10085093/1/Zamora-Gutierrez_et_al-2019-Ecology_and_Evolution.pdf