Cuicatec ethnozoology: traditional knowledge, use, and management of fauna by people of San Lorenzo Pápalo, Oaxaca, Mexico.

Background: The Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Valley is a region of outstanding biocultural diversity, harboring eight indigenous ethnic groups and a remarkable biodiversity in a territory 10,000 km extent. Ethnobotanical studies of the region are among the most complete in Mexico; contrarily, ethnozoological studies are still limited. But information on both flora and fauna use and management is relevant for understanding local cultural and ecological issues, and for planning integral strategies of biodiversity conservation.

Influence of traditional markets on plant management in the Tehuacán Valley.

Background: The Tehuacán Valley, Mexico is a region with exceptionally high biocultural richness. Traditional knowledge in this region comprises information on nearly 1,600 plant species used by local peoples to satisfy their subsistence needs. Plant resources with higher cultural value are interchanged in traditional markets.

Morphological assembly mechanisms in Neotropical bat assemblages and ensembles within a landscape.

Empirical studies on bat assemblages have shown that richness is not appreciably influenced by local processes such as ecological interactions. However, most of these studies have been done in large areas that include high heterogeneity, and they analyse all bat species within such areas, and thus they may be not reflecting local but supra-community conditions. We followed an ecomorphological approach to assess how bat assemblages of species from the families Phyllostomidae and Mormoopidae, and ensembles of frugivorous bats, are assembled in local habitats within a single landscape.