Preliminary List of Flying Mammals in the Ajos-Bavispe National Forest Reserve and Wildlife Refuge, Sonora

Abstract—Information on bat communities, including their composition, abundance, distribution and ecology, can support management programs in protected areas, and also provide information and initiatives for the designation of new protected areas. In 2010 and 2011, monitoring was conducted in the Ajos Mountains, a sky island, that is part of the Ajos Bavispe Reserve. During this period of time, we recorded a total of eight species (Myotis californicus, Myotis auriculus, Myotis volans, Myotis thysanodes, Lasiurus cinereus, Lasiurus blossevillii, Eptesicus fuscus y Choeronycteris mexicana), in riparian and oak-pine forests. This preliminary species list will assist in assessing ecosystem health in this part of the reserve and provides an example of the monitoring we are hoping to extend to the other Sky Islands within the Ajos-Bavispe Natural Protected Area: La Madera, El Tigre, Buenos Aires and La Purica. The intention of this paper is to use the information we have gathered on abundance and distribution of bat species as a tool to assess the conservation status and ecosystem health of these Sky Islands. Bats are a good indicator taxon because they are abundant, diverse, and relatively easy and cost effective to monitor. As a result the status of bat communities (compo-sition and abundance) will support conservation and management decisions in the short and long term in this important protected area