Overexploitation is a significant threat to biodiversity, with live capture of millions of animals annually. An improved understanding of live capture of primates is needed, especially for Madagascar's threatened lemurs. Our objectives were to provide the first quantitative estimates of the prevalence, spatial extent, correlates and timing of lemur ownership, procurement methods, within-country movements, and numbers and duration of ownership. Using semi-structured interviews of 1,093 households and 61 transporters, across 17 study sites, we found that lemur ownership was widespread and affected a variety of taxa. We estimate that 28,253 lemurs have been affected since 2010. Most lemurs were caught by owners and kept for either short (≤ 1 week) or long (≥ 3 years) periods. The live capture of lemurs in Madagascar is not highly organized but may threaten several Endangered and Critically Endangered species.

Hibernation, the use of prolonged torpor to depress metabolism, is employed by mammals to conserve resources during extended periods of extreme temperatures and/or resource limitation. Mammalian hibernators arouse to euthermy periodically during torpor for reasons that are not well understood, and these arousals may facilitate immune processes. To determine whether arousals enable host responses to pathogens, we used dual RNA-Seq and a paired sampling approach to examine gene expression in a hibernating bat, the little brown myotis (Myotis lucifugus). During torpor, transcript levels differed in only a few genes between uninfected wing tissue and adjacent tissue infected with Pseudogymnoascus destructans, the fungal pathogen that causes white-nose syndrome. Within 70-80 min after emergence from torpor, large changes in gene expression were observed due to local infection, particularly in genes involved in pro-inflammatory host responses to fungal pathogens, but also in many genes involved in immune responses and metabolism. These results support the hypothesis that torpor is a period of relative immune dormancy and arousals allow for local immune responses in infected tissues during hibernation. Host-pathogen interactions were also found to regulate gene expression in the pathogen differently depending on the torpor state of the host. Hibernating species must balance the benefits of energy and water conservation achieved during torpor with the costs of decreased immune competence. Interbout arousals allow hibernators to optimize these, and other, trade-offs during prolonged hibernation by enabling host responses to pathogens within brief, periodic episodes of euthermy.

Novel species of fungi described in this study include those from various countries as follows: Australia, Austroboletus asper on soil, Cylindromonium alloxyli on leaves of Alloxylon pinnatum, Davidhawksworthia quintiniae on leaves of Quintinia sieberi, Exophiala prostantherae on leaves of Prostanthera sp., Lactifluus lactiglaucus on soil, Linteromyces quintiniae (incl. Linteromyces gen. nov.) on leaves of Quintinia sieberi, Lophotrichus medusoides from stem tissue of Citrus garrawayi, Mycena pulchra on soil, Neocalonectria tristaniopsidis (incl. Neocalonectria gen. nov.)and Xyladictyochaeta tristaniopsidis on leaves of Tristaniopsis collina, Parasarocladium tasmanniae on leaves of Tasmannia insipida, Phytophthora aquae-cooljarloo from pond water, Serendipita whamiae as endophyte from roots of Eriochilus cucullatus, Veloboletus limbatus (incl. Veloboletus gen. nov.)onsoil. Austria, Cortinarius glaucoelotus onsoil. Bulgaria, Suhomyces rilaensis from the gut of Bolitophagus interruptus found on a Polyporus sp. Canada, Cantharellus betularum among leaf litter of Betula, Penicillium saanichii from house dust. Chile, Circinella lampensis on soil, Exophiala embothrii from rhizosphere of Embothrium coccineum. China, Colletotrichum cycadis on leaves of Cycas revoluta. Croatia, Phialocephala melitaea on fallen branch of Pinus halepensis. Czech Republic, Geoglossum jirinae on soil, Pyrenochaetopsis rajhradensis from dead wood of Buxus sempervirens. Dominican Republic, Amanita domingensis on litter of deciduous wood, Melanoleuca dominicana on forest litter. France, Crinipellis nigrolamellata (Martinique) on leaves of Pisonia fragrans, Talaromyces pulveris from bore dust of Xestobium rufovillosum infesting floorboards. French Guiana, Hypoxylon hepaticolor on dead corticated branch. Great Britain, Inocybe ionolepis on soil. India, Cortinarius indopurpurascens among leaf litter of Quercus leucotrichophora. Iran, Pseudopyricularia javanii on infected leaves of Cyperus sp., Xenomonodictys iranica (incl. Xenomonodictys gen. nov.) on wood of Fagus orientalis. Italy, Penicillium vallebormidaense from compost. Namibia, Alternaria mirabibensis on plant litter, Curvularia moringae and Moringomyces phantasmae (incl. Moringomyces gen. nov.) on leaves and flowers of Moringa ovalifolia, Gobabebomyces vachelliae (incl. Gobabebomyces gen. nov.) on leaves of Vachellia erioloba, Preussia procaviae on dung of Procavia capensis. Pakistan, Russula shawarensis from soil on forest floor. Russia, Cyberlindnera dauci from Daucus carota. South Africa, Acremonium behniae on leaves of Behnia reticulata, Dothiora aloidendri and Hantamomyces aloidendri (incl. Hantamomyces gen. nov.) on leaves of Aloidendron dichotomum, Endoconidioma euphorbiae on leaves of Euphorbia mauritanica , Eucasphaeria proteae on leaves of Protea neriifolia , Exophiala mali from inner fruit tissue of Malus sp., Graminopassalora geissorhizae on leaves of Geissorhiza splendidissima, Neocamarosporium leipoldtiae on leaves of Leipoldtia schultzii, Neocladosporium osteospermi on leaf spots of Osteospermum moniliferum, Neometulocladosporiella seifertii on leaves of Combretum caffrum, Paramyrothecium pituitipietianum on stems of Grielum humifusum, Phytopythium paucipapillatum from roots of Vitis sp., Stemphylium carpobroti and Verrucocladosporium carpobroti on leaves of Carpobrotus quadrifolius, Suttonomyces cephalophylli on leaves of Cephalophyllum pilansii. Sweden, Coprinopsis rubra on cow dung, Elaphomyces nemoreus fromdeciduouswoodlands. Spain, Polyscytalum pini-canariensis on needles of Pinus canariensis, Pseudosubramaniomyces septatus from stream sediment, Tuber lusitanicum on soil under Quercus suber. Thailand, Tolypocladium flavonigrum on Elaphomyces sp. USA, Chaetothyrina spondiadis on fruits of Spondias mombin, Gymnascella minnisii from bat guano, Juncomyces patwiniorum on culms of Juncus effusus, Moelleriella puertoricoensis on scale insect, Neodothiora populina (incl. Neodothiora gen. nov.) on stem cankers of Populus tremuloides, Pseudogymnoascus palmeri fromcavesediment. Vietnam, Cyphellophora vietnamensis on leaf litter, Tylopilus subotsuensis on soil in montane evergreen broadleaf forest. Morphological and culture characteristics are supported by DNA barcodes.

Bats are diverse and ecologically important, but are also subject to a suite of severe threats. Evidence for localized bat mortality from these threats is well-documented in some cases, but long-term changes in regional populations of bats remain poorly understood. Bat hibernation surveys provide an opportunity to improve understanding, but analysis is complicated by bats' cryptic nature, non-conformity of count data to assumptions of traditional statistical methods, and observation heterogeneities such as variation in survey timing. We used generalized additive mixed models (GAMMs) to account for these complicating factors and to evaluate long-term, regional population trajectories of bats. We focused on four hibernating bat species – little brown myotis (Myotis lucifugus), tri-colored bat (Perimyotis subflavus), Indiana myotis (M. sodalis), and northern myotis (M. septentrionalis) – in a four-state region of the eastern United States during 1999–2011.Our results, from counts of nearly 1.2 million bats, suggest that cumulative declines in regional relative abundance by 2011 from peak levels were 71% (with 95% confidence interval of ±11%) in M. lucifugus, 34% (±38%) in P. subflavus, 30% (±26%) in M. sodalis, and 31% (±18%) in M. septentrionalis. The M. lucifugus population fluctuated until 2004 before persistently declining, and the populations of the other three species declined persistently throughout the study period. Population trajectories suggest declines likely resulted from the combined effect of multiple threats, and indicate a need for enhanced conservation efforts. They provide strong support for a change in the IUCN Red List conservation status in M. lucifugus from Least Concern to Endangered within the study area, and are suggestive of a need to change the conservation status of the other species. Our modeling approach provided estimates of uncertainty, accommodated non-linearities, and controlled for observation heterogeneities, and thus has wide applicability for evaluating population trajectories in other wildlife species.

Pteropus livingstonii, P. voeltzkowi, and P. rodricensis are three critically endangered fruit bats from western Indian Ocean islands for which multidisciplinary conservation programs have been established that include environmental education programs (EEPs). We describe these EEPs in terms of the strategies used to achieve them and evaluate the educational and conservation outcomes and impacts of the programs. Educational outputs (including posters, stickers, videos, lesson plans, and workshops), primarily linking human needs to the ecosystem services provided by bats, were delivered to schools and community groups, and local environmental educators were trained to further develop the EEPs. Outcomes included increased local awareness about the bats and their conservation, training of environmental educators, inclusion of bat conservation and environmental issues in the school curricula, and establishment of community-based environmental nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Extensive prior planning, presentations in local languages, distribution of outputs through existing networks of educators, training of local educators, establishment of local environmental NGOs, and local capacity-building were all associated with these EEPs achieving their goals in the under-resourced island locations where these bats are found. The EEPs were also important in the development of other components of their respective conservation programs, such as population monitoring programs. Although long-term conservation impacts, particularly tackling habitat loss, are slow to materialize and social and economic issues need to be addressed, these EEPs have already had important outcomes and have established the foundation for future conservation actions. ‡ ‡ ‡Current address: Action Comores (International), The Old Rectory, Stansfield, Suffolk, CO10 8LT, United Kingdom, email will.trewhella@ nottingham.ac.uk § § §Current address: 76 Fruit Bat Education Programs Trewhella et al. Resumen: Pteropus livingstonii, P. voeltzkowi, y P. rodricensis son tres especies de murciélagos frugívoros en peligro crítico en islas del OcéanoÍndico Occidental para las que se han establecido programas multidisciplinarios de conservación que incluyen programas de educación ambiental (PEE). Describimos estos PEE en términos de las estrategias utilizadas para llevarlos a cabo y los evaluamos en relación con sus resultados e impactos educativos y de conservación. Productos educativos (incluyendo carteles, calcomanías, videos, planes de enseñanza y talleres), principalmente relacionando necesidades humanas con los servicios ecológicos proporcionados por murciélagos, fueron entregados a escuelas y grupos comunitarios, y se capacitó a educadores ambientales locales para desarrollar los PEE. Los resultados incluyeron incremento en la percepción local sobre los murciélagos y su conservación, capacitación de educadores ambientales, inclusión de temas de conservación y ambientales en el currículo de escuelas y el establecimiento de organizaciones no gubernamentales (O...