Assessing temporal and spatial changes is essential to understand the real impact of wildlife hunting for human consumption and trade across tropical regions. We found 56 species of wild-trapped vertebrates offered for sale in Equatorial Guinea in 2025, by surveying urban markets and rural areas, and recorded their use, prices, and conservation status. Most of the animals (94.2%) were offered for meat consumption, while animals offered for medicine/rituals or for the pet trade reached 4.4% and 1.4% of the individuals recorded, respectively. The taxonomic composition of wild meat differed between the two main urban markets, in Malabo and Bata cities, and between these markets and their surrounding rural areas. Worryingly, the supply of globally endangered pangolins was four times greater in the source rural areas than in the Bata market. Prices were higher in urban markets than in rural areas, and higher for globally threatened species regardless of their market availability. We also compared taxonomic composition of wild meat with that collected 35 years earlier from the same two urban markets. The range of hunted species was similar, but their conservation status has worsened according to the IUCN Red List. While only two of the species recorded in 2025 were globally threatened in 1990, wildlife hunting is now involving at least 15 globally threatened and 8 near threatened species, representing 27% and 14% respectively of all the species recorded and 17% and 4% respectively of all individuals trapped. While hunting these threatened species is prohibited by law, they are sold at higher prices and with impunity due to the lack of effective law enforcement. Targeted educational campaigns to reduce demand, by changing consumer attitudes towards wild meat, together with cultural-, and development-based strategies tailored to specific taxa and user groups are urgently needed to halt the unsustainable hunting of threatened species in Equatorial Guinea.

The Doñana Biosphere Reserve is one of the most recognized and studied natural areas in the world, hence the importance of having an openly accessible species checklist. Previous lists are outdated, often have limited taxonomic scope, lack clearly defined inclusion and exclusion criteria, or are practically inaccessible. Here, an updated checklist of vertebrate species for the Doñana Biosphere Reserve based on explicit spatial, temporal, and biological criteria is presented, reviewed and complemented by expert zoologists. The resulting inventory includes 700 vertebrate species, with birds (60%) and fishes (26%) being the most diverse groups. Seven species are considered extinct in the region, two are possibly extinct (i.e., have not been recorded in the past decade), and 32 are classified as exotic. This updated and curated checklist fills a critical gap in regional biodiversity knowledge and establishes a robust foundation for future monitoring, research, and conservation efforts in this ecologically unique and increasingly threatened area of southwestern Europe.

Tropical mountains are hotspots of biodiversity, and they can harbor species with sky-island distributions on mountaintops. The summit rat, Rattus baluensis, is a Bornean endemic previously known from two populations in the Kinabalu range. Here, we report the discovery of a third, genetically distinct population on Mt. Trusmadi, Sabah, Borneo. Using 27 nuclear introns genotyped in 44 individuals, we show that this population is genetically isolated and more differentiated than those in the Kinabalu range. ABC analyses reveal the three populations likely became isolated in mountain tops during the Holocene. Genetic diversity and effective population size across the three populations correlate with the area of high-elevation habitat on each mountain. Despite relatively large population sizes and well-preserved habitats, the species' strict association with montane forest and confinement to three mountaintops make it particularly vulnerable to climate change, stochastic events, and localized anthropogenic impacts.

Coronaviruses, including severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), can cause severe disease in humans, whereas reservoir hosts such as horseshoe bats remain asymptomatic. To investigate how host-specific protein-protein interactions (PPIs) influence infection, we generated comparative PPI maps for SARS-CoV-2 and its bat progenitor RaTG13, using affinity purification mass spectrometry (AP-MS) in human and greater horseshoe bat cells. We identify both conserved and virus- and host-specific interactions that regulate infection dynamics. Notably, SARS-CoV-2 requires a nonsynonymous mutation in the nucleocapsid to replicate in bat cells expressing human ACE2 and TMPRSS2. Strikingly, a single amino acid difference in Orf9b between viruses acts as a molecular switch that reprograms mitochondrial targeting: in human cells, enhanced translocase of outer mitochondrial membrane 70 (Tom70) binding promotes immune evasion, whereas in bat cells, strengthened interaction with the bat-enriched restriction factor mitochondrial amidoxime reducing component 2 (MTARC2) limits infection. These findings establish a general principle by which minimal sequence variation can reshape virus-host interactions and contribute to immune antagonism, host adaptation, and species barriers.

The genus Glauconycteris (Vespertilionidae) comprises small, forest-dependent bats distributed across sub-Saharan Africa. Despite its distinctive morphology, the genus remains poorly represented in collections and its taxonomy unresolved. During recent field surveys in southeastern Cameroon, ten Glauconycteris specimens were collected from the Northwestern Congolian Lowland Forest, eight from Lobéké National Park (LNP) and two from the Dja Biosphere Reserve (DBR). Morphometric and molecular analyses assigned these specimens to eight species, including representatives of three species groups (poensis, beatrix, and humeralis). One species, G. superba, is recorded for the first time from Cameroon and two are described herein as new to science, Glauconycteris baka sp. nov. and Glauconycteris lobeke sp. nov. These findings increase the total number of recognised Glauconycteris species to 15 and confirm that G. beatrix, as previously understood, represents a species complex, revealing further cryptic diversity within the genus. By combining taxonomic, ecological, and distributional data, our results indicate that most members of the genus tolerate moderate habitat degradation and that all 11 species recorded from Cameroon occur within or adjacent to at least one protected area. This study provides the first integrated taxonomic assessment of Glauconycteris in Cameroon, refines species distributions, and contributes additional ecological data for three species (G. gleni, G. egeria, and G. curryae) currently listed as Data Deficient on the IUCN Red List. Our findings underscore the importance of continued sampling in the Guineo-Congolian region to better inform the conservation of Africa’s forest-dependent bats.

Abstract Accurate delimitation of species boundaries is crucial for uncovering evolutionary history and guiding conservation efforts in systematically complex groups. We evaluated species limits within the genus Macronycteris, large African roundleaf bats, using genetic, morphological, and bioacoustic data. Although mitochondrial DNA supported four reciprocally monophyletic species, nuclear introns revealed incomplete lineage sorting and limited genetic differentiation, suggesting recent diversification. Species delimitation analyses based on cytochrome b indicated up to eight putative lineages, whereas multi-locus analyses supported the five currently recognized species. Morphometric analyses of >300 specimens revealed significant interspecific differences in external and cranial traits, with Macronycteris gigas being markedly larger than congeners. Insular species were smaller than mainland forms, consistent with the island rule. Unlike most bats, all species exhibited strong male-biased sexual size dimorphism, but the extent of dimorphism did not follow Rensch’s rule. Bioacoustic analyses differentiated species, with echolocation frequencies varying significantly across species and localities. Discriminant analyses of cranial and acoustic traits achieved high classification accuracy, reinforcing phenotypic distinctions among genetically similar taxa. Our results highlight a case of phenotypic and ecological divergence outpacing molecular differentiation in a recent bat radiation and provide a robust framework for species delimitation in Macronycteris, with implications for taxonomy, biogeography, and conservation.

Asian Rhinolophus bats are considered the natural reservoirs of an ancestral SARS-CoV-2. However, the biology of SARS-CoV-2-related viruses in bat cells is not well understood. Here, we investigated the replication of an isolate of BANAL-236, the only bat-derived SARS-CoV-2 relative isolated to date, in Rhinolophus ferrumequinum lungs (Rfe) cells. BANAL-236 did not replicate in wild-type Rhinolophus cell lines. Entry assays using pseudoviruses expressing the spike proteins (S) of SARS-CoV-2, BANAL-236, and BANAL-52 revealed that efficient S-mediated entry depends on the expression of human ACE2 (hACE2) and human TMPRSS2 (hTMPRSS2) in human and Rhinolophus cells. Through biochemical, virological, and electron microscopy analyses, we showed that BANAL-236 and SARS-CoV-2 completed their replication cycles in RFe cells engineered to express high levels of hACE2 and hTMPRSS2. Despite efficient viral replication in modified Rhinolophus and human cells, no induction of interferon (IFN)-stimulated genes was detected. Using a screening approach, we identified several BANAL-236 proteins that antagonize IFN production and signalling in human cells. Our findings thus show that BANAL-236 possesses critical features that enabled zoonotic spillover: hACE2 usage and potent evasion of human IFN responses. The Rhinolophus cellular model we established offers a platform for further investigating the interactions between bat sarbecoviruses and their reservoir hosts.

There is growing evidence for the role of introgressive hybridization in promoting species adaptation (i.e., adaptive introgression) owing to increasing genomic studies on a diversity of taxa over the past decades. However, introgressive hybridization was, and still is, regarded as a homogenizing process hindering the evolutionary process of adaptation to selection pressures. Despite methodological advances, key gaps remain in understanding how adaptive introgression due to hybridization functions across taxonomic groups and biological levels. This study has three objectives: (1) to explore historical trends in the understanding of adaptive introgression, particularly its genomic and functional dimensions; (2) to investigate structural organismal characteristics influencing patterns of adaptive introgression; and (3) to evaluate how adaptive introgression interacts with counteracting evolutionary mechanisms. We carried out a systematic review of the adaptive introgression literature and a multidimensional meta-analysis. The current knowledge trends have been shaped by the genomic revolution. Since 2012, genomic studies have contributed to establishing a clearer understanding of adaptive introgression. The amount and variety of published studies increased from bacteria to mammals across a complexity gradient, focusing on the genomic level and progressively having consequences at a greater number of levels of biological organization (from physiological and demographic to behavioral/ecological). Testing for tendencies, our study also revealed evolutionary mechanisms linked to adaptive introgression co-occurring with divergence forces, demonstrating that these processes are not mutually exclusive, even when they act in opposite directions, i.e., convergence and divergence, such as autosomal introgression (versus islands of differentiation in sex-linked chromosomes), balancing selection (versus genetic drift), or sexual selection (versus assortative mating). This balance is mediated by environmental conditions as they are frequently reported in the studies, regardless of the organisms' structural complexity, shaping the path of the evolutionary process of introgressing species. Studying introgression patterns has important implications for understanding adaptation in rapidly changing environments.

The taxonomic conundrum of pipistrelle-like or pipistrelloid bats remains one of the unsolved challenges posed by African Chiroptera. Historically, their cryptic morphology has led to a frequently confused classification and cast doubt on taxonomic arrangements at both genus and species levels. While molecular analyses and extensive reviews of specimens housed in collections worldwide have clarified many systematic relationships among pipistrelloid bats, some species still require validation, leaving gaps in our overall understanding of the systematics of the group. The Congo rainforest, one of Africa's least explored regions, remains underrepresented in systematic studies of pipistrelloid bats. In this study, we combine the use of two mitochondrial genes and cranial morphometric analyses to provide an updated perspective on African pipistrelloid bats, focusing on new material from Equatorial Guinea sampled over multiple years. We confirm the placement of Af. musciculus and Af. crassulus within the genus Afropipistrellus. The former was previously included in Hypsugo, while the latter lacked generic confirmation. Additionally, we describe a new species of Pipistrellus from Bioko Island, Central Africa, uncovered during systematic bat surveys in the region. Further surveys in the Congo rainforest are needed to unveil African bat diversity and its phylogenetic relationships fully.

Climate change is predicted to drive geographical range shifts that will result in changes in species diversity and functional composition and have potential repercussions for ecosystem functioning. However, the effect of these changes on species composition and functional diversity (FD) remains unclear, especially for mammals, specifically bats. We used species distribution models and a comprehensive ecological and morphometrical trait database to estimate how projected future climate and land-use changes could influence the distribution, composition, and FD of the European bat community. Future bat assemblages were predicted to undergo substantial shifts in geographic range and trait structure. Range suitability decreased substantially in southern Europe and increased in northern latitudes. Our findings highlight the potential for climate change to drive shifts in bat FD, which has implications for ecosystem function and resilience at a continental scale. It is important to incorporate FD in conservation strategies. These efforts should target species with key functional traits predicted to be lost and areas expected to experience losses in FD. Conservation strategies should include habitat and roost protection, enhancing landscape connectivity, and international monitoring to preserve bat populations and their ecosystem services.

According to Bergmann's and Allen's rules, climate change may drive morphological shifts in species, affecting body size and appendage length. These rules predict that species in colder climates tend to be larger and have shorter appendages to improve thermoregulation. Bats are thought to be sensitive to climate and are therefore expected to respond to climatic changes across space and time. We conducted a phylogenetic meta-analysis on > 27 000 forearm length (FAL) and body mass (BM) measurements from 20 sedentary European bat species to examine body size patterns. We assessed the relationships between body size and environmental variables (winter and summer temperatures, and summer precipitation) across geographic locations, and also analysed temporal trends in body size. We found sex-specific morphological shifts in the body size of European bats in response to temperature and precipitation patterns across space, but no clear temporal changes due to high interspecific variability. Across Europe, male FAL decreased with increasing summer and winter temperatures, and BM increased with greater precipitation. In contrast, both FAL and BM of female bats increased with summer precipitation and decreased with winter temperatures. Our data can confirm Bergmann's rule for both males and females, while females' BM variations are also related to summer precipitation, suggesting a potential link to resource availability. Allen's rule is confirmed only in males in relation to summer temperature, while in females FAL and BM decrease proportionally with increasing temperature, maintaining a constant allometric relationship incompatible with Allen's rule. This study provides new insights into sex and species-dependent morphological changes in bat body size in response to temperature and precipitation patterns. It highlights how body size variation reflects adaptations to temperature and precipitation patterns, thus providing insights into potential species-level morphological responses to climate change across Europe.

Obtaining reliable estimates of population sizes and their temporal trends is essential for assessing the conservation status and guiding the management of threatened species. Parrots (order Psittaciformes) are among the most diverse yet most threatened groups of birds worldwide, but information on their population sizes remains scarce. Their ecological traits and low densities complicate the application of widely used distance sampling methods for estimating population densities, which correct for declining detectability with increasing distance. Researchers have proposed simple encounter rates—the number of birds or groups detected per hour of observation during casual walks—as an alternative approach to address these limitations when estimating the abundance of rare species. Previous studies of the globally endangered African grey parrot (Psittacus erithacus) demonstrated that encounter rates derived from walk transects serve as reliable surrogates for densities estimated using distance sampling models. In this study, we evaluated whether car surveys and point counts, two other commonly used methods for estimating bird abundance, produce encounter rates comparable to those obtained from walk transects, thereby allowing greater methodological flexibility. To this end, we conducted a nationwide survey of African grey parrots in Equatorial Guinea using walk transects, car transects, and point counts (199 surveys, 1973 km, 192 h), which yielded 1166 encounters and 2972 recorded individuals. Three aspects of parrot detectability (the frequency of aural and visual detections, whether birds were perched or in flight, and detection distances) did not differ among the three survey methods. Encounter rates and the number of individuals observed per hour varied among sampled regions but did not differ among survey methods. These findings support the use of the three methods, either individually or in combination, to estimate the abundance of this globally endangered species and provide a basis for testing and applying this approach to other parrot species and geographic regions.

Coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2, can cause severe disease in humans, whereas reservoir hosts like Rhinolophus bats remain asymptomatic. To investigate how host-specific protein-protein interactions (PPIs) influence infection, we generated comparative PPI maps for SARS-CoV-2 and its bat-origin relative RaTG13 using affinity purification-mass spectrometry (AP-MS) in human and Rhinolophus ferrumequinum (RFe) bat cells. This approach identified both conserved and virus- and host-specific interactions that regulate infection dynamics. Notably, SARS-CoV-2 required a non-synonymous mutation in nucleocapsid to replicate in bat cells expressing human ACE2 and TMPRSS2. Analysis of the viral protein Orf9b revealed differential interactions with mitochondrial proteins Tom70 and MTARC2. A single residue difference in Orf9b between SARS-CoV-2 and RaTG13 functions as a molecular switch, weakening Tom70 binding and immune evasion in human cells while enhancing interaction with the bat-specific restriction factor MTARC2. These findings demonstrate how a single-residue substitution can reshape virus-host interactions and contribute to immune evasion and host adaptation.

Recent surveys in the Congolian rainforest have significantly improved the quantity and quality of material available to rigorously assess bat diversity (Order Chiroptera) in this biodiversity hotspot. However, the paucity of data on free-tailed bats in this region is hindering our ability to resolve the actual number of species present in Central Africa. During a recent expedition to continental Equatorial Guinea, a single free-tailed bat was captured in a patch of primary continental rainforest. This bat exhibited unique external and cranial characteristics, strongly suggesting it to be a male of Mops tomensis, which was originally described as an endemic species from the oceanic island São Tomé in the Gulf of Guinea. The original description of this species was based on just three females collected 30 years ago. DNA from a paratype of M. tomensis fully supported that the newly captured specimen represents the first documented male of the species and extends its known distribution to mainland Africa. Furthermore, genetic analyses revealed a high divergence between these two individuals of M. tomensis and other species of the genus, and both clustered within a distinct, well-supported clade. With this genetic evidence, along with the unique morphological features of M. tomensis-like the prominent interaural lobe that is shared only with one other enigmatic free-tailed bat from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Mops gallagheri)-we describe a new subgenus within Mops, as previously suggested for M. gallagheri. These findings demonstrate that even small-scale sampling can yield significant discoveries and expand the known distribution of rare bats in the Congolian rainforest. This underscores the urgent need to prioritise biodiversity studies in the region to fully assess its richness and implement effective conservation measures.

Countries’ species checklists provide essential references for documenting current wildlife diversity, but they require periodic revisions due to constant changes in distribution and taxonomic arrangements. This study presents an updated and annotated list of the present Spanish mammals, covering the country’s mainland territories, archipelagos, Spanish enclaves in North Africa, and Spanish marine demarcations. We first explicitly defined inclusion categories and criteria: i) mammal species with wild populations that breed or complete part of their life cycle within the territories described in the study area; ii) species that meet the previous criterion but are currently extinct, with reliable records of their presence after 1500 CE; and iii) occasional species that reach the study area naturally. Established exclusion categories include: i) domestic species, including those that reproduce naturally in the wild; ii) species that only have captive breeding populations; and iii) introduced or escaped species into the study area that do not currently have wild breeding populations. The resulting list recognises 157 species within the orders Lagomorpha (5), Rodentia (28), Eulipotyphla (19), Chiroptera (34), Artiodactyla (44, including 36 marine species), and Carnivora (27, including 8 marine species). This list of Spain´s mamals is built on explicit, well-founded criteria, wich enables the list to be updated while maintaining the same standars (or revising them transparently) and facilitates comparisons at both national and international scales.

The bat fauna of Equatorial Guinea (EG), on the western edge of the Lower Guinea rainforest, a predicted African bat diversity hotspot, remained poorly documented. We collated data from literature, natural history collections and recent fieldwork to compile a comprehensive biodiversity assessment of the bats of mainland EG. This yielded 58 taxa from 29 genera and eight families: 11 species within Pteropodidae, three within Emballonuridae, two within Rhinolophidae, six within Hipposideridae, eight within Molossidae, one within Miniopteridae, five within Nycteridae, and 22 within Vespertilionidae. We report 33 new national records and three additional taxa that require further taxonomic confirmation. Notable additions include Casinycteris campomaanensis, Coleura afra, Glauconycteris superba, Hipposideros curtus and Mops petersoni. This study provides the first detailed documentation of bat diversity for mainland EG, enhancing our understanding of species richness and distributions in this biodiversity hotspot, and offering insights to guide future ecological research and conservation efforts. The bat species richness documented in our study exceeds that of any other forest site in tropical Africa with comparable size and habitat, with additional forest-dwelling species likely yet to be found. This biodiversity assessment highlights the importance of protecting bat assemblages in EG and the broader Lower Guinea rainforest region.

Roughly a third of all horseshoe bat species (Rhinolophidae: Rhinolophus) are found in Africa, where a recent continent-wide genetic survey suggested the presence of both undescribed and apparently invalid species. Here, we focus on the R. landeri species complex and the recent elevation of R. lobatus Peters, 1852, to species rank. That action created ambiguity in the taxonomy of East African members of the group—are both R. landeri Martin, 1838, and R. lobatus sympatric in East Africa or is another, unnamed species present there? Here, we refine genetic, morphological, and behavioral characterizations of R. landeri and its erstwhile synonyms with samples from the vicinity of their type localities. The distribution of R. landeri appears to be limited to Central and West Africa; existing genetic records attributed to this species from Mali clearly represent another taxon. We marshal genetic evidence for the species-level distinction of R. dobsoni Thomas, 1904, from Sudan, which was previously considered a synonym of R. landeri. We reject R. axillaris J. A. Allen, 1917, as a synonym of the R. landeri complex, provisionally regarding it as a valid member of the landeri species group. Finally, we demonstrate that East Africa is home to a fourth species of the landeri complex that is named herein. Final resolution of the systematics of this species complex awaits expanded characterizations (especially of genetics, vocalizations, and noseleaves) and studies of variation in regions of contact.

Bats have gained cumulative attention as potential reservoirs for viruses, being crucial to increase our ability to predict viral prevalence and transmissions, as well as support the possible management of future zoonotic episodes. Following the PRISMA standard systematic review protocols, we conducted a comprehensive search worldwide for scientific papers dealing with bat-hosted viruses of the Adenoviridae and Herpesviridae families. The search was completed using the Scopus, CABI, and SciELO, databases of bat-associated viruses of these two families as well as the Google Scholar search engine. Our search comprised a total of 2656 scientific papers. After a thorough review and screening of the papers, we selected for our study a total of 90 papers published between 1996 and 2022. We found marked taxonomic and spatial biases, the most studied bats being predominantly vespertilionids, rhinolophids, phyllostomids, and pteropodids, whereas other families (e.g., Natalidae, Noctilionidae, and Furipteridae) are still lacking information. The most studied areas are southern and east Asia, although there are large areas (north Africa, the Middle East, and all the way to central or northern Asia) still overlooked. Out of the total number of papers, as many as 55 identified bat-hosted Adenovirus (AdV) and 54 papers identified Herpesvirus (HSV). Our revision reveals the presence of AdVs in a total of 97 bat species from 42 genera and 11 families. The presence of HSVs is reported also in 109 bat species from 45 genera and 10 families. Although both AdVs and HSVs in general show a clear host specificity and parallel evolution with their hosts, these results also point to the potential of these viruses to cross, in some cases, species barriers.

Anthropogenically driven environmental changes over recent centuries have led to severe declines of wildlife populations. Better tools are needed to assess the magnitude and consequences of these declines. Anecdotal evidence suggests European bat populations have suffered substantial declines in the past centuries. However, there is little empirical evidence of these declines that can be used to put more recent population trends into historic context.This study is a collaboration between academics and conservation practitioners to develop molecular approaches capable of providing evidence of historic population changes that can inform conservation status assessments and management. We generated a genomic dataset of 46,872 SNPs for the Western barbastelle, Barbastella barbastellus, a regionally Vulnerable bat species, including colonies from across the species' British and Iberian ranges. We used a combination of landscape genetics and model-based inference of demographic history to identify both evidence of population size changes and possible drivers of these changes.Levels of genetic diversity increased and inbreeding decreased with increasing broadleaf woodland cover around the colony. Genetic connectivity was impeded by artificial lights and facilitated by rivers and broadleaf woodland cover.The demographic history analysis showed that both the northern and southern British barbastelle populations have declined by 99% over the past 330-548 years. These declines may be linked to the loss of large oak trees and native woodlands due to shipbuilding during the early colonial period.Synthesis and applications. Genomic approaches can provide a better understanding of the conservation status of threatened species, within historic and contemporary contexts, and inform their conservation management. Our findings of will directly influence the definition of the Favourable Conservation Status of the barbastelle, in turn influencing considerations of the conservation of the species in development plans. Knowledge gained will also help set species recovery targets. Policymakers are interested in using our approach for other species. This study shows how we can bridge the implementation gap between genomic research and direct conservation applications. There is an urgent need to carry out such collaborative studies for other priority species to enable informed species recovery interventions via policy mechanisms and project delivery. Los cambios ambientales impulsados por el hombre en los ultimos siglos han provocado una grave perdida de biodiversidad, sobre todo de poblaciones e individuos. Se necesitan mejores herramientas para evaluar la magnitud de este declive de las poblaciones naturales. Evidencias anecdoticas sugieren que las poblaciones de murcielagos europeos han sufrido una disminucion sustancial en los ultimos siglos. Sin embargo, hay poca evidencia empirica de esta disminucion que pueda usarse para poner las tendencias demograficas mas recientes en su contexto historico.Este estudio es una colaboracion entre cientificos y voluntarios conservacionistas para desarrollar enfoques moleculares capaces de proporcionar estimas cuantitativas de cambios historicos de las poblaciones y sus impulsores y que puedan usarse para evaluarla gestionar el estado de conservacion de las especies. Para ello, hemos generado un conjunto de datos genomicos de 46,872 SNPs (usando secuenciacion ddRAD) para el murcielago de bosque occidental, Barbastella barbastellus, una especie de murcielago considerada casi amenazada a nivel global, y a nivel regional como vulnerable. Se han incluido colonias situadas a lo largo de toda el area de distribucion britanica e iberica de la especie. Utilizamos una combinacion de genetica del paisaje y tecnicas de inferencia bayesiana de la historia demografica para identificar evidencia tanto de cambios en el tamano de la poblacion como los posibles impulsores de estos cambios.Encontramos que Los niveles de diversidad genetica aumentan y el nivel de endogamia disminuye a medida que aumento la cobertura de bosques de hoja caduca alrededor de la ubicacion de la colonia. La conectividad genetica se vio afectada negativamente por la luz artificial y es facilitada por la presencia de rios y la cubierta vegetal de bosques de hoja caduca.El analisis de la historia demografica mostro que las poblaciones de B. barbastellus britanicas tanto del norte como del sur han disminuido en un 99% durante los ultimos 330 a 548 anos. Esta disminucion puede estar relacionada con la perdida de arboles viejos de robles y bosques nativos debido a la construccion naval durante el periodo colonial temprano.Sintesis y aplicaciones. Los enfoques genomicos pueden proporcionar una comprension mas completa del estado de conservacion de las especies amenazadas, dentro del contexto historico y contemporaneo, y proporcionar informacion para su gestion de conservacion. Los hallazgos de este articulo influiran directamente en la definicion del estado de conservacion del murcielago de bosque y de hecho, responsables politicos para la conservacion han mostrado interes en el uso del mismo enfoque para otras especies de murcielagos. Esto a su vez influye en las consideraciones para la conservacion de las especies reflejadas en los planes y proyectos de desarrollo correspondientes. El conocimiento adquirido tambien puede ayudar a identificar las especies objetivo para la conservacion. Los elementos paisajisticos identificados asociados a la diversidad genetica pueden contribuir al desarrollo de estrategias de gestion adecuadas. Este estudio muestra como podemos cerrar la brecha de implementacion entre la investigacion genomica y las aplicaciones directas de conservacion. Existe una necesidad urgente de llevar a cabo mas estudios colaborativos de este tipo para otras especies prioritarias que proporcionen la informacion necesaria para intervenciones de recuperacion de especies a traves del establecimiento de politicas adecuadas y la ejecucion de proyectos. Nestes ultimos seculos as mudancas ambientais de origem humana levaram a graves declinios nas populacoes de vida selvagem. Porem, sao necessarias melhores ferramentas de analise para avaliar a magnitude e as consequencias desses declinios. Ha evidencias anedoticas indicando que as populacoes de morcegos europeus sofreram declinios substanciais nos ultimos seculos. Contudo, ha pouca evidencia empirica desses declinios que possa ser utilizada para interpretar as tendencias populacionais mais recentes num contexto historico.Este estudo e o resultado duma colaboracao entre academicos e profissionais da conservacao com o objetivo de desenvolver abordagens com analises moleculares capazes de fornecer evidencias acerca das mudancas historicas numa populacao natural e que essa informacao possa ser utilizada na gestao e avaliacao do estado de conservacao duma especie. Para o morcego-negro, Barbastella barbastellus, uma especie regionalmente Vulneravel, foram analisados um conjunto de dados genomicos de 46.872 SNPs obtidos de colonias englobando toda a distribuicao britanica e iberica da especie. Foram ainda integradas as metodologias de analise de genetica da paisagem e inferencia baseada em modelos de historia demografica para identificar evidencias de mudancas no tamanho da populacao e possiveis impulsionadores dessas mudancas.Foi verificado que os niveis de diversidade genetica aumentaram e a endogamia diminuiu com o aumento da cobertura de floresta de folhosas em torno duma colonia. Verificou-se ainda que a conectividade genetica foi limitada pela presenca de luzes artificiais e promovida pelos rios e pela cobertura da floresta de folhosas.A analise da historia demografica mostrou que as populacoes do morcego-negro existentes no norte e no sul da Gra-Bretanha diminuiram 99% nos ultimos 330-548 anos. Estes declinios podem estar ligados a perda de grandes carvalhos e area de florestas nativas devido a construcao naval durante o inicio do periodo colonial.Sintese e aplicacoes. As abordagens genomicas podem proporcionar uma melhor compreensao do estado de conservacao das especies ameacadas, no contexto historico e contemporaneo, e deste modo melhor gerir a sua conservacao. As nossas descobertas podem influenciar diretamente a definicao do Estatuto de Conservacao Favoravel do morcego-negro, podendo tambem contribuir para o delineamento de planos de conservacao para a especie. Consequentemente, este conhecimento adquirido tambem podera apoiar na definicao de metas de recuperacao para esta especie. Alem disso, os decisores politicos poderao tambem utilizar a nossa abordagem em outras especies. Este estudo mostra como poderemos colmatar as falhas na implementacao da investigacao genomica nas acoes diretas de conservacao. Ainda assim, ha uma necessidade urgente de realizar este tipo de estudos colaborativos em outras especies prioritarias, atraves de mecanismos politicos e entrega de projetos, com o intuito de se fazer uma gestao informada na recuperacao de especies. Genomic approaches can provide a better understanding of the conservation status of threatened species, within historic and contemporary contexts, and inform their conservation management. Our findings of will directly influence the definition of the Favourable Conservation Status of the barbastelle, in turn influencing considerations of the conservation of the species in development plans. Knowledge gained will also help set species recovery targets. Policymakers are interested in using our approach for other species. This study shows how we can bridge the implementation gap between genomic research and direct conservation applications. There is an urgent need to carry out such collaborative studies for other priority species to enable informed species recovery interventions via policy mechanisms and project delivery.image