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ANNOUNCEMENTS

New and Critically Endangered Mangabey Species Discovered in Tanzania

A unique species of mangabey, the first new African monkey species to be discovered since 1984, has been found in two distantly separated montane forest areas of Tanzania: Ndundulu Forest in the Udzungwa Mountains, and Rungwe / Livingstone in the Southern Highlands (> 350 km apart). The discoveries were made in each site independently and unbeknownst to the two different research teams that made the co-discoveries. This new monkey is now taxonomically classified as Lophocebus kipunji Ehardt et al. 2005 (in Jones et al. 2005). Its designated common name, the Highland mangabey, reflects that it only has been found in forests at elevations from 1300 m to as high as 2500 m. The species name, kipunji (pronounced "kip-oon-jee"), is the name that the Wanyakyusa people in the Southern Highlands had for this "shy monkey" they reported seeing from time to time in the forests. In contrast, villagers living closest to Ndundulu Forest in the Udzungwas indicated in interviews that they did not know of its existence on their own, and therefore had no name for it. It is arboreal and appears to be predominantly frugivorous.

The discovery in Ndundulu was made during a research project conducted by primatologist Carolyn Ehardt that was focused on demographics of the Critically Endangered Sanje mangabey (Cercocebus sanjei), a primate endemic to the Udzungwa Mountains that is one of the world's 25 most endangered primates. In the Southern Highlands, a Wildlife Conservation Society project led by Tim Davenport found the same new mangabey several months before the discovery in Ndundulu, a discovery completely unknown to Ehardt and her colleagues during their work in Ndundulu. Ehardt and Davenport learned of their co-discoveries only as a result of a chance meeting in Dar es Salaam. Upon this "discovery of the co-discoveries," Ehardt withdrew the manuscript that she and her colleagues (Trevor Jones, her former field assistant, and Tom Butynski of Conservation International) already had submitted to Science describing and naming the new species. The two teams then co-authored a report that was published by Science on 20 May 2004 (Vol. 308, No. 5725, pp. 1161-1164).

At an IUCN / SSC Primate Specialists Group Workshop to reassess the conservation status of the African primates, Ehardt and Butynski placed the Highland mangabey into the Critically Endangered category due to its limited total distribution (likely 100 km2 combined, both populations) and low population size (probably < 1000 animals). Ndundulu Forest, despite having limited protection as a Forest Reserve, is minimally impacted, although poaching does occur. In contrast, the Rungwe / Livingstone forests have been degraded heavily by illegal logging, hunting, agricultural encroachment, and unsustainable resource extraction. Although Davenport's WCS Southern Highlands project has been working intensively with the local people to reverse the situation, immediate and significant changes will be required if this population of Highland mangabeys is to survive. Conservation efforts are being expanded in both sites, as well as ecological and genetic research which will support and guide those efforts.

Carolyn L. Ehardt, cehardt@uga.edu

NEON Progress Report

Planning for the U.S. National Ecological Observatory Network is beginning to yield new specifics about NEON science and the deployment of sensors and cyberinfrastructure.

NEON's ultimate goal is to forecast the state of key ecological systems in the United States. When fully deployed, NEON will function as a widely distributed national laboratory-a network of shared infrastructure for ecological research. NEON will support systematic study of seven ecological priorities: invasive species, infectious disease, climate change, land-use change, biogeochemical cycles, biodiversity, and aquatic ecosystems.

To enable continuous, long-term data collection, storage, and dissemination, NEON will deploy a standardized set of sensors and cyberinfrastructure within 20 distinct climatic domains across the continental United States (in addition to domains for Alaska / tundra / taiga, Hawaii / Pacific Tropical, and Atlantic Neotropical). (See www.neoninc.org for more on the climatic domains and an interactive tool for exploring the maps.)

Within each domain (or NEON Node), infrastructure will be deployed in three land use / land cover types: wild, managed, and urbanized, each of which will contain transition zones between terrestrial and aquatic systems. Every NEON Node will feature a range of standardized instruments deployed at three fixed sites to provide critical data streams related to the ecological priorities, as well as mobile capacity to conduct routine manual sampling and to respond to sudden ecological events, such as the outbreak of an infectious disease.

NEON infrastructure will include cutting-edge laboratory and field-based instrumentation enabling scientists to collect key biological, atmospheric, chemical, and physical measurements; site-based experimental infrastructure; bio-collections facilities and sample archives; and the computational, analytical, and modeling capabilities required for NEON forecasting.

NEON will be based on an open architecture that gives scientists access to new and evolving hardware and software technologies. A suite of NEON education programs will explicitly translate NEON science in ways that capture the imagination and attention of the general public. Teachers will have real-time NEON data as a classroom learning resource, students and citizen-scientists will participate in field trips to collect data, and the general public will learn about their environment through daily ecological forecasts.

As NEON planning progresses, updated project descriptions will be available in print and online. The NEON Preliminary Project Execution Plan-a document providing details about the costs, scheduling, and build-out of NEON instruments, facilities, and cyberinfrastructure-will be delivered in 2006.

Tiger Conservation Program

In September 2005, Save The Tiger Fund (STF) launched the Campaign Against Tiger Trafficking (CATT). CATT is the first global partnership to build, inform, and support allied efforts by government and nongovernmental organizations. Serving as a convener and broker for partnerships, CATT will mobilize leaders of governments, nongovernmental organizations, businesses, and social and religious institutions to take coordinated actions including joint international law enforcement operations to stop tiger smugglers, securing habitats and monitoring wild tiger populations, and enlisting local communities and tiger-user groups to stop demand for and use of tiger parts. CATT's launch coincides with that of the U.S. State Department's Coalition Against Wildlife Trafficking (CAWT), which recognizes illegal wildlife trade as a black market. Partnering with other governments and with nongovernmental organizations, including STF and CATT, CAWT will focus on a wide array of species threatened by trade, including elephants, rhinos, exotic birds, and tigers. To learn more, visit www.savethetigerfund.org/CATT.

Citizen Science Training and Clearinghouse

The Citizen Science Institute works to empower volunteers to become more effective Citizen Scientists by providing them with focused education in the fundamentals of scientific methods. The primary goal is to train nonprofessionals to be effective volunteers in a field setting in which they gain a deeper understanding of the ecological relationships among soil, air, water, plants, and animals. The Institute also serves as a clearinghouse to match skilled volunteers with agencies, nonprofits organizations, and researchers who need assistance with research projects. For more information, visit www.citizensi.org or contact Candiece Mili Shields, Citizen Science Institute, P.O. Box 63514, Phoenix, AZ 85082-3890 USA, 1 602 286-3892, coordinator@citizensi.org.

Funding

The BP (British Petroleum) Conservation Programme Awards contribute to long-term environmental conservation and sustainable development in priority areas by encouraging and engaging potential leaders in biodiversity conservation and providing opportunities for them to gain practical skills and experience. This initiative, organized by BirdLife International, Conservation International, Fauna & Flora International, the Wildlife Conservation Society, and BP, has been helping young conservationists across the world to achieve their goals for the past 15 years. The program offers advice, training, and awards, primarily targeting university students. Three types of awards will be offered in 2006: Future Conservationist awards, 20 awards of up to $12,500 each, plus training; Conservation Follow-up awards, approximately five awards of up to $25,000 each, plus training (available to previous BPCP award winners only), and Conservation Leadership awards, two awards of $50,000 each, plus training (available to previous BPCP award winners only). The deadline for all applications is 16 December 2005. Awards will be announced by mid March 2006. All details, including guidelines and application forms, are available at http://conservation.bp.com or by contacting bpconservation-programme@birdlife.org.uk.

The Garden Club of America offers a US$8000 graduate fellowship in ecological restoration at a university in the United States. The fellowship is administered by the University of Wisconsin-Madison Arboretum. For the purposes of this program, ecological restoration is defined as "the process of assisting the recovery and management of ecological integrity. Ecological integrity includes a critical range of variability in biodiversity, ecological processes and structures, regional and historical context, and sustainable cultural practices." Letters of application must be received by 14 January 2005; committee reviews will be completed early in March. For more information visit www.gcamerica.org/scholarship/ecorestor.html or contact Mark Leach, University of Wisconsin-Madison Arboretum, 1 608 263-7344, mkleach@wisc.edu.

The Program for Studies in Tropical Conservation at the University of Florida announces the 2006 Dexter Fellowship Program in Tropical Conservation Biology. The goal of the fellowship is to enhance the conservation of biodiversity by supporting the training and research of graduate students from tropical countries where the needs and opportunities for biological conservation are greatest. The Dexter Fellowship Program provides two years of support for a new graduate student at the University of Florida beginning August 2006. Applications are due by 15 February 2006. For information and application instructions please see www.wec.ufl.edu/academics/grad/PSTC/dexter_fellows.htm or contact Susan Jacobson, Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, P.O. Box 110430, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611-0430, USA, 352-846-0562, jacobsons@wec.ufl.edu.

Meetings

The fourth international tree squirrel colloquium and the first international flying squirrel colloquium, including the conservation priorities workshop Tree and Flying Squirrels in the Developing World, will be held 22-29 March 2006 in the Periyar Tiger Reserve, India. For information contact Nandini Rajamani, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Indian Institute of Science Campus, Bangalore 560 012, India, 91-94431 42296, nandinirajamani@yahoo.co.in, www.squirrelcolloquia.co.in or www.iisc.ernet.in/nias/itsc.htm.

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