Pensoft blog - Part 94

Celebration time: ZooKeys releases its 600th issue

With what already sounds like an annual tradition at this time of the year, we are delighted to announce yet another milestone that ZooKeys just reached. Our 600th issue is now out and we are just as proud with it as we were exactly five years and a month ago, when we printed out our first three-digit issue number on a ZooKeys cover.

However, we feel nowhere near getting tired of counting pages, covers and issues, nor do we believe this will ever going to happen. Quite the contrary, every year we take more and more pleasure in adding new achievements next to the name of ZooKeys and Pensoft.

Last year was no exception. During the past 13 months, we published a total of 673 articles, including research findings spectacular enough to reach out to not only the zoological fellowship, but to the wide audience from around the world. While our Impact Factor keeps on increasing, according to the figures Thomson Reuters released last week, we are gratified to observe our progressively growing impact on both the scholarly and the popular-science front.

Thanks to the discoveries, which found a suiting publication partner in ZooKeys, our authors and us made a lot of big headlines in outlets such as National Geographic, Science, CNN, BBC, Sky News, New York Times, Deutsche Welle, Der Standard, DR, Washington Post, Fox News, Huffington Post, The Guardian, NBC News, and a lot more. We had a bit of everything: record-breakers, species given mystic or splashy names and others bearing nerdy ones. Together, we also gave public voice to serious conservation issues, calling for immediate action.

Last June, we introduced you to the Hades centipede, known to be the world’s deepest-dwelling species of its kind. Who knew that the entrance to the Underworld is located in a Croatian cave?

Later on, in November, published with us snail species Acmella nana broke the World record for the tiniest land snail. Moreover, this happened only about a month after we published the previous ‘prizewinner’ Angustopila dominikae, and that one was already tiny enough to fit 10 of its shells within the eye of a needle at the very same time!

Our pages, which have been and always will be openly available to read for anyone who is online, were also the first to let you know about the existence of the Johnny Cash tarantula, the (Edward) Snowden crayfish, the two daddy longlegs: Smeagol and the ‘Master-of-the-crypt’ Behemoth, the Chewbacca beetle and the Brad Pitt wasp, among many others.

About two months ago, graduate student Madhu Chetri spotted the ancient Himalayan woolly wolf in Nepal. The new knowledge about the beautiful and, sadly, Critically Endangered carnivore, which he acquired, will hopefully help in preventing its otherwise imminent extinction.

In the meantime, Deutsche Welle (DW) featured our Zorro fish along with the eight-legged Johnny Cash’s namesake in their rank list of the 7 “newcomer” species of the year.

While being in the spotlight is definitely a gratifying feeling, we also indulge in our successes achieved far from the eyes of the public, although we are certain that our authors will be just as excited to hear about. Such an accomplishment is our recently sealed partnership with open digital repository Zenodo, who are helping us, along with the rest of the journals, published by Pensoft, to keep our research findings safe and easily accessible by archiving all our articles in both PDF and XML format on the date of publication.

However, let’s not forget that nothing of all the above would be what it is without our authors, editors and reviewers, who have always done their best to keep ZooKeys at the World’s top open access academic journals. We’d especially like to thank our Most active authors, editors and reviewers for being substantial part of ZooKeys.

Botanical diversity unraveled in a previously understudied forest in Angola

Famous for hosting most endemic bird species in Angola, it comes as no surprise that the Kumbira forest in Angola has recently also revealed great botanical diversity. Remaining understudied for a long time, a recent botanical survey in the region revealed impressive numbers of vascular plants including new records for the country and potential new species. The full account of the Kumbira forest diversity is published in the open access journal Phytokeys.

In June 2014, two dedicated botanists has finally headed to the central escarpment of western Angola, to explore and describe flora of the Kumbira forest. Under the framework of bilateral cooperation between Angola and the Republic of South Africa, in collaboration with Kew Herbarium in UK, Dr. David Goyder, Herbarium, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Mr. Francisco M. P. Gonçalves, Herbarium of Lubango, ISCED-Huíla, Lubango, conducted a first of its kind botanical survey in the region.

The importance of Kumbira forest has been referred in various sources for hosting the major number of Angolan endemic bird species. Despite its suspected ecological importance, however, the plant diversity knowledge of Kumbira has been unknown so far.

Nowadays, the important Kumbira forest biome is threatened by human activities such as illegal logging, forest slash-and-burn agriculture, poaching, and the increasing distribution area of the invasive alien tree species “pan chock” Inga vera subsp. vera.

“To fill in the knowledge gap and call attention to the importance of Kumbira forest not only as a zoological, but also as a botanical hotspot, we undertook a botanical survey into Kumbira forest.” explains Dr. Francisco M. P. Gonçalves.

During the brief survey period between 10th-18th June 2014, the researchers were amazed to collect over 100 botanical specimens in flower or fruit. Three species collected represent news records for Angola and Guineo-Congolian biome and one is a potential new species.

“More work is planned in the future with the vision to contribute to the creation of a Gabela Natural Reserve, which Kumbira is a part of. Although the plans for this conservation are already proposed, they are not yet implemented and we hope more knowledge of the organism richness of the region will contribute to its realization,” concludes Dr. Gonçalves.

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Original source:

Gonçalves FMP, Goyder DJ (2016) A brief botanical survey into Kumbira forest, an isolated patch of Guineo-Congolian biome. PhytoKeys 65: 1-14.doi: 10.3897/phytokeys.65.8679

A new framework for inferring community assembly processes in ecology

One of the most fundamental goals in ecology – determining the community assembly processes that have structured local communities – has been increasingly studied through the analysis of functional and phylogenetic diversity. Addressing growing evidence that inferences from these measures are often ambiguous to interpret, a new study published in the open access journal One Ecosystem, presents a conceptual framework integrating three approaches which reduces the likelihood of drawing incorrect conclusions.

A long-standing goal in ecology has been to document patterns in natural community structure and connect these patterns to underlying processes such as environmental filtering, disturbance, competition, and predation, collectively known as community assembly processes.

When studying these complex interactions, ecologists have been increasingly leaning towards inferring community assembly processes by calculating communities’ functional and phylogenetic diversity. Unlike diversity measures based solely on species’ identities, functional and phylogenetic diversity can describe important differences between species, ranging across ways in which they use resources, respond to, and influence the local environment.

“Functional and phylogenetic diversity can indeed be useful when trying to infer whether a particular community assembly process, such as interspecific competition or environmental filtering, has been most important for structuring a community or set of communities,” explain the authors of the study.

“However, it is also becoming increasingly obvious that care must be taken when using those methods, since inappropriate choice of traits, diversity metrics, or null models can produce ambiguous results and even lead to incorrect conclusions about the processes underlying community assembly.”

To answer this knowledge gaps, a team of ecologists present a conceptual framework which integrates three approaches to reduce the likelihood of drawing incorrect conclusions from analyses of functional and phylogenetic diversity:

testing hypotheses for how diversity measures and ecological processes vary along an environmental gradient;
analysis of both functional and phylogenetic diversity in concert; and
careful selection of traits related to processes of interest for inclusion in functional diversity analyses.

The new study describes the utility of each of these approaches and shows how combining them can strengthen one’s ability to correctly infer community assembly. The framework is presented in the context of identifying the signatures of interspecific competition and environmental filtering, important processes that operate in many systems across different taxa and are most often referred to in the functional and phylogenetic literature.

“In our paper, we provide examples showing how our framework can be used to test general hypotheses such as the Stress-Dominance Hypothesis,” comment the authors. “Our approach can also be applied to other processes besides competition and environmental filtering. This framework has the potential to enhance comparability between studies and allow for testing of alternative hypotheses regarding changes in community assembly processes along gradients.”

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Original Source:

Lopez B, Burgio K, Carlucci M, Palmquist K, Parada A, Weinberger V, Hulbert A (2016) A new framework for inferring community assembly processes using phylogenetic information, relevant traits and environmental gradients. One Ecosystem 1: e9501. doi: 10.3897/oneeco.1.e9501

End of an era: New sixth volume Research on Chrysomelidae the last with its original editors

The new and sixth volume of Research on Chrysomelidae consists of five research articles devoted to the latest findings about the amazing family of over 37,000 leaf beetle species from more than 2,500 genera. Among the studies, conducted by authors from all around the world, there is a new species of potentially dangerous legume-feeding pest, as well as new information regarding the life cycle,ecological interactions, species richness factors and taxonomy of some leaf beetles.

The latest volume devoted to one of the most intriguing beetle families also marks a turning point for the entomologists sharing special fondness for the leaf beetles. While the “spiritus rector” of the Chrysomelidae research community, Prof Pierre Jolivet resigned from his position last year, now Dr Jorge Santiago-Blay is also stepping down from the editorial board.

The third of the original trio, Prof Michael Schmitt, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Universität, takes the opportunity to look back to the beginning of the community and pay tribute to his long-year colleagues in his Editorial. He also confirms that the series, by now traditionally published in the open access journal ZooKeys, is far from over.

“I thank Jorge Santiago-Blay from the bottom of my heart for his tireless engagement in fostering leaf beetle research and his friendship, and wish him All the Best for whatever he may entertain in the future,” read his words.

In his short publication accompanying the five-piece issue, Prof Michael Schmitt recalls the very beginning of his team’s existence, started in 2001. He does not omit to note the numerous obstacles surrounding the first issues. At a point, having completed the enormous book “The green book – New Developments in the Biology of the Chrysomelidae”, comprising 62 chapters by 111 authors, as well as the first two volumes of Research on Chrysomelidae, they were made to drop the series due to unsatisfying selling numbers.

However, everything changed after the conversation Prof Pierre Jolivet and Prof Lyubomir Penev, Pensoft Publishers, had at the 9th European Congress of Entomology, held in Hungary in 2010. There they agreed to publish the next Research on Chrysomelidae volume as a special issue in ZooKeys, one of Pensoft’s journals.

Shortly after, the collaboration turned out so successful that it is now resulting in a fourth consecutive special issue. In the meantime, last December, the 30th anniversary of Symposia on Chysomelidae was celebrated in another leaf beetle-themed ZooKeys issue. Moreover, the next issue is already planned. It will cover the proceedings of the 9th International Symposium on Chrysomelidae and will be edited by Prof Michael Schmitt and Dr Caroline Chaboo, University of Nebraska State Museum, USA.

“The present volume is the fourth, but certainly not the last, published by Pensoft. Although the pullout of Pierre Jolivet and Jorge Santiago-Blay marks a crucial cut in the history of Research on Chrysomelidae, I understand the reasons of their decision to step down,” concludes Prof Michael Schmitt. “I hope and wish that the series will prosper and remain accepted as a forum of leaf beetle research by the community of Chrysomelidae enthusiasts all over the world.”

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Research on Chrysomelidae 6 Special Issue is available to read and order from here.

Original source:

Schmitt M (2016) Editorial. In: Jolivet P, Santiago-Blay J, Schmitt M (Eds) Research on Chrysomelidae 6. ZooKeys 597: 1-2. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.597.8618

Remarkably diverse flora in Utah, USA, trains scientists for future missions on Mars

Future Martian explorers might not need to leave the Earth to prepare themselves for life on the Red Planet. The Mars Society have built an analogue research site in Utah, USA, which simulates the conditions on our neighbouring planet.

Practicing the methods needed to collect biological samples while wearing spacesuits, a team of Canadian scientists have studied the diverse local flora. Along with the lessons that one day will serve the first to conquer Mars, the researchers present an annotated checklist of the fungi, algae, cyanobacteria, lichens, and vascular plants from the station in their publication in the open-access journal Biodiversity Data Journal.

Located in the desert approximately 9 km outside of Hanksville, Utah, and about 10 km away from the Burpee Dinosaur Quarry, a recently described bone bed from the Jurassic Morrison Formation, the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) was constructed in 2002. Since then, it has been continuously visited by a wide range of researchers, including astrobiologists, soil scientists, journalists, engineers, and geologists.

Astrobiology, the study of the evolution and distribution of life throughout the universe, including the Earth, is a field increasingly represented at the MDRS. There, astrobiologists can take advantage of the extreme environment surrounding the station and seek life as if they were on Mars. To simulate the extraterrestrial conditions, the crew members even wear specially designed spacesuits so that they can practice standard field work activities with restricted vision and movement.

In their present research, the authors have identified and recorded 38 vascular plant species from 14 families, 13 lichen species from seven families, 6 algae taxa including both chlorophytes and cyanobacteria, and one fungal genus from the station and surrounding area. Living in such extreme environments, organisms such as fungi, lichens, algae, and cyanobacteria are of particular interest to astrobiologists as model systems in the search for life on Mars.

However, the authors note that there is still field work to be executed at the site, especially during the spring and the summer so that the complete local diversity of the area can be captured.

“While our present checklist is not an exhaustive inventory of the MDRS site,” they explain, “it can serve as a first-line reference for identifying vascular plants and lichens at the MDRS, and serves as a starting point for future floristic and ecological work at the station.”

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Original source:

Sokoloff P, Hamilton P, Saarela J (2016) The “Martian” flora: new collections of vascular plants, lichens, fungi, algae, and cyanobacteria from the Mars Desert Research Station, Utah.Biodiversity Data Journal 4: e8176. doi: 10.3897/BDJ.4.e8176

The Godzilla goby is the latest new species discovered by the Smithsonian DROP project

As part of the Deep Reef Observation Project (DROP), initiated by the Smithsonian Institution, a new goby fish species was discovered in the southern Caribbean. Living at depths greater than conventional SCUBA divers can access, yet too shallow to be of interest for deep-diving submersibles, the fish will now be known under the common name of the Godzilla goby.

Its discoverers Drs Luke Tornabene, Ross Robertson and Carole C. Baldwin, all affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution, have described the species in the open access journal ZooKeys.

Formally called Varicus lacerta, the species name translates to ‘lizard’ in Latin and refers to the reptilian appearance of the fish. Its prime colors are bright yellow and orange, while the eyes are green.

The new goby also has a disproportionately large head and multiple rows of recurved canine teeth in each jaw. This is also why the research team has chosen the common name of the Godzilla goby.

Apart from its lovely coloration, the new fish stands out with its branched, feather-like pelvic-fin rays and the absence of scales.

The scientists caught the Godzilla goby thanks to the manned submersible Curasub, which had already helped in discovering several species over the course of the project. Last year, Drs Ross Robertson and Carole Baldwin had another new goby published in ZooKeys. That time, they even named it after the submersible. Earlier this year, the DROP team also described nine additional new species, many of which were collected by the Curasub.

The manned submersible Curasub reaches depths up to 300 m in search of tropical marine fishes and invertebrates. As a result, it provides new information on the fauna that inhabits poorly studied deep-reef ecosystems.

The sub relies on two hydraulic arms, one equipped with a suction hose, and the other designed to immobilize the fish with an anaesthetizing chemical. That way, not only do the researchers gather live specimens, which once collected, are deposited into a vented acrylic cylinder attached to the outside of the sub, but also individuals suitable for critical DNA analyses.

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Original source:

Tornabene L, Robertson DR, Baldwin CC (2016) Varicus lacerta, a new species of goby (Teleostei, Gobiidae, Gobiosomatini, Nes subgroup) from a mesophotic reef in the southern Caribbean. ZooKeys 596: 143-156. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.596.8217

More than just hippos and crocs: The hidden biodiversity of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park

iSimangaliso Wetland Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the sub-tropical north-eastern corner of South Africa has become famous for its birdlife, crocodiles and hippopotamuses that frolic in the warm estuarine waters of Lake St Lucia. However, there’s more to the park than the “big and hairy”, according to aquatic ecologist Prof Renzo Perissinotto at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) in Port Elizabeth, whose research is published in the open access journal ZooKeys.

“Although we have spent several decades focusing on life in the estuary, we only recently came to realise that much of the wealth of biodiversity in the park exists in the small freshwater ponds that are adjacent to, but disconnected from, the main lake,” he says.

The St Lucia lake itself is generally brackish and is located on a large sandy expanse known as the Maputaland coastal plain. Dotted across the landscape of this coastal foreland are numerous temporary freshwater ponds, seeps and small streams that are disconnected from the brackish lake body.

A team of self-proclaimed “beetle nerds”, led by Prof Perissinotto, got together from NMMU and Plymouth University (UK) and uncovered more species of water beetles in these tiny water bodies than is known for any other similar-sized region in southern Africa.

The beetle collection trips were done over a 16-month period and revealed 68 species of predaceous water beetles alone, termed more formally as the “Hydradephaga”. The iSimangaliso Wetland Park houses approximately 20% of the total number of known species for this beetle group in the whole of southern Africa. Of the species collected during their expeditions, five have never been recorded in South Africa before, highlighting our poor understanding of aquatic insect distributions in this part of the world.

Most of the species collected (almost 80%) belonged to the family Dytiscidae, more commonly known as “diving beetles” due to their lifestyle that involves coming up for air and immediately diving back down to the depths to carry on hunting unsuspecting prey, which can be as large as small fish and amphibians.

Prof Perissinotto and his NMMU colleague Dr Matthew Bird, together with water beetle specialist Prof David Bilton (Plymouth University), collected specimens ranging from 1 mm to almost 5 cm in length (the tadpole eaters). According to Prof Bilton, “Irrespective of size, these water beetles are a crucial component of the iSimangaliso ecosystem in that they are the primary predators in these temporary wetlands, which generally lack fish. Their abundance and diversity can be used to gauge the overall health of wetland ecosystems as they are sensitive to pollution, for instance”.

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Original source:

Perissinotto R, Bird MS, Bilton DT (2016) Predaceous water beetles (Coleoptera, Hydradephaga) of the Lake St Lucia system, South Africa: biodiversity, community ecology and conservation implications. ZooKeys 595: 85-135. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.595.8614

Singing in the rain: A new species of rain frog from Manu National Park, Amazonian Peru

A new rain frog species has been described from Amazonian Peru and the Amazonian foothills of the Andes. The frog, given the name Pristimantis pluvialis, was found by researchers from Southern Illinois University Carbondale, the University of Michigan, and the National University of San Antonio Abad of Cusco in Peru. The discovery is published in the open access journal ZooKeys.

Several individuals of P. pluvialis were found during nocturnal surveys near Manu National Park, a region recognized as having the highest diversity of reptiles and amphibians of any protected area.

The species has also been collected within the private conservation area Bosque Nublado, owned by the Peruvian NGO Perú Verde, and within the Huachiperi Haramba Queros Conservation Concession, the first such type of concession granted to a native community in Peru.

The new species is likely found within the park as well, bringing the number of known amphibian species in this area to 156. Similarly to other species within its genus, which is among the largest vertebrate genera, the new rain frog exhibits direct development. This means that it is capable of undergoing its entire life cycle without a free-living tadpole stage.

It can be distinguished from other members of its genus by call, skin texture, and the presence of a rostral papilla. It was given the name “pluvialis”, translatable to “rainy” from Latin, to denote the incredibly rain-soaked habitat it lives in (>8 meters of rain yearly), and because it was found calling only after heavy rains.

Unfortunately, when a fungal disease, known as the amphibian chytrid fungus, arrived in the area back in the early 2000s, many frog species in and around the region began to decline. Out of the studied ten individuals of the presently described new species, four were found to be infected. However, the impact of the disease on these particular rain frogs is still unknown, and their numbers do not seem to have decreased.

“This discovery highlights the need for increased study throughout the tropics, for example Manu NP and its surrounding areas have been well studied, but despite these efforts, new species are being continuously discovered,” points out first author Alex Shepack, a PhD student in the laboratory of co-author Dr Alessandro Catenazzi at Southern Illinois University.

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Original source:

Shepack A, von May R, Ttito A, Catenazzi A (2016) A new species of Pristimantis (Amphibia, Anura, Craugastoridae) from the foothills of the Andes in Manu National Park, southeastern Peru. ZooKeys 594: 143-164. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.594.8295

Finding the real treasure of the Incas: Two new frog species from an unexplored region

Inaccessibility and mysticism surrounding the mist-veiled mountains of the central Andes make this region promising to hide treasures. With an area of 2197 km2, most of the Llanganates National Park, Ecuador, is nearly unreachable and is traversed only by foot. However, fieldwork conducted by researchers from the Museo de Zoología at Catholic University of Ecuador resulted in the discovery of a more real and tangible gem: biodiversity.

Among other surprises, during their expeditions the researchers discovered two new species of rain frogs, formally named P. llanganati and P. yanezi. The new species are characterized by the spiny appearance typical of several species inhabiting montane forests. The study was published in the open access journal ZooKeys.

The new rain frogs belong to the megadiverse genus Pristimantis. They are direct-developing frogs, which means that they lack a tadpole stage and therefore do not undergo metamorphosis.

The Neotropical Andes houses a spectacular radiation of Pristimantis, especially in the Montane Forests of the eastern slopes of the Ecuadorian Andes. The species richness of this genus is still underestimated as a consequence of their cryptic morphology and the still sparse amphibian inventories in unexplored regions such as the Llanganates National Park.

The discovery reminds the authors of a mystic local legend dating from the 16th century, when the Inca Empire fell into the hands of Spanish conquerors. Word has it that in exchange for the young emperor’s life, Atahualpa, Incas offered to fill an entire room with tons of gold. However, the Spaniards broke their promise and the emperor was executed. A small group of loyal Incas led by General Rumiñahui decided to hide both, the mummy of Atahualpa and the gold, in the depths of the jungle of the Llanganates National Park.

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Original source:

Navarrete MJ, Venegas PJ, Ron SR (2016) Two new species of frogs of the genus Pristimantis from Llanganates National Park in Ecuador with comments on the regional diversity of Ecuadorian Pristimantis (Anura, Craugastoridae). ZooKeys 593: 139-162. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.593.8063

Schoolkids name a new tree species from Tanzania while fundraising for tropical forests

A University of York conservationist who put out a call for schools to name a new species of tropical tree has found a winner. Following competitive fundraising totalling nearly £4000, Askham Bryan College, UK pipped the Iringa International School, Tanzania to the post. Coming a close third in the competition were 1st Sherburn Rainbows and Brownies, also from the UK.

Kindly agreeing to share the name with the the African school in second place, the winning college has now baptised the new species Polyceratocarpus askhambryan-iringae.

Dr Andy Marshall, Senior Lecturer in York’s Environment Department and Director of Conservation Science at Flamingo Land, set up the Schools for Forests campaign through his University of York CIRCLE research team after discovering a new species of tree in East Africa.

Discovered by chance in a remote mountain forest in Tanzania while studying one of the world’s rarest primates, the kipunji monkey, Dr Marshall sought to name the new 20-metre tall tree by launching a campaign encouraging schools to raise funds for the conservation of tropical forests.

The winning schools will be twinned with a school in Tanzania and will be offered a free educational trip to Flamingo Land. The new tree’s name was formally announced with anopenly accessible paper in the journal PhytoKeys. And for Flamingo Land, the timing of this species description coincides with another landmark for this North Yorkshire theme park and zoo, where 10,000 native UK trees were recently planted in partnership with the Woodland Trust!

P1140528_AndyMarshallAndXUvariodendron_sp_nov_Vikongwa150mSofCamp_ARM2117 — Dr. Andy Marshall, looking for new species in Tanzanian forests.

“Having the opportunity to name a new species is a truly wonderful thing, which will leave a lasting legacy for all those involved in this campaign. We are so happy to have reached out to so many people, including thousands of people in the UK and Africa through social media”, commented Dr Marshall on the positive experiences around the naming campaign.

“We thank everyone who has been involved in this, especially those who raised these valuable funds, which we will use in our ongoing efforts to save and restore tropical forests.”

“The College has been delighted to be involved in the Schools for Forests campaign. Fundraising by our students included foam parties, raffles and even a human sling shot, and we hope this will be the start of an ongoing partnership!” assed Jane Tupper, Deputy Principal for Teaching & Learning from Askham Bryan College.

Money raised through the Schools for Forests scheme will go towards CIRCLE’s work in Tanzania in collaboration with the Udzungwa Forest Project to better protect tropical forests through scientific research, forest management, community education, training and lobbying.

Original Source:

Marshall AR, Couvreur TLP, Summers AL, Deere NJ, Luke WRQ, Ndangalasi HJ, Sparrow S, Johnson DM (2016) A new species in the tree genus Polyceratocarpus (Annonaceae) from the Udzungwa Mountains of Tanzania. PhytoKeys 63: 63-76. doi: 10.3897/phytokeys.63.6262

Additional Information:

CIRCLE is the Centre for Integrated Research, Conservation and Learning, a collaboration between the University of York’s Environment Department and Flamingo Land that aims to protect biodiversity, animal welfare and promote public understanding of the natural world.

Sponsors of the Schools for Forests campaign include United Bank of Carbon, the British Association of Zoos and Aquariums Mammal Working Group and Santander. The Schools for Forests team are also thankful for support from Natalie Bennett, Green Party Leader, and from various collaborators, especially David Johnson from Ohio Wesleyan University.