Workshop: Climate Adaptation, University of Helsinki 11-14 Sept 2011 - Registration will close soon

Workshop: ‘ADAPTATION TO CLIMATE FROM A SPATIAL PERSPECTIVE’
11-14 September 2011 at Lammi Biological Station, University of Helsinki, Finland

REGISTRATION WILL CLOSE NEXT WEEK (JUNE 30TH)

Short description:
Advancing our understanding how organisms adapt to environmental variation lies at the core of ecology and evolutionary biology, and has become especially relevant in the light of current human-induced environmental change as a major threat to global biodiversity. When predicting species’ responses to climate change, including range shifts and adaptation, it is crucial to take into account spatial patterns of local adaptation and population dynamics at the regional and geographical scale.

We organize a conference (~60 participants) with a primary focus on adaptation to environmental variation, in particular climatic and thermal adaptation, from a spatial perspective at the regional and geographic level. We intend to bring together current high-quality research at multiple levels of investigation, including ecology, evolutionary genetics, physiology, theory and conservation. We aim to combine studies including a broad range of organisms, including plants, vertebrates and aquatic organisms, but with a main focus on ectotherms.

The conference will be organised around three main sessions:
• Latitudinal and altitudinal clinal variation
• Landscape/metapopulation  approaches to ecological and evolutionary dynamics
• Ecological and evolutionary dynamics at the range margins

Keynote speakers:
• Dr. Jon Bridle (University of Bristol, UK)
• Prof. Klaus Fischer (Greifswald University, Germany)
• Prof. Ilkka Hanski (University of Helsinki, Finland)
• Prof. Pär Ingvarsson (Umeå University, Sweden)
• Prof. Volker Loeschcke (Aarhus University, Denmark)
• Prof. Juha Merilä (University of Helsinki, Finland)
• Prof. Patricia Schulte (University of British Columbia, Canada)
• Prof. Chris Thomas (University of York, UK)

Organizers:
Maaike de Jong & Marjo Saastamoinen
Metapopulation Research Group, Department of Biosciences, University of Helsinki

For more information and online registration (registration deadline is June 30th 2011):
http://www.helsinki.fi/science/metapop/workshop/