Monday, February 6, 2012

Preliminary announcement: International Symposium on Invasive Plants and Global Change

The ecology and management of invasive plants is of world-wide concern. Much research and speculation has focused on which abiotic and biotic factors promote plant invasions, including biotic factors that affect population dynamics, weather variability and climate change, and land use/disturbance regimes. The goals of this International Symposium are to: (1) assess mechanisms of plant invasions; (2) evaluate how potential global changes may influence these mechanisms and alter plant invasions; and (3) project how plant invasions may be managed as global changes occur. To achieve these goals, a distinguished group of international scientists will explore these issues through presentations and discussions. Because arid ecosystems are especially susceptible to plant invasions and global changes due to low resilience and extreme sensitivity to environmental changes, this International Symposium places special emphasis on plant invasions in dry regions of the world.

Topics:

1. Mechanisms of plant invasions – understanding the “why” of plant invasions – including: intra- and interspecific interactions, population dynamics, evolutionary processes, plant-soil-microbial feedbacks, trophic interactions, environmental variability, and human activities

2. Global changes and invasion processes – what the future holds and how will these changes influence underlying mechanisms of invasion – including: changing climate (temperature and precipitation), changing atmospheric CO2, and changing land use and disturbance

3. Managing plant invasions in a changing world – putting it all together – including: conceptual understanding to frame strategies and policies, and predicting plant invasions with numerical models

Venue and Local Hosts

Symposium will occur in Urumqi, which is the capital city of Xinjiang Province, China. Xinjiang Institute of Ecology & Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences is the local host.

Preliminary Schedule:

June 13 (Wednesday), Registration

June 14 (Thursday), Symposium

June 15 (Friday), Symposium

June 16 & 17 (Weekend), Field trip to Junggar Basin

Important Dates:

Before March 31, 2012 Submit registration form

Before May 31, 2012 Submit abstract

For more information, contact in USA: Bob Nowak – Email: nowak@cabnr.unr.edu

To receive further announcements about this Symposium, contact Zhang Daoyuan – Email: zhangdy@ms.xjb.ac.cn

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