[Taxacom] CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT: Niche Evolution

[Alexandre Antonelli]

*CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT*

NICHE EVOLUTION - A unifying concept for systematics, ecology,  
palaeontology and conservation biology

3-4 July, 2009. Excursion on 5 July.
Zurich, Switzerland

www.systbot.uzh.ch/niche

MOTIVATION
Evolution of ecological niches, in their various guises, has become a  
central theme in several research fields of biology. We argue that  
niches, how they evolve, and the consequences of their evolution,  
affect a wide range of disciplines in organismal and evolutionary  
biology, and as such could be seen as a unifying thread.

In this meeting we will explore the interdisciplinary impact of  
evolving niches, and so bring together systematists, invasion  
biologists, biodiversity specialists, ecologists, and  
palaeontologists. We want to explore the commonality of evolving  
niches. The focus is more on concepts than methods (although, of  
course, the methods used will impact massively on the concepts). The  
emphasis is more on how to understand the evolution of a niche,  
rather than the definition of the niche. There will be some talks on  
the basics of niches to set the stage for the topics of niche  
evolution. The idea is to bring people together working in this field  
and to provide a forum to discuss developments, prospects and needs  
with various users and specialists. Therefore, the program is  
structured to provide ample time for discussions between and after  
the sessions.

PLACE
The meeting will take place at the Institute of Systematic Botany of  
the University of Zurich, situated in the botanical garden of the  
University of Zurich, within easy reach of public transport.

TALKS
Only invited talks will be given, and contributions as posters are  
welcome. There will be an evening poster session.

Invited speakers include William Bond, Jeannine Cavender-Bares,  
Alastair Culham, Catherine Graham, Antoine Guisan, Sabine Jakob,  
Jennifer Lau, Peter Linder, Signe Normand, Peter Pearman, Townsend  
Peterson, Bob Ricklefs, Nicolas Salamin, Walter Salzburger, Harald  
Schneider, Jonathan Silvertown, Wilfried Thuillier and Niklaus  
Zimmermann.

POST-CONFERENCE ONE-DAY EXCURSION
There will be an excursion for Sunday, 5 July, into the Alps. We will  
cross the Susten Pass (2'250 m). On Susten Pass we will visit the  
Steingletscher glacier, which has shown a dramatic reduction in the  
past decades, thus exposing much new habitat. We will be able to see  
the plant successions into these newly exposed habitats. This shows  
very dramatically the effect of climate change, and the potential new  
habitats exposed.

ORGANISERS
Peter Linder, Alexandre Antonelli, Rafael Wüest (Systematic Botany,  
University of Zurich), Niklaus Zimmermann and Peter Pearman  
(Institute of Forest, Snow and Landscape Research, WSL, Zurich),  
Harald Schneider (Natural History Museum, London), Frank Blattner  
(IPK Gatersleben) and Nicolas Salamin (Computational Phylogenetics,  
University of Lausanne)

REGISTRATION IS OPEN, at www.systbot.uzh.ch/niche

Please distribute this information to all researchers and students  
potentially interested!

Best wishes,

Dr Alexandre Antonelli
Institute of Systematic Botany
Zollikerstrasse 107
CH 8008  Zürich
Switzerland
Ph: +41 (0)44 634 8416
Fax: +41 (0)44 634 8403
alexandre.antonelli at systbot.uzh.ch