An International
Meeting on Seeds and the Environment
Rhodes Island,
Greece, April 29 (Thursday) – May 4 (Tuesday), 2004
(posted on May 7, 2004)
PROGRAMME AND
BOOK OF ABSTRACTS (pdf, 3.4 MB)
THE ‘OFFICIAL’ PHOTO
OF THE MEETING (jpg, 1.2 MB)
SEED ECOLOGY 2004 is the first thematic, scientific conference devoted
exclusively to Seeds and the Environment. Seed ecology
(dispersal, predation, soil and canopy seed banks, ecophysiology of dormancy
and germination, seed research issues related to evolution, conservation and
ecosystem functioning) is currently an extremely active area of ecology. It has
profound implications for the composition and diversity of plant communities
and, through seed dispersal and predation, has a remarkable capacity to promote
collaboration between botanists and zoologists. Nevertheless, its practitioners
are scattered throughout the world and rarely, if ever, have an opportunity to
meet as a single research community.
SEED ECOLOGY 2004 is also intended to
make an international meeting of particular value to students and younger
scientists, who would perhaps not otherwise have the opportunity to meet many
of the leading researchers in the field. In addition, we think that such an
opportunity would foster cooperation between scientists from different
countries and lead to closer integration between researchers working on
specific aspects of seed ecology, in particular seed ecophysiological studies
and those focused on reproductive ecology and seedling recruitment.
The scientific program
will cover in a balanced way all aspects of seed ecology and it is hoped to
showcase the latest and most exciting developments in our discipline. Leading
researchers would be invited to review the latest progress and the most
exciting challenges in their special fields. The main core of the scientific
program will be comprised by oral and poster presentations.
SEED ECOLOGY 2004 will overlap with MEDECOS X (the 10th Mediterranean Ecology
Conference), also to take place in Rhodes (April 25 - May 1, 2004). On Friday,
April 30th, we intend to run one or two common sessions on Mediterranean seed
ecology. This overlap is intentional of course and will enable a number of
participants to attend both events.
Venue
The venue of both
conferences will be the Convention
Centre of Rodos Palace Hotel, conveniently situated in the outskirts of Rodos city (4
km), not far (12 km) from the International Airport of the island. Public
transportation (by coach) is efficiently connecting Rodos city with the rest of
the island and taxis are relatively cheap (a drive from Rodos city to Rodos
Palace Hotel costs about 3-4 euros).
Rhodes can be reached
by aeroplane, either directly from numerous European cities (normal and
chartered flights) and via Athens International Airport ‘El. Venizelos’. It can
also be reached by boat from Piraeus Port (near Athens).
For additional
information and other travel options please contact your travel agent or email cthanos@biol.uoa.gr. See also the useful links.
Next Venue!
The next (2nd)
Seed Ecology will take place at The University of Western Australia, Perth (Western Australia), in
September 2007.
Please contact Dr
Kingsley Dixon, kdixon@kpbg.wa.gov.au
Student Awards
Certificates of
excellence for outstanding contributions (oral or poster) were awarded to the
following students:
E.R. Chang (The
Netherlands)
R.E. Gallery (USA)
L.M. Karlsson (Sweden)
K.M. Kettenring (USA)
F. Rodriguez (Spain)
Each awardee
received a book on seeds (books kindly provided by CAB International, Cambridge
University Press, CSIRO and NRC
Canada).
Our sponsors (so far) are:
the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens,
Greece
ISSS, the International Society for
Seed Science
BES, the British Ecological Society
MAICh, Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of
Chania
The British Ecological Society have very
kindly agreed to include Seed Ecology 2004 in their Student
Support Scheme (see the August 2003 edition of the BES Bulletin).
This means that a sum of money has been allocated to provide a limited number
of students with 50% of the costs of registration, meals and accommodation. This
scheme is administered by the BES and application must be made directly to the
BES on the appropriate form. (press here to download the form)..
NOTE ADDED ON JANUARY 5, 2004
The selection procedure has now ended – no more
applications will be considered.
How
does the scheme work?
1.
Mail (do not fax) the BES application form and a
copy of your completed conference registration form direct to the BES (NOT to
the conference organisers). Do not send your registration form to the
organisers yet. There is no need to answer the question on the BES form about
whether you are presenting a paper or poster – the BES will deal with all
applications on a first come, first served basis.
2.
If you are successful the BES will inform you and
the conference organisers. You should then send the registration form to the
organisers without any payment - the BES support will be paid direct to the
organisers and covers most (but not all) of the registration fee. You will be
asked to pay the remaining amount (30 euros for ISSS members, 60 euros for
non-members) at the meeting.
3.
Book and pay for your accommodation in the normal
way.
Costas Thanos, Athens-Greece (chair) cthanos@biol.uoa.gr
Ken Thompson, Sheffield-UK (co-chair) Ken.Thompson@sheffield.ac.uk
Margarita Arianoutsou,
Athens-Greece marianou@biol.uoa.gr
Carol Baskin, Lexington-USA ccbask0@uky.edu
Jerry Baskin, Lexington-USA jmbask0@uky.edu
Roberto Benech Arnold, Buenos
Aires-Argentina benech@ifeva.edu.ar
William J. Bond, Cape Town-South
Africa bond@botzoo.uct.ac.za
James Bullock, Dorset-UK jmbul@ceh.ac.uk
Jim Dalling, Urbana-USA dallingj@life.uiuc.edu
Maria Doussi, Athens-Greece mdousi@cc.uoa.gr
Michael Fenner, Southampton-UK M.Fenner@soton.ac.uk
Kyriacos Georghiou, Athens-Greece kgeorghi@biol.uoa.gr
Yitzchak Gutterman, Sede Boqer-Israel gutterma@bgumail.bgu.ac.il
Phil Hulme, Banchory-UK pehu@ceh.ac.uk
Michelle Leishman, Sydney-Australia mleishma@rna.bio.mq.edu.au
Susan Meyer, Provo-USA semeyer@xmission.com
Per Milberg, Linkoping-Sweden permi@ifm.liu.se
Begonna Peco, Madrid-Spain begonna.peco@uam.es
Felix Perez-Garcia, Madrid-Spain fperez@agricolas.upm.es
Peter Poschlod, Regensburg-Germany peter.poschlod@biologie.uni-regensburg.de
Hugh Pritchard, West Sussex-UK h.pritchard@rbgkew.org.uk
Kenji Seiwa,
Miyagi-Japan seiwa@bios.tohoku.ac.jp
Ioannis Takos, Drama-Greece itakos@teikav.edu.gr
Martin Zobel, Tartu-Estonia mzobel@ut.ee
Please,
forward all enquiries to
Costas
Thanos at cthanos@biol.uoa.gr (http://users.uoa.gr/~cthanos/)
and
Ken Thompson at Ken.Thompson@sheffield.ac.uk
(http://www.shef.ac.uk/~nuocpe/bccil/)
SCIENTIFIC PROGRAMME
The full Programme
of the Conference (posted on April 2, 2004)
Programme outline
Thursday, April 29, late afternoon
(ca 17.00) and evening – registration and welcome
Friday, April 30, all day –
sessions
Saturday, May 1, all day –
sessions and poster day 1
Sunday, May 2, all day – excursion
Monday, May 3, all day – sessions
and poster day 2
Tuesday, May 4, morning to late afternoon (ca 17.00) –
sessions and goodbye
Session topics
1- Mediterranean seed ecology
2- Evolution of seeds
3- Seed dispersal
4- Soil and canopy seed banks
5- Seed dormancy and germination
6- Seeds in ecosystem functioning
7- Applied seed ecology
8- Other
The seed size synthesis: a review of the
ecological correlates of seed size
Angela Moles, Macquarie University, Australia
Long distance
dispersal - in pursuit of the unknowable?
James Bullock, NERC Centre for Ecology and
Hydrology, Dorset, UK
The ecology of soil seed banks: from the
applicable present to a fruitful future
Renée M. Bekker, University of Groningen,
The Netherlands
Biogeography and phylogeny of seed dormancy
Carol and Jerry Baskin, University of Kentucky,
USA
Seed Ecology: its Biogeographical and Ecological
Relevance
William Bond, University of Cape Town, South Africa
Seeding the woods from the
trees: New views on seed source and dispersal limitation in tropical forests
Jim Dalling, University of Illinois, USA
Tentative List of
Standard Talks (20 min) and Posters
Abstract submission form
Deadline for submission
of Abstracts: January 10, 2004.
Please write your
Abstract according to the Instructions (press here).
The 4th circular – posted on
April 2, 2004
REGISTRATION FEES
Regular Participant: 400
Euros
ISSS Member: 350 Euros
Student Participant: 350
Euros
Student, ISSS Member: 320
Euros
Accompanying Person: 270
Euros
(*ISSS membership for 2004)
(**Registered participants of MEDECOS X: subtract 30 Euros from the
above prices)
(***Late registration fees: plus 50 Euros)
Deadline for the receipt of Early
Registration Form and Fees:
EXTENDED till February 10, 2004
(note added on January 23, 2004)
REGISTRATION FORM
Please download the Registration Form (press here), fill in and return by
email to cthanos@biol.uoa.gr (preferably) or
fax (+30-210-7274656) or mail (to Costas Thanos).
Deadline for the receipt
of the Registration Form: February 1, 2004.
EXTENDED till February 10, 2004
(note added on January 23, 2004)
ACCOMMODATION FORM
Please fill in your
Accommodation Form (press here).
Deadline for the receipt of the
Accommodation Form: April 10, 2004.
ABOUT THE LOGO OF THE MEETING – press here
ABOUT THE WEB PAGE FONT – press here
ABOUT THE ‘SEED BUTTONS’ – press here