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Invitation to the 34th Annual Conference
of the Ecological Society (Gesellschaft für Oekologie, GfOE) in Giessen, Germany |
The 34th Annual Conference of the Ecological Society (Gesellschaft für Oekologie, GfOE) will take place from 13 - 17 September 2004 in Giessen, Germany. The conference will be organised by Justus Liebig University, Giessen. The conference venue will be the Interdisciplinary Research Centre for Biosystems, Land Use and Nutrition, located on the natural sciences campus. The theme of the conference will be:
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"Eco-complexity and dynamics of the cultural landscape"
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| Aim and focus of the conference |
The greater part of the European landscape can be considered a cultural landscape (Kulturlandschaft), since it has been shaped by human activities for thousands of years. It comprises a complex mosaic of abiotic and biotic elements, structures and processes at different spatial and temporal scales, and contains every level of organismal organisation from genes to ecosystems.
Within the traditional cultural landscape, the purpose of human land use was initially to meet basic demands for, e.g., food and wood, and this was largely determined by abiotic constraints such as soil fertility and water availability. In contrast, the modern anthropogenic landscape has to fulfil multiple and often conflicting functions, such as serving the needs for food production, water supply, nature conservation, residential settlement and recreation. These cultural landscape functions are, in part, less dependent on the abiotic environment, not least owing to technological improvements in land use. Additionally, land use has been influenced by socio-economic processes and political decisions, which today are subject to control at ever-higher levels.
The interrelationships between the underlying physical landscape patterns and traditional land uses have in many regions resulted in diverse, small-scale landscape mosaics with a relatively high degree of biodiversity. Land-use changes due to technological improvements and modified socio-economic and political conditions over the last century have been characterised by processes of both intensification and de-intensification. These processes, which alter landscape complexity and dynamics, and which lead to, e.g., habitat aggregation and/or habitat fragmentation in the modern cultural landscape, have left their mark on various ecological patterns and processes from gene flow to ecosystem functioning.
The preservation and restoration of these patterns and processes can be achieved only through regionally differentiated, sustainable land-use systems. The question of how sustainable land use with a robust economic foundation can be implemented is a major challenge for politicians, economists and, not least, ecologists. Hence, the main aim of the 34th Annual Conference of the Ecological Society at Justus Liebig University, Giessen, will be to discuss the relationships between landscape complexity and dynamics, and the ecology of various biotic systems, from genes to ecosystems. The topics of the conference symposia will be shaped by the Ecological Society specialist groups on the one hand, and the scientific profiles and traditions of the organisers on the other. The conference will be open to an international scientific audience. |
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| Registration: |
Online registration for participation and oral or poster contributions starts on February 1, 2004. We strongly encourage participants to register using this web site. Persons with no access to the Internet may send the registration form directly to the address given below. Please indicate your name and address clearly.
Conference office
Justus-Liebig-University Giessen
Division of Landscape Ecology and Landscape Planning
Heinrich-Buff-Ring 26-32
D-35392 Giessen
phone: ++49-641/9937161
fax: ++49-641/9937169
To register oral or poster contributions you have to submit an abstract no later than April 1, 2004. The acceptance of contributions will be announced on June 30, 2004.
For Instructions on writing the abstract, please, see Abstracts/Proceedings. Please, ensure that your abstract meets these instructions otherwise it will be rejected. Only those abstracts written in the English language will guarantee successful submission, abstracts in the German language will not be accepted. For the plenary talks speakers from all over Europe and from North-America are invited. Therefore, for the conference in Giessen English will be the conference language.
Please, submit your abstract via the Internet. If you do not have access to the Internet you may send a print out of your abstract as well as a copy disc to the registration office (see for address above).
We invite you to submit symposia or workshop proposals for the GfOE annual meeting 2004 no later than January 6, 2004. Criteria for the acceptance of symposium proposals include novelty, breadth of interest, relation to the main meeting theme, and no overlap with other recent symposia. Proposals from the GfOE working groups are given special consideration, although they should propose only one symposium coming from their group. In the interest of broadening participation an individual person is allowed to organise (either as principal or co-organiser) only one symposium. This rule will also be enforced in oral and poster presentations: anyone who is first author of a symposiums contribution (oral resp. poster presentation) cannot be first author or presenter of another oral resp. poster presentation.
The GfOE is not able to provide any financial assistance to symposium organisers or individual symposium participants. Organisers are responsible for communicating this sure to participants. Nevertheless, organisers of symposia are free to organize funding independently.
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| Registration fees |
Conference fees
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50 EUR |
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60 EUR |
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80 EUR |
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120 EUR |
- Supplementary charge for registration
beyond April 1, 2003
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30 EUR
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Special events
Lunch and coffee
During the conference (Monday to Thursday) there will be the possibility to have lunch at the conference venue. We strongly recommend participants to order lunch tickets (7 EUR per meal) during online registration! Since the natural science campus is outside the city, and the capacity of alternative catering facilities is very small, the possibility to visit other catering places during lunch breaks will be extremely limited.
Coffee and biscuits during the coffee breaks are included in the conference fee.
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Bank account
Conference fees plus additionals must be paid before April 1, 2004 using the following account
Recipient: Justus-Liebig-University Giessen
Deutsche Bundesbank Filiale Giessen
Account-Number.: 513 015 03
Bank Transfer Number (BLZ): 513 000 00
Reference: "Projektnummer 600 001 47" and "Name of Participant"
IBA-no.: DE82513000000051301503
BIC: ZBHEDEF1513
Please, ensure that there will be no additional costs (e.g. bank transfer charges) on our behalf and, please, clearly indicate your name on the payment form. It is very important to indicate the reference "Projektnummer 600 001 47" and the "Name of the participant" on your form as well.
It is possible to pay directly at the conference registration desk. However, a supplementary charge of 30 Euros will be imposed for this as well as for late registration after April 1, 2004. In the event of cancellation before August 15, 2004 we will retain a handling fee of 15 Euros. Cancellation after this date will not receive a refund of the fees.
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| Accommodation |
Please, organise your own accommodation. The organisers arranged some special prices with hotels shown in the list on the accommodation page. To receive this special price you must register with the reference "GfOE 2004". Please, note that these special prices are only valid for a certain number of rooms. A late registration could result in you having to pay regular prices. You will find the list of available hotels on the GfOE web site accommodation or it will be sent to you on request from the Conference office. |
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| Time schedule |
| December 2003 |
Start of online information on the conference |
| January 6, 2004 |
Deadline for registration of symposia and workshops |
| February 1, 2004 |
Start of online registration for participation, talks and posters by submitting an extended summary |
| April 1, 2004 |
Deadline for registration of talks and posters |
| June 30, 2004 |
Accepted contributions will be announced |
| August 15, 2004 |
Space permitting, additional posters may be accepted which will not appear in the proceedings volume |
If you have any further questions do not hesitate to contact the following persons:
Prof. Dr. Dr. Annette Otte
Justus-Liebig-University Giessen
Division of Landscape Ecology and Landscape Planning
Heinrich-Buff-Ring 26-32
D-35392 Giessen
phone: +49 (0) 641 9937161
fax: +49 (0) 641 9937169
e-mail: gfoe2004@uni-giessen.de
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PD Dr. Rainer Waldhardt
Justus-Liebig-University Giessen
Division of Landscape Ecology and Landscape Planning
Heinrich-Buff-Ring 26-32
D-35392 Giessen
phone: +49 (0) 641 9937163
fax: +49 (0) 641 9937169
e-mail: gfoe2004@uni-giessen.de |
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