Bern, Switzerland
The Centenary Palaeoecology Symposium - From the past to the future: 100 years of Palaeoecology in Bern will be held from 7-9 June 2021 in Bern, Switzerland.
The symposium was originally planned for 8-10 June 2020.
Logistics
The symposium will run from 7-8 June, with optional post-conference excursions offered on 9 June.
Venue
University of Bern, UniS, Schanzeneckstrasse 1, 3012 Bern.
In the evening of 9 June, an Apéro will be held at Natural History Museum Bern.
Description
Walter Rytz’s habilitation thesis in 1911 on the "Floristic History of the Bernese hills between the Alps and the Jura mountains" studied the postglacial relationship between climate and vegetation changes. When Walter Rytz became professor in 1920, palaeoecology was introduced at University of Bern. In 2020 the palaeoecology section at University of Bern wants to celebrate this centenary with a two-day international symposium.
Scope
The symposium aims to provide an overview on the state-of-the-art in palaeoecology, with an outlook on the direction the field may take in the coming years. Renowned speakers will present their research. Their sessions are grouped by topics relevant for palaeoecology. Moreover, two poster sessions will give participants the opportunity to present their own research.
Sessions
In its sessions, the symposium will focus on the following topics:
Session 1: Scales & Proxies Key words: Spatial and temporal scales, indicators, multi-proxy, environmental archives, disturbance and biotic response
Biodiversity Records of past environmental changes have been assembled from a variety of different palaeoenvironmental proxies from different archives worldwide. They all show that climate and vegetation on Earth have changed continuously on decadal and longer time-scales, resulting in today’s landscapes. In this session the role of major ecological stressors such as climate, disturbances, or human impact are discussed with regard to vegetation and ecosystem changes.
Session 2: Quantification, Modelling and Theory of Palaeoecology Keywords: data-model comparison, numerical techniques, dynamic vegetation models, resilience, hypothesis testing, big data
During the past century palaeoecology has moved from a rather descriptive science to a discipline focusing on testing fundamental ecological hypotheses and quantifying changes over time. Considering different spatio-temporal scales of environmental change is essential to understand the underlying mechanisms of such changes and to gain process-based assessments of past, present, and future ecosystem dynamics.
Eiger, Monch, Jungfrau - Schynigge Platte In this session the theoretical framework behind palaeoecological studies is outlined and examples in which palaeoecology has been combined with numerical models to address current ecological questions are presented.
Session 3: Palaeoecology’s Human and Societal Dimension Keywords: environmental archaeology, human impact, farming, pollution, anthropogenic indicators
Palaeoecology has long been devoted to ascertain the relationships between human societies and their environment, addressing a broad array of questions such as the time-transgressive nature of Neolithic farming and its regional impact as well as more recent impacts like acidification and pollution of freshwater ecosystems.
Human and societal In this session developments in the study of the interactions between humans and the environment alongside the future developments in the field will be discussed.
Session 4: Implications of Palaeoecology for Biodiversity and Conservation Keywords: biodiversity, nature conservation
Palaeoecology can provide vital information about biodiversity and biosphere variability that may help overcoming static concepts and unsustainable conservation goals under global change conditions.
Despite this high potential of palaeoecology, finding a common language and reciprocal understanding with neo-ecology and conservation biology is often a challenge. In this session examples and ways that may permit transferring palaeoecological insights and knowledge to improve biodiversity and conservation strategies in a rapidly changing world will be discussed.
Deadlines
Deadline for poster abstract submission: 31 January 2021
Notification for acceptance of posters: 5 February 2021
Opening of registration (payment): 7 February 2021
Deadline for registration: 1 May 2021
Program
Access the program here: https://www.oeschger.unibe.ch/services/events/conferences/centenary_palaeoecology_symposium/program/index_eng.html
Excursions
Several excursions will be held on 9 June. Access them all here: https://www.oeschger.unibe.ch/services/events/conferences/centenary_palaeoecology_symposium/post_conference_excursions/index_eng.html
Registration and abstract submission
The registration fee of CHF 300 for Regular Participants or CHF 200 for MSc and PhD students includes the conference registration, coffee breaks, lunches (7 - 8 June 2021) and the conference reception (Monday 7 June 2021, see program).
Only posters (portrait not landscape; maximum size: A0) that refer to one of the symposium’s topics will be accepted.
Due to space limitations we have to limit the number of participants to 180 and the number of posters to 150.
The post-conference excursions on Wednesday 9 June 2021 are optional.
PhD and MSc students will need to show proof of their status at the registration desk at the beginning of the conference.
All information here: https://www.oeschger.unibe.ch/services/events/conferences/centenary_palaeoecology_symposium/registration_and_poster_abstract_submission/index_eng.html
Organizing committee
- Palaeoecology Section, Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Bern, Switzerland
- Prof. Dr. Willy Tinner
- Dr. Erika Gobet
- Dr. Christoph Schwörer
- Dr. César Morales del Molino
- Dr. André F. Lotter
Further information
Go to the official website: https://www.oeschger.unibe.ch/services/events/conferences/centenary_palaeoecology_symposium/announcement/index_eng.html