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BES Symposium 2009
Facilitation in Plant Communities
University of Aberdeen, Scotland, UK
20 - 22 April 2009

This will be the first ever international meeting dedicated to the rapidly expanding field of facilitation (positive plant-plant interactions) in plant communities.  The Symposium will provide an excellent opportunity to assess the current “state-of-play”, but importantly it will also look outwards from our usual research areas to expand this field and break new ground.  For example, we aim to explore what we can learn from other research topics - such as the ecology of mutualisms - that also examine positive interactions in communities, to discuss the evolutionary implications of facilitative plant-plant interactions, and consider how researchers are starting to understand and investigate facilitative plant-plant interactions within an applied context.  What, for example, is the relevance of facilitation to ecosystem function and restoration, the conservation of biodiversity and the response of ecosystems to environmental change?

The Symposium will not only provide a chance for the growing international body of plant facilitation researchers to meet and discuss some of the current fundamental questions of facilitation ecology, but will also be of relevance to anyone with an interest in plant community or population ecology.  Facilitation has become one of the topics in plant ecology in the last 10 years, and this is a chance for all ecologists to learn more about these fundamental and vital processes.  It will also be a great opportunity to hear about the ecology of a wide range of ecosystems from around the world - if the science gets too much sit back and enjoy the pictures.

One of our main aims is to make this a genuinely international meeting, with lots of opportunity to meet fellow researchers with common interests and to discuss new (or even old) ideas.  Importantly, not all talks during the Symposium will be from invited speakers.  There will be a chance to offer abstracts for talks and posters although, because of limited time during the meeting, we will only be including a small number of the very best offered abstracts as talks.

In addition, Scotland is a beautiful place to visit, and Aberdeen is a great stepping-off point for a spring-time holiday in the Highlands.  If you want further proof, all you need to do is click here.

So, we hope this has piqued your interest.  As details for the meeting are finalised we will be posting them on the BES website and publicising the meeting via a number of routes including future notes in the Bulletin. Alternatively, if you would like to be included in the circulation list for e-mail updates, please e-mail Rob Brooker.

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