n         Objectives

-          The aims of the conference are to exchange and share state-of-the-art knowledge on the ecology and silviculture of beech (Fagus ) forests among researchers and forest managers worldwide, and to reflect the current scientific achievements on the future directions for sustainable management of beech forests in the changing social needs and global climate.

-          The conference organizers will also expect to promote tighter linkage between recent advances in wide-ranging ecological studies and development of management systems of beech forests.

-          In addition, this conference will be the first-ever IUFRO Beech Symposium held in East Asia which is one of the major distribution areas of the genus Fagus in the world. Thus, the conference will be expected to provide a precious opportunity for all participants to discuss both similarities and differences in ecology and management among wider species of Fagus than  those  discussed  in  the  past  symposia which had focused mainly on   F. sylvatica and  F. orientalis.

n         Themes and Topics

-          Structure and Functions of Beech Forest Ecosystems

·             Stand structure and Regeneration processes

·             Ecophysiological traits (e.g., photosynthesis, water and nutrient use, etc.)

·             Reproductive ecology

·             Inter-species interaction

·             Abiotic environmental factors (e.g., soil, climate, etc.)

·             Structural and Functional modeling

·             Paleoecology and phyto-geography

·             Demo-genetics (e.g., gene flows, population dynamics, genetic diversity, etc.)

·             Landscape ecology

·             Effects of climate change

-          Silvicultural Systems for Sustainable Management of Beech Forests

·             Natural regeneration systems

·             Regeneration techniques (planting, direct seeding, pest controls, etc.)

·             Nature-based forest management

·             Yield controls (density control, yield prediction, wood quality, etc.)

·             Evaluation of ecosystem services

·             Biodiversity and Wildlife management

n         Conference format

-       The conference will consist of plenary technical sessions and field excursions. The expected number of participants will be 50 - 60.

-        Technical sessions will include keynote speeches, voluntary paper presentations (oral) and poster sessions.

-          A one-day in-conference excursion will be planned so that all participants will be able to share common backgrounds for further discussion in terms of ecology and management of Japanese beech forests.

-        A two-day excursion to natural beech forests in “Shirakami-Sanchi”, the UNESCO World Natural Heritage site, will be also scheduled in the latter part of the conference.   

n         Location and Venue

-       The conference venue will be Onuma International Seminar House, Nanae-town, Hokkaido, Japan. (http://www.town.nanae.hokkaido.jp/english/onuma/ default.htm)

-          The seminar house is located in the Onuma quasi-National Park blessed with a scenic view of a volcano and lakes.

-          You may reach the conference venue by one-hour bus travel from the airport of Hakodate (domestic airport), which has frequent domestic flights from major international airports, such as Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka.

-          You can also reach the venue from “Onuma Kouen” train station of the JR (Japan Railways) by taxi in 5 minutes.

n         Accommodations

-     As the conference venue is in the center of tourist area, there are various types of accommodation facilities; resort hotels, B&Bs, YH and even camping sites.

-        A list of the accommodations around the conference venue will be appeared with detailed information on the conference website soon.

n         Provisional schedule

n         Language

-          The official language of the conference will be English.

n         Papers and Posters

-         Participants who intend to make oral or poster presentations are requested to submit abstracts for selection to the conference secretariat (beech2008@hfri.pref.hokkaido.jp) electronically by March 31, 2008.

-         An abstract should be shorter than 150 words for main body. The following information should be added; title, name of author(s), affiliation, postal address, e-mail, phone and fax numbers, and preference for oral or poster.

-       The Conference Scientific Committee will review the submitted abstracts. Styles of presentation (oral/poster) will be assigned by the committee in consideration of relevancy of topics and authors’ preferences. Acceptance and assignment of each presentation will be notified to the author by April 30, 2008.

-          Authors whose papers and posters are accepted for presentation will be requested to submit Extended abstracts (three pages for each) by July 15, 2008. Extended abstracts will be included in the conference program booklet to be distributed to all participants at the conference. Format instructions for extended abstracts will be notified later.

-          We will explore the possibility to publish selected papers in a special issue of an international scientific journal.

n         Registration

-        Advanced registration will be requested for all participants, including those who will not have presentations of papers or posters.

-         Registration fees, contents of registration package and cancellation policy will be announced on the conference website later.

n         Timeline

-          Beginning of Registration and Abstract submission           1 January 2008

-          Deadline for Abstract submission                                    31 March 2008

-          Notification of Abstract acceptance                                 30 April 2008

-          Deadline for Extended Abstracts                                     15 July 2008

-          Registration closed                                                        15 August 2008

-          Conference                                                                   8-12 September, 2008

n         Organizers

-          IUFRO Division.1: WP1.01.07 Ecology and Silviculture of Beech

¨      Conference co-chairs

·           Dr. Palle Madsen                          (Forest and Landscape Denmark)

·           Dr. Khosro Sagheb-Talebi             (Research Institute of Forests & Rangelands, Iran)

·           Dr. Kazuhiko Terazawa                 (Hokkaido Forestry Research Institute, Japan)

n         Scientific committee  (tentative)

·           Dr. Catherine Collet                      (INRA, France)

·           Dr. John Stanturf                          (US Forest Service, USA)

·           Dr. Kiyoshi Umeki                          (Chiba University, Japan)

·           Dr. Koen Kramer                           (Alterra, Holland)

·           Dr. Magnus Löf                             (Swedish Agricultural University, Sweden)

·           Dr. Myriam Legay                          (INRA, France)

·           Dr. Norocel-Valeriu Nicolescu         (University of Brasov, Romania)

·           Dr. Richard Bradshaw                    (University of Liverpool, UK)

·           Dr. Tohru Nakashizuka                   (Tohoku University, Japan)

·           Dr. Palle Madsen                           (Forest & Landscape Denmark)

·           Dr. Khosro Sagheb-Talebi              (Research Institute of Forests & Rangelands, Iran)

·           Dr. Kazuhiko Terazawa                  (Hokkaido Forestry Research Institute, Japan)

n         Local organizing committee

·           Chair                    Kazuhiko Terazawa            (HFRI)

·           Treasurer             Hirokazu Kon                      (HFRI)

·           Auditor                 Kenji Seiwa                       (Tohoku Univ.)

·           Member                Hiromasa Koyama              (Yamagata Univ.)

·           Member                Norio Kito                          (Hokkaido Univ. of Education)

·           Member                Michiyasu Yasaka               (HFRI)

·           Member                Tomoyuki Abe                   (HFRI, Donan-Branch)

n         Further information …

-          The conference website will be launched soon. Please visit the following URL:
http://www6.ocn.ne.jp/^~beech08

-          Also available from Dr. Palle Madsen (pam@life.ku.dk),

Dr. Khosro Sagheb-Talebi (saghebtalebi@rifr-ac.ir), or

Dr. Kazuhiko Terazawa (terazawa.kazuhiko@pref.hokkaido.lg.jp).

 (This 1st announcement was released on September 10, 2007)