Dear colleagues, dear young scientists, dear students of tropical ecology,

We are pleased to announce that the “European Conference of Tropical Ecology” - the annual scientific meeting of the Society for Tropical Ecology (Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie, gtö) - will be organized in 2017 in Brussels, Belgium, by three Universities and three research-museum institutions. It will take place from Monday 6 to Friday 10 February 2017, on the campus “Etterbeek” from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, a location easily reached from the city centre by public transport.

The overarching topic will be “(re)connecting tropical biodiversity in space and time”. It highlights both the importance of integrating fundamental sciences inferring past processes (e.g. paleoecology, evolution, social history…) to understand current patterns of biodiversity, and the urgent need to reconnect patches of fragmented landscapes if we wish to conserve tropical biodiversity and ecological services of tropical ecosystems for future generations.

This conference aims to connect researchers at all levels of their career and from all disciplines relevant to tropical ecology, and to promote scientific exchanges and cooperation in a friendly atmosphere. Students and young scientists are very welcome and to encourage them, the organizers of the conference will make their best to maintain costs accessible to all. The conference addresses also topics relevant for tropical ecosystem managers, conservationists and policy makers, who are encouraged to participate and exchange with researchers.

The scientific program of the conference includes plenary talks by renowned international scientists presenting syntheses or new results on topics of broad interest, and contributed talks or posters organized in thematic sessions. For the 2017 edition, a free half-day is programmed on Wednesday pm to allow you to participate to specialized workshops, discover tropical collections of nearby research-museum institutes, or visit Brussels at your best convenience. We hope that these extra-activities will give a break in the flow of contributed talks and help create new contacts between participants. A welcome reception (Monday evening), an evening public conference (Tuesday) and the conference dinner “party” (Thursday) will complete the social program.

The European Conference of Tropical Ecology will provide an interdisciplinary platform for discussing major advances and future challenges in tropical ecology including:

• Ecology, evolution and conservation of tropical ecosystems in a changing world

• Tropical ecosystem functioning and ecological services
• Agro-ecosystems, human impact and the future of tropical biodiversity

Contributions from all fields within tropical ecology are welcome.

Call for sessions

The call for session starts 1 July 2016. Please submit your proposal on-line on the conference webpage. On-line submission will be made available here in due time.

Procedure

Session and workshop themes and chairs will be selected by the scientific committee.

For all sessions, a call for presentations will then follow; researchers and students interested in tropical ecology will be welcome to submit oral and/or poster presentations. Speakers will be selected by the session chairs, in collaboration with the scientific committee. Attendees not giving an oral presentation will have the opportunity to present their research in the form of a poster presentation. Efforts should be made to be specific and to avoid presenting overviews, summaries, or material that is already widely known. The goal of the conference is to stimulate new ideas by presenting new information.

For workshops, attendees will have the opportunity to declare if they wish to participate to one workshop during registration. The organization of each workshop may require a minimum number of participants. A maximum number of participants may also be defined, in which case participation will by based on a first come, first served basis.

More information to follow at a later date

This brief note intends to provide you with the conference date and venue for your planning purposes. More detailed information (including materials concerning the submission of talks and posters, and registration information, etc.) will follow in the coming weeks.

We are looking forward to arranging a stimulating conference and hope that you will be able to participate. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact our conference office at: info@soctropecol-2017.eu Please refer to the conference website for further information: Here