Welcome to the web site for the International Symposium on ecological functions and services of deadwood in forest ecosystems.
Under the theme « deadwood and dying trees: a matter of life and diversity », this symposium will be held from May 15 to 19, 2011 at the Rouyn-Noranda Congress Center, Québec, Canada. It will bring together specialists and researchers from around the world working on different aspects of dead wood science.
From tree senescence to the incorporation into soil organic matter, deadwood is a key structural attribute of forest ecosystems and central to many complex processes underlying biological diversity, soil productivity, and global biogeochemical cycles.
Deadwood, including snags, logs, buried wood, and dying trees, is recognized as a key feature of forest ecosystems. In most managed forests, the rejuvenation of forest age class structure and the simplification of stand structures have led to a scarcity of large diameter, over-mature, or veteran trees and snags and to a decrease in the quantity and quality of decaying logs. There is a consensus within the scientific community that the scarcity of deadwood in managed forests is among the leading factors behind losses of species diversity. In effect, a quarter of threatened species in Fennoscandian forests is associated with deadwood. Management of deadwood in forests is therefore considered a major stake in sustainable forest management. Moreover, baseline knowledge of the dynamics and functions of deadwood in forests varies among different regions of the world and has, to a great extent, been compartmentalised within specific disciplines.
The goal of this symposium is to bring together a broad range of specialists from different forest systems in order to build bridges across disciplines, perspectives, and continents. This symposium will provide a platform on which to identify common challenges and avenues to managing deadwood in forests in the context of the increasing international importance of environmental certification.
Over 120 communications by international experts from more than 15 countries will be presented including six keynote addresses. While the symposium is directed toward the scientific community, up-to-date research on such a critical issue will attract delegates from national and international forest and environmental agencies.
The symposium is sponsored by the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) Division 8.02.02 – Forest biodiversity and resilience.
