Workshops

The following list of workshops is preliminary. It calls attention to authors, who may be interested in making contributions.

Symposium Topic:
4. Riparian wetlands of streams and small rivers

Title of workshop:
Overlooked beauties: Tropical stream wetlands and headwater palm swamps

Organizer:
Karl Matthias Wantzen

Address: Aquatic-Terrestrial-Interaction Group, University of Konstanz

Telephone: 0049-7531-884577

Fax: 0049-7531-884136

E-mail: matthias.wantzen@uni-konstanz.de

Short description: In spite of having a small lateral extension, riparian wetlands of streams cover large areas in the tropics. In tropical seasonal climates, they often represent the only evergreen sites of the landscape, which provide shelter and migration/dispersal corridors for hygrophilic fauna and flora. However, these ecosystems suffer various human impacts such as logging, water deviation and pollution. This workshop will discuss the ecological importance of these wetlands, especially their functions in hydrology, biodiversity and biogeochemistry. Slowed decomposition processes make them important carbon sinks. Moreover, we want to assess the occurrence of this wetland type, and compare conservation and management practices from all over the world. A joint publication of the workshop results is planned.

Symposium Topic:
40. Wetlands and the impact of global climate change

Title of workshop:
Biogenic trace gas emissions from wetlands: A big concern for the atmosphere.

Organizer:
Prof. Dr. Juergen Kesselmeier

Address: Max Planck Institute for Chemistry

Telephone: ++49 (0)6131 305492

Fax: ++49 (0)6131 305487

E-mail: jks@mpch-mainz.mpg.de

Short description: Natural and anthropogenically caused wetlands are reported to play an important role in the exchange of climatically relevant trace gases (CH4, N2O) between biosphere and the atmosphere. Surprisingly, most studies on CH4 and N2O emissions focus on rice paddies or northern temperate peatlands though tropical wetlands likely hold a key role. Despite the significance of wetland soils, the functioning of individual groups of soil microorganisms in this environment is poorly understood. Facing global change, more work needs to be invested to understand how different microorganisms contribute to biogeochemical processes such as denitrification, ammonium oxidation, methane oxidation and methane production. Reports about emissions of highly reactive hydrocarbons, i.e. non-methane volatile organic compounds, from wetlands are rare. Some reports describe emissions of isoprene, halogenated VOCs and some alkanes/alkenes. Despite our knowledge on plant species switching to anoxic root physiology and release of ethanol, acetaldehyde and acetic acid under inundation conditions, the significance of tropical floodplain areas is not investigated. Data on trace gas release from wetlands are insufficient in order to evaluate the significance for atmospheric chemistry and physics as well as for carbon budgets on a regional or global scale. The session is open to all contributions related to aspects of biosynthesis of relevant trace compounds, their consumption and exchange regulation as well as exchange studies at various spatial and temporal scales.

Contacted and confirmed speakers: Ralph Conrad and Frederic Guerin, Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology; John M. Melack, Department of Ecology; Vincent Gauci, Department of Earth and Environmental Science

Symposium Topic:
Nr. 34: Conceptional approaches to wetland ecology and management

Title of workshop:
Inventory and classification of South American wetlands.

Organizer:
Wolfgang J. Junk

Address: Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Biology, Working Group Tropical Ecology, 24306 Plön, Post Box 165, Germany

Telephone: 0049-4522-763 234

Fax: 0049-4522-763 281

E-mail: wjj@mpil-ploen.mpg.de

Short description: Inventories of wetlands in all South American countries are incomplete and restricted to major wetland areas only. This leads to a dramatic underestimate of the total wetland area, which I roughly consider to reach about 3 million square kilometres, corresponding to about 17% of the lands surface. About half of the area belongs to small, temporary wetlands that are considered as waste-lands and that are under rising pressure to become degraded or transformed into agricultural areas. Considerable scientific knowledge exists about some major wetlands, e,g., the large river-floodplains and the Pantanal, but many other wetland types have been virtually neglected by scientists. All South American countries are lacking a specific wetland policy. Considering the importance of wetlands for the hydrological cycle and the impact of global climate change in future, an effort is needed to make realistic wetland inventories and to elaborate a wetland classification as basis for comparative scientific studies and a sound policy for sustainable wetland use and protection. This workshop brings together existing wetland inventories and classification proposals as a basis for further discussion of a uniform South-American wetland classification system.

Contacted and confirmed speakers: W. J. Junk about Central Amazonia, C. Nunes da Cunha about Pantanal, Beck, S. G.Rocha about Bolívia Wetlands, Judith Rosales about Venezuela Wetlands

Symposium Topic:
27. Impacts of other management forms.

Title of workshop:
North: South contrasts in the response of freshwater systems to agricultural land use intensification: new approaches, case studies and lessons learned.

Organizer:
Dr Max Finlayson & Dr Donald Baird

Address: ILWS, Charles Sturt University, PO Box 789, Albury, NSW 2640, Australia & Environment Canada, Canadian Rivers Institute, Department of Biology, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB, E3B 6E1, C

Telephone: +61-260519992

E-mail: mfinlayson@csu.edu.au; djbaird@unb.ca

Short description: As water resources come under more pressure from expanded or intensified agriculture, the need to develop strategies for wise use of freshwater ecosystems becomes more urgent. Here, by contrasting approaches in both the developed and the developing world, we aim to highlight successful strategies for the management of agricultural impacts on the world\'s wetland and river habitats. Presentations have been structured to give a broad overview of our current knowledge surrounding the management of agricultural water use, and the control of emissions to the surrounding landscape. New conceptual models will be outlined, and linked to relevant, instructive case studies. The range of case studies will be global in scope, focusing on the maintenance of water quality, water quantity and biodiversity at varying scales from small wetlands and watersheds to national and international jurisdictions. In particular, the need to safeguard the livelihood opportunities of the rural poor, and balance this with local and national economic development and sound conservation practices will be emphasized.

Contacted and confirmed speakers: Finlayson/Gordon: Overview; Peters: Ecohydrology, climate change and agricultural water use; Menezes: Inter-biome comparison of ecological response of ag streams to gradients of ag intensification;

Symposium Topic:
Catchment management; water quality modelling

Title of workshop:
Watershed modelling to identify sustainability issues

Organizer:
Antonio Ioris and Andy Vinten

Address: Aberdeen University and The Macaulay Institute

Telephone: 273703

Fax: 272331

E-mail: a.ioris@abdn.ac.uk

Short description: The proposed workshop will discuss the potential for water quality modelling, informed data capture and scenario analysis to be used in a participatory way to inform policy making in the Pantanal, with application to other similar wetland regions. The workshop will concentrate on the Cuiaba River, but other catchments in the Pantanal will also be considered. Initially, it will be explored the extent to which pressures, such as nutrient enrichment from external sources, impacts on trophic status and ecological quality of surface waters. National and international experts will provide an overview of water use pressures, ecological status and environmental trends, and solution alternatives. It will then be discussed the adoption of water quality modelling at the catchment scale as a strategic decision-making tool. The workshop will demonstrate the use of modelling by allowing the participants to develop a conceptual model and use soft data on hydrology and hydrochemistry. The results of the modelling simulation will provide a focus for the discussion about multiple environmental pressures and integrated management. Finally, the advantages of computer modelling will be analysed taking into account the socio-economic circumstances of the catchment, as well as issues of cooperation and competition between groups of stakeholders.

Contacted and confirmed speakers: Andy Vinten (water quality), Antonio Ioris (catchment management), Martin Futter (water quality modelling); Peter Zeilhofer (modellling; to be confirmed); Alexandre Silveira (to be confirmed); Carlos Nobuyoshi (water management, to be confirmed); Carlos

Symposium Topic:
Tropical floodplain forest

Title of workshop:
Tropical floodplain forests: Diversity, tolerance, adaptation, and natural disturbance regimes under climate change.

Organizer:
Florian Wittmann, Pia Parolin, Maria T.F. Piedade

Address: Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Biogeochemistry Dep. Johann J Becher Weg 27 55128 Mainz-Germany, Projeto INPA/Max Planck

Telephone: (+55) 92 3642 1503

Fax: (+55) 92 3642 1503

E-mail: F-Wittmann@web.de, wittmann@mpch-mainz.mpg.de

Short description: Freshwater floodplain and riparian forests are exceptional important landscape units in tropical regions because they consist of both flood resistant species and immigrant species from the adjacent uplands, therefore concentrating large part of regional floristic biodiversity. However, tropical floodplain forests belong to the most threatened ecosystems worldwide, as they underlie a severe use conflict by human demands on water supply, timber, agriculture and pasture area, fish and wildlife, wastewater disposal and leisure activities. Due to its sensitivity to water availability, floodplain forests will be directly affected through the predicted scenarios of climate change, and high species extinction rates can be expected through increasing human population, land-use activity, and increasing demand for water during the next decades.
Although the tropics contain the most extensive areas covered by freshwater floodplain forests worldwide, knowledge about species composition, distribution, and diversity is extremely scarce. Inundation dynamics create a mosaic of environmental conditions, which are closely linked to the distribution and diversity patterns of floodplain species at different spatial and temporal scales. The present symposium aims at highlighting the status quo of organistic and functional diversity research, and at modelling the most important environmental conditions and possible impacts of climate change on tree species establishment and distribution.

Contacted and confirmed speakers: Schöngart J (jschoen@gwdg.de): The flood regime as impact on the growth behaviour of Amazonian floodplain trees; Wittmann F (f-wittmann@web.de): Tree species distribution, endemism, and oligarchy in Amazonian floodplain forests; Parolin P (piaparolin@gmx.de): Physiological adaptations of Amazonian floodplain trees, Piedade MTF (maitepp@inpa.gov.br): Dispersal and establishment of floodplain trees

Symposium Topic:
Wetland education

Title of workshop:
Environmental education in tropical waters

Organizer:
Michèle Sato

Address: Instituto de Educação, UFMT - Cuiabá, MT

Telephone: +55 (65) 3615-8443

E-mail: michelesato@ufmt.br

Short description: To encourage the critical capacity to understand the meaning of the development, that destroyed values of the culture and nature. To foster understanding of the denomination of “hydro resources” to the element water, that reveals its mere use. In this direction, to recoup the pedagogical action of the Environmental Education for allowing the perception that water must be perceived beyond the human development and it surpasses the basic support to the planetary sustainability.

To launch a critical look on the dimensions of the Pantanal basins and its perspectives under Environmental Education programmes.

To recover the dialogue between the popular and the scholar knowledge as cultural and environmental sustainability, considering mythology to aim educative programmes.

To debate the water public policy in the local, national and international levels, considering the importance of the RAMSAR Convention.

Contacted and confirmed speakers: Sandra Hails (RAMSAR education co-ordinat) hails@ramsar.org; Mauro Guimarães (teacher and researcher, UFRJ) guimamauro@hotmail.com; Dolores Garcia (teacher and researcher, UFMT) doinhag@yahoo.com.br

Symposium Topic:
40. Wetlands and the impact of global climate change

Title of workshop:
Global change and the function and distribution of wetlands

Organizer:
Drs. Beth A. Middleton and Karen McKee

Address: National Wetlands Research Center, USGS, Lafayette, LA 70506 USA

Telephone: 337-266-8618

Fax: 337-266-8586

E-mail: beth_middleton@usgs.gov

Short description: Synopsis: The distribution and functional patterns of wetlands could be influenced by climate change and associated shifts in storm frequency in the future. The overall goal of the symposium is to explore current patterns of wetland species composition and function at local, regional and landscape scales, and what these patterns reveal about how climate drivers related to temperature, drought, sea level rise, or storm frequency might alter these functions.

Beth Middleton, USGS National Wetlands Research Center, Lafayette, LA USA; beth_middleton@usgs.gov; confirmed. Title: Latitudinal trends of seed bank distribution and climate change in baldcypress swamps in North America.

Till Kleinebecker - Institute of Landscape Ecology, University of Münster, Robert-Koch-Straße 26, Zi 221, 48149 Münster, +49-(0)251-83-39766; tillhan@uni-muenster.de; not confirmed. Title: East/west gradients in peat chemistry and vegetation patterns in ombrotrophic bogs in the southernmost tip of South America.

Karen McKee - USGS National Wetlands Research Center, Lafayette, LA USA; karen_mckee@usgs.gov; confirmed. Title: Can elevated CO2 decrease vulnerability of coastal wetlands to sea-level rise?

Loretta Battaglia – Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL USA; lbattaglia@plant.siu.edu; not confirmed. Title: Disassembly of coastal ecosystems in the face of global climate change: implications for conservation, management, and restoration.

Contacted and confirmed speakers: Beth Middleton (confirmed), Karen McKee (confirmed), Till Kleinebecker (not confirmed), Loretta Battaglia (not confirmed): see more details of talks above

Symposium Topic:
Documentary Photography

Title of workshop:
Pantanal People

Organizer:
Izan Petterle

Address: Rua Francisco Leitão 596 São Paulo-SP Brazil

Telephone: ++55 65 81154510

Fax: ++551130329786

E-mail: izanpetterle@hotmail.com

Short description: Frequently The Pantanal is often described only by it\'s natural condition. One aspect we barely know is that this region preservation resulted from a favorable combination of environmental and socioeconomic factors. Historic land use in the form of low-impact cattle ranching is responsible for the current habitat of Pantanal. The bottom line of this workshop is to promote a better knowledge of the traditional population, the so-called “Pantaneiros”, that live in the world\'s largest wetland. The workshop\'s goal is come to light humanistic aspects of this culture who established for centuries a model of sustainable living practices. The Guarani are one of the main indigenous groups that collaborated to form this complexion. After the War of the Triple Alliance between Paraguay and Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil (1865-1870) and due to the high losses of Paraguay\'s soliders lives, thousands of Guarani women with their children migrated to the neighbour Brazilian Pantanal to work in the ranchs within this wild territory , the result was a Guarani, Portuguese, Spanish and African descendants mix. Without the assumption of depicting a homogeneous perspective of this issue, the idea is to depict he unlike inhabitants that populated this colossal habitat.

Contacted and confirmed speakers: Izan Petterle- National Geographic Photographer

Symposium Topic:
Group IV, Nr. 33

Title of workshop:
Big wetlands, big concerns

Organizer:
Wolfgang J. Junk

Address: Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Biology, 24306 Plön, PB 165, Germany

Telephone: 0049-4522-763234

Fax: 0049-4522-763281

E-mail: wjj@mpil-ploen.mpg.de

Short description: The 6 presentations of this workshop will address the specific problems, which big wetlands suffer, in contrast to smaller ones, such as: They may belong to different countries or states with different interests on resource management, science and protection.
They may have very large catchments that introduce problems from remote areas, which are difficult to control. They may be used by different stake holders with different interests.
They may be used by ethnic minorities, which become threatened by stronger stake holder groups. Because of its large size, they may be in risk to become in part transform to cropland, pasture, aquaculture, housing, infrastructure building, etc.
The six examples from different regions of the world will show the different problems and the ways, which have been used to solve them.

Contacted and confirmed speakers: Carolina da Silva, ecopanta@terra.com.br, Pantanal; Damien Burrows, damien.burrows@jcu.edu.au, Burdekin River floodplain Australia; Juha Sarkkula, sarkkula@yahoo.com, Mekong River floodplain, Lars Ramberg, lramberg@orc.ub.bw, xxx Rhine River floodplain, XXX Wetland USA, not confirmed

Symposium Topic:
Grupo IV 28. Traditional and community-based management approaches

Title of workshop:
Maroons of the Guaporé Valley: traditional knowledge and transformations on management of natural resources.

Organizer:
José Carlos Leite

Address: Rua 16 Casa 15 Quadra 24 Parque Universitário Cuiabá MT Cep 78075-570

Telephone: (65) 3663-2071

Fax: (65) 3615-8470

E-mail: j.leite@uol.com.br

Short description: The aim of this symposium is to present the outcomes of the Research project called GUYAGROFOR, carried out with the maroon families that take care of different landscape units, in Mato Grosso, Br. The pantanal area is along the rivers comprising rich fauna, with emphasis to different species of fish and Chelonians eaten by the maroons. In this environment there is the predominance of the native field used for pastures and it is flooded between December and May. The Savanna and the Forest rich in non- timber forest species are managed with the breeding of big and small animals, collection of wild fruit, palm cabbage, medicinal plants and spices, both historically occupied by plantation and households. In the last decade cattle breeding became more frequent in the forestry areas and the cycle of slash-burn, non-tillage and fallow of the land, has been disappearing to give place to pastures, impacting the soil fertility and humidity and the agricultural production. Through this project the socio economical and environmental diagnosis, analysis of the soil and water, a survey of the tourist potential, experiments in the quilombolas’ backyard were carried out aiming at detecting the degree of fertility of the soil.

Contacted and confirmed speakers: AZEVEDO, R. A. B. (UFERSA) rabaz@terra.com.br; BENTO, C. P. M. (ESAC) celiabent@gmail.pt; XAVIER, F. F. (CNPT/IBAMA) fernandoxavier@universia.com.br; MENDES, R. R. (UFRRJ) renatofloresta@hotmail.com; SILVA, V. C. (UFMT) veronecristina@terra.com.br

Symposium Topic:
18. Primary production

Title of workshop:
Biomass and net primary production of floodplain vegetation

Organizer:
JOCHEN SCHÖNGART and MARIA T.F. PIEDADE

Address: Max-Planck-Institute for Chemistry, Biogeochemistry, Johann J. Becherweg 27, 55128 Mainz, Germany and Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazonia, Av. André Araújo 2936, 69060-001 Manaus/AM, Brazil

Telephone: 0055 92 3643 3156

Fax: 0055 92 3642 1503

E-mail: jschoen@gwdg.de, maitepp@inpa.gov. br

Short description: The rapid ongoing changes in the atmospheric concentration of CO2 and other greenhouse gases together with global climate change are likely to significantly affect carbon cycling of freshwater floodplains, which play a major role in the global carbon budget worldwide. Information on net primary production (NPP) of floodplain vegetation is needed for the calculation of realistic regional and global carbon budgets, and to project how these budgets will respond to future climatic changes. Two major interacting carbon pools and cycles in the floodplain vegetation can be detected, forests (and other woodlands), and herb communities (including grasslands). However, freshwater floodplain system occur under different climates, edaphical and hydrological conditions generally resulting in the zonation of vegetation types with underlying successional dynamics.The aim of this symposium is to get an overview of existing data C-stocks in biomass of different vegetation types and the compounts characterizing NPP such as litterfall, biomass production, etc. Based on these data we want to compare C-stocks and NPP of different vegetation types within freshwater floodplain systems and between floodplains of different regions and climates worldwide.

Contacted and confirmed speakers: 1. Dr. Catia Nunes da Cunha, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, Instituto de Biociências, Av. Fernando Correa s/nº, 78060-900 Cuiabá-MT, Brazil, Carbon dynamics in aboveground coarse wood biomass of wetland forests in the northern Pantanal, Brazil, 2. Dr. Jochen Schöngart, Max-Planck-Institute for Chemistry, Biogeochemistry Department, Joh.-J.-Becherweg 27, Universitätscampus, 55128 Mainz, Germany: Carbon dynamics of white-water floodplain vegetation in Central Amazonia

Symposium Topic:
22. Morphological and ecophysiological adaptations of wetland organisms

Title of workshop:
Plant Distribution in Wetlands in Relation to Flooding Tolerance and Microbial Processes

Organizer:
Jos T.A. Verhoeven

Address: Landscape Ecology, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80084, 3508 TB Utrecht, The Netherlands

Telephone: +31 30 2536851

Fax: +31 30 2518366

E-mail: j.t.a.verhoeven@uu.nl

Short description: Co-organizer: Brian Sorrell, Christchurch, New Zealand.
Confirmed Speakers and titles
1. Extremely flooding tolerant seedlings succumb to drought. Pia Parolin (University of Hamburg, Faculty of Biology, Biocentre Klein Flottbek, Plant Systematics, Ohnhorststr. 18, D-22609 Hamburg, Germany)

2. The role of oxygen release by aerenchymatous plants in the perspective of wetland functioning. Riks Laanbroek (Netherlands Institute of Ecology, Centre for Limnology, P.O. Box 1299, 3600 BG Maarssen, The Netherlands)

3. Effects of occasional floods on vegetation of temperate river floodplains. Jos T.A. Verhoeven (Landscape Ecology, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80084, 3508 TB Utrecht, The Netherlands)

4. Development of convective gas flow in relation to maximum water depths colonised by tall emergent aquatic macrophytes. Brian Sorrell (National Institute of water and Atmospheric Research, P.O. Box 8602, Riccarton, Christchurch 8440, New Zealand)

5. Flooding tolerance and species distribution in the Florida Everglades. Irv Mendelssohn (Wetland Biogeochemistry Institute, LSU, 3253 Energy, Coast & Environment Bldg, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA)

6. Relationships among plant, soil nutrients, and microbial communities along a hydrological gradient in the New Jersey Pinelands. Joan Ehrenfeldt (Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources, SEBS, 14 College Farm Road, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA)

Contacted and confirmed speakers: See in box above (could not fit in this one). The symposium is on plant adaptations to flooding and their consequences for microbial processes in the sediment.

Possible international support for international travellers: Annals of Botany will sponsor speakers

Symposium Topic:
Group IV, Theme 31 Wetland restoration, rehabilitation and enhancement

Title of workshop:
Enhancing ecosystem services on the landscape with created, constructed and restored wetlands

Organizer:
Jan Vymazal

Address: ENKI, o.p.s., Dukelská 145, 379 01 Třeboň, Czzech Republic

Telephone: +420 233 350 180

Fax: +420 384 724 346

E-mail: vymazal@yahoo.com

Short description: Wetlands play very important role on the landscape and they provide many ecosystem services to people. Among others, wetlands are important for regional hydrology, nutrient sequestration and they provide wildlife habitats. In the past, many wetlands have been irreversibly or severely damaged and nowadays, wetlands are quite often constructed, restored or created in order to restore or create the useful functions again. Also, it has been well established that constructed wetlands could be used for treatment of many types wastewater.

Contacted and confirmed speakers: C. Craft (USA): Carbon sequestration and nutrient accumulation in natural and restored peatlands;J. Vymazal (Czech Republic): Long-term performance of horizontal sub-surface flow constructed wetlands for wastewater treatment: the Czech experience;C. Richardson and N. Flanagan (USA): Restoring ecosystem services in an urban riparian wetland complex; W.J. Mitsch and J.W. Day, Jr. ( USA): Reconnecting rivers and floodplains: The effectiveness of river diversions on water quality and other ecosystem services; C. Vohla, M. Kőiv, K. Kirsimäe and Ü. Mander ( Estonia): Phosphorus and nitrogen removal efficiency of hydrated oil-shale ash and peat in constructed wetlands; Ü Mander (Estonia): Dynamics of gaseous nitrogen and carbon fluxes in forested riparian buffer zones; D. Konnerup and H. Brix (Denmark): Use of ornamental plants to enhance the public perception of constructed wetland systems; J.T.A. Verhoeven (The Netherlands):Restoration of stream valleys:winter flooding and

Symposium Topic:
1. Large riverine wetlands

Title of workshop:
USGS Delta Research and Global Observation Network: Large River Floodplains and Deltas in South America

Organizer:
Dr. Beth Middleton

Address: National Wetlands Research Center, 700 Cajundome Blvd., Lafayette, LA 70506 USA

Telephone: 337-266-8618

Fax: 337-266-8586

E-mail: beth_middleton@usgs.gov

Short description: The Paraná River Delta Region is a huge mosaic of wetlands which covers 17,000 km2 at the end of Paraná Basin in Argentina. The Paraná River, ranks 6th in discharge in the world, and is the only that runs from humid tropics to a temperate zone, but has eluded widespread recognition. The middle and lower Parana River segments have not been strongly disrupted by major infrastructure, thus their flood regimes have remained in natural conditions retaining also much of the original biodiversity. In the last decades, however, flood intensity, amplitude and variability in the lower Parana and Delta area have decreased due to the combined effect of flow regulation in the basin by dams, waterway and road infrastructure crossing the region. This presentation focus on an a brief review of ecological structural and functional features of this wetland macrosystem, under a multi-scale approach. Remote sensing and field work data bring insight knowledge from regional level to some specific ecosystems. We describe the main natural features of the area and the exploited resources and their relationship to past and present landscape uses in terms of goods and services, identifying actual and potential threats.

Contacted and confirmed speakers: Multiscale overview of wetlands in the Paraná River Delta Region in Argentina. P. Kandus Grupo de Investigaciones sobre Ecología de Humedales. Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales (FCEyN), Dpto. de Ecología, Genética y Evolución, Laboratorio de Ecología Regional, Ciudad Universitaria, Pab. II, 1428 Buenos Aires, República Argentina, Email: pato@ege.fcen.uba.ar

Symposium Topic:
Bioinvasions

Title of workshop:
Bioinvaders in wetlands and their control

Organizer:
Cláudia Tasso Callil

Address: UFMT - IB - NEPA

Telephone: 55 - 65 - 36158877

Fax: 55-65-38158878

E-mail: callil@ufmt.br

Short description: Alien species have invaded at alarming rates, marine and continental aquatic ecosystems throughout the world. Several models to predict the spread of invasive species. However, despite these predictive methods, have not prevented the spread of exotic species by the planet. In this context the recent concern on the part of governments and scientists are beginning to consider the damage that the invasion of alien species cause the native biological diversity. The impacts caused is immense, incisive and often irreversible and can be perceived from the reduction of native species and degradation of habitats, to the destruction of ecosystems as a whole.
The bioinvasions in wetlands requires the application of products and knowledge generated through research and the dissemination of this problem on a regional, national and global. Thus, the strategies discussed at the workshop, could mobilize various sectors of society in order to implement and execute integrated actions in the areas of legislation and environmental education, supervision, monitoring and control of invasive alien species.

Contacted and confirmed speakers: Daniel Daniel Simberloff dsimberloff@utk.edu - Biological Invasions

Possible international support for international travellers: CNPq - Propose submeted on 14/05/2008 to analyse.

Symposium Topic:
34. Conceptional approaches to wetland ecology and management

Title of workshop:
DIAGNOSIS OF SUSTAINABILITY USING EMERGY ANALYSIS

Organizer:
Enrique Ortega

Address: FEA, Unicamp, CP 6121 Campinas SP 13083-862

Telephone: (19) 35214035

Fax: (19) 35214027

E-mail: ortega@fea.unicamp.br

Short description: There have been made several attempts to evaluate the sustainability of ecosystems and agro-ecosystems for the Mato Grosso Wetland (“Pantanal”) but the majority of projects failed because the system is complex and dynamic and the scientific tools used proved not to be practical for that purpose. The emergy analysis proposed by Odum in 1996 for ecosystem analysis can be an adequate tool for assessing the Pantanal at different scales. The first step is the construction of diagrams to identify the basic components and their interactions within the studied system and also with external forces. Thus, this the initial objective of this research proposal to develop three systems diagrams of the Pantanal aiming to promote an ample discussion and the participation of those who are involved in the preservation of a sustainable system that is under menace. The scale levels selected are: the whole ecosystem (‘Pantanal’), an agro-ecosystem (a traditional farm) and a management unit (‘invernada’). For all them, besides the identification of components and relationships, the inflows and out-flows will be identified for environmental accounting: nature’s renewable and non-renewable resources; materials and services from urban economies. In the next step of this study, all these flows

Contacted and confirmed speakers: Sandra Santos, Urbano Abreu, Debora Marques, Debora Calheiros

Symposium Topic:
33. Conservation policies and strategies

Title of workshop:
Integrated Water Resources Management in Wetlands: The case of Pantanal and Upper Paraguay River Basin

Organizer:
Minister of Environment - MMA; National Water Agency of Brazil – ANA; Secretariat of Water Resources and Urban Environment - SRHU

Address: SPO Area 5 Quadra 3 Bloco L - Brasilia - DF - 70610-200

Telephone: +55 61 2109-5212

Fax: +55 61 2109-5252

E-mail: felix@ana.gov.br

Short description: The Paraguay River, the headwaters of which are in Brazil, forms part of the la Plata River Basin that covers an area of 3,100,000 km2 and drains almost 20% of the South American continent. The Paraguay River Ba¬sin encompasses an area of 1,095,000 km², straddling the borders of Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia and Paraguay. From its headwaters to its confluence with the Paraná River, the Paraguay River is 2,612 km in length, of which 1,683 km are in Brazil, with some stretches forming the border with Bolivia and with Paraguay.
The Upper Paraguay River Basin covers an area of ap¬proximately 600,000 km2. Of these, 362,376 km2 are in Brazil, corresponding to 4.3% of Brazil’s territory, and encompassing large portions of the States of Mato Grosso and of Mato Grosso do Sul.
The Upper Paraguay River Basin is of immense strate¬gic importance within the context of water resources management in the countries that share its waters (Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay). It encompasses the Pantanal, one of the largest wetland areas on the planet, covering 147,574 km2 and providing an essential link between the biomes of the Brazilian Cerrados and the Chaco plains of Bolivia and Paraguay.
This workshop will cover both technical and political aspects of water resources management in this basin. An Strategic Action Pro¬gram for the Integrated Management of the Pantanal and Upper Paraguay River Basin (SAP), jointly developed by ANA, OAS, and UNEP, will be presented. This project is a regional initiative to implement integrated water resources management in this basin. High level political representatives of the countries involved are expected to participate in a policy panel. Due to the objectives of the SAP, it will be presented the Scenario for the Brazilian Humid Zones based on the results of “Update of the Priority Areas for Conservation, Sustainable Use Distribution of the Brazilian Biodiversity Benefits”. This process was coordinated by the Secretariat of the Biodiversity and Forests - SBF/MMA and concluded in 2006. One of the important initiatives that was promoted by the SRHU is the Strategic Environmental Evaluation - SEE in the Pantanal, which it bases on the systematization of information concerning of vulnerabilities and potentialities of the region, involving its social-environmental aspects, economic, politicians and cultural. This Evaluation also includes the State Plans of Water Resources of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul, which are in execution. Anothers relevant projects, also developed by the SRHU/MMA, is the River Basin Revitalization Program and the Pantanal Biosphere Reserve.

Contacted and confirmed speakers: Dr. José Machado - President of Brazil's National Water Agency; Carlos Motta Nunes, ANA; Alessandro Menezes, SRHU/MMA; Solange Ikeda, SRHU/MMA; Maria C Brito, SBF/MMA; , Paulo Egler, SRHU/MMA

Symposium Topic:
39. Decision support systems for management

Title of workshop:
Decision Support Systems for Watershed

Organizer:
Albano Araujo

Address: SRTVS Qd. 701 - Conj. D - Bl. A Ed. Brasília Design Center - Lj. 246 Brasilia - DF, 70.340-907

Telephone: (55) (61) 3421-9109

Fax: (55) (61) 3421-9128

E-mail: aaraujo@tnc.org

Short description: There is a need for tools to develop conservation plans, identify strategies, take action and measure results, often on a landscape scale that crosses geographic and political boundaries. Such tools help us communicate the need to conserve biodiversity and ecosystems to stakeholders and decision makers.
To address this need, IBM and The Nature Conservancy are collaborating to develop a computer “framework” designed to bring together existing models and datasets in order to advance our scientific understanding of the relationships between land use decisions and the health and integrity of river systems. The system will help decision makers determine the costs and benefits of policies and actions affecting land use and water management. By modeling different scenarios, the system will enable users to visualize the effect of changes in conditions on freshwater ecosystems and gain first-hand knowledge of how their actions impact rivers and tributaries at both local and regional scales.
In this workshop our goal is to present an overview of the project, the status of the implementation in Brazil, and to join people interested in contributing and discussing the general specification and requirements for the system, since it is being developed under a total collaborative way.

Contacted and confirmed speakers: Prof. Humberto Rocha - IAG-USP; Paul West - SAGE - University of Wisconsin; Albano Araujo - TNC; Glauco Freitas - TNC; Walter Collischonn - IPH-UFRGS (a confirmar); Rubem Porto (LabSid-USP) (a confirmar)

Symposium Topic:
Invasive species and their control

Title of workshop:
Bioinvaders in wetlands

Organizer:
Cláudia T. Callil

Address: UFMT - IB

Telephone: 55-65-36158877

Fax: 55-65-36158878

E-mail: callil@ufmt.br

Short description: The invasion of exotic species is a great threat to the integrity of aquatic ecosystems. The long history of negative unexpected results of the intentional introduction of plants and animals, as well as the impacts of accidental invasions, clearly show that such range expansions involve much more losses than benefits. However, despite growing concern and interest in this problem, biological invasions are likely to continue as international trade increases and as climate and land use continue to change. Because economic resources are always a major limiting factor, managers must decide which populations and species to control immediately, which to control if time and money permit, and which to leave alone. Such decisions are based on the known or expected effects of the organisms in question, which in turn must balance their detrimental impacts and their beneficial influences. The bioinvasion in wetlands requires the application of products and knowledge generated through research and the regional, national and global dissemination of this problem. Thus, the strategies discussed at the workshop, could mobilize various sectors of society in order to implement and execute integrated actions in the areas of legislation and environmental education, supervision, monitoring and control of bioinvaders.

Contacted and confirmed speakers: Renate Claudi - Control Strategies of bioinvaders; Claudia Callil - UFMT, Marcia d. Oliveira - EMBRAPA; Alice Takeda - UEM; Gustavo Darrigran - MCN La Plata; M. C. D. Mansur - PUCRS; Inez E. Drago - INALI

Possible international support for international travellers: Submeted propose to CNPq

Symposium Topic:
25. Impacts of large development projects (e.g. reservoir construction, hidrovia, etc)

Title of workshop:
Influences of the hydroelectric power dams on the hydro-ecological functioning of the Pantanal Wetland

Organizer:
Dra. Débora F. Calheiros

Address: r. 21 de setembro, 1880

Telephone: 55 67 3233-2430

Fax: 55 67 3233-1011

E-mail: debora@cpap.embrapa.br

Short description: The Pantanal is one of the largest wetlands in the world, and it is recognized as a National Heritage and Biosphere Reserve. Its environmental quality sustains a rich biodiversity, including fish and some threatened species like hyacinth macaw, jaguar, caiman, giant otter and marsh deer. However, the menaces to its conservation, mainly the unwise use of natural resources are related to agriculture (soybean, sugar cane, cotton and corn) and cattle ranching in the surrounding plateau areas of the Upper Paraguay River Basin; in general, those uses do not follow the environmental laws. The majority of the rivers that originate the Pantanal floodplain show considerable impacts due to deforestation and settlement as well as different contamination levels of pesticides and fertilizers. In addition, the most important rivers have large dams or a sequence of small ones that cause hydrological alteration of the natural flood pulse, the main ecological driving force for a floodplain wetland. Nowadays there are 44 hydroelectric dams constructed or under evaluation for environmental license in the main rivers of the basin. Cumulative effects on the hydro-ecological functioning due to changing water-flow dynamic are unknown, but this unsustainable water management has already caused negative social and environmental effects.

Contacted and confirmed speakers: - Prof. Dr. Wolfgang J. Junk (Max Plänk Institute/Alemanha) - Pulsos de inundação e os impactos da modificação do regime hidro-sedimentológico sobre o Pantanal (wjj@mpil-ploen.mpg.de); Dra. Débora F. Calheiros (Embrapa Pantanal) – Ecologia das áreas inundáveis do Pantanal e os pulsos de inundação: implicações biogeoquímicas e ecológicas (debora@cpap.embrapa.br); Prof. Dr. Walter Collischonn (IPH/UFRGS) – Hidrograma Ecológico: maiores garantias para o uso sustentável dos recursos hídricos (collischonn@iph.ufrgs.br); Prof. Dr. Ângelo Agostinho (NUPELIA/UEM) - Operação de reservatórios e a produção pesqueira - o caso do rio Paraná (agostinhoaa@nupelia.uem.br); Prof. Dr. Enrique Ortega (FEA/UNICAMP) – Conservação do Pantanal sob a a ótica emergética (ortega@fea.unicamp.br) ; Prof. Dr. José G. Tundisi (IIEGA) – Operação de reservatórios e suas conseqüências ecológicas e biogeoquímicas para o funcionamento dos rios (jgt.iie@iee.com.br)

Symposium Topic:
Biodiversity in the Pantanal wetland

Title of workshop:
Biodiversity and its conservation in the Pantanal wetland

Organizer:
Walfrido Moares Tomas

Address: Embrapa Pantanal, Rua 21 setembro 1880, 79320-900 Corumba, MS, Brazil

Telephone: (67) 3233-2430

Fax: (67) 3233-1011

E-mail: tomasw@cpap.embrapa.br

Short description: This workshop aims to update the knowledge on biodiversity in the Pantanal wetland and Upper Paraguay River Basin, including Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay. Also, we will discuss the status, conservation and use of the biodiversity in the region. The disussions will be focused on mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish and plants. The results of the workshop will be compiled to compose a book on the issue. The idea is to collect and publish checklists on these and other taxonomiic groups, discuss conservation status, protected areas, legislation, and research priorities.

Contacted and confirmed speakers: The list of invited and confirmed speakers will be displayed soon.

Symposium Topic:
40. Wetlands and the impact of global climate change

Title of workshop:
Ecohydrology and sustainability in Floodplain Ecosystems

Organizer:
Angelo Antonio Agostinho

Address: Nupélia – Universidade Estadual de Maringá

Telephone: +55 44 3261 4610

Fax: +55 44 3261 4625

E-mail: agostinhoaa@nupelia.uem.br

Short description: Floodplains are one of the most important refuges areas for aquatic and terrestrial biological organisms, with high diversity, and provide relevant goods and services for humans. Previous studies have demonstrated that the flood pulse is the main force acting on structure and functioning of these ecosystems. Flow regulation, water abstraction, drainage, levee, contamination, watershed deforestation and meandering elimination are some of the main threats for the conservation of floodplains. Management of these ecosystems is complex, usually based on mechanistical approach which, most of the time, fail. This calls for a new framework to improve the possibility to preserve floodplain. One of these approaches is Ecohydrology. It assumes a strict interdependence among hydrological and ecological processes, representing an interesting alternative to manage existent aquatic resources due to its holistic perspective when treating ecosystems. Based on a deep knowledge of the dynamics that structure and operate natural rhythms, ecohydrology aims to increase the capacity of systems in reabsorbing environmental impacts, using the properties of the ecosystem itself as management tools and promoting human sustainable development by preserving the functioning and services provided by aquatic ecosystem. Floodplains, as natural buffering systems (i.e. flood and contamination) with high productivity and biodiversity can be used as tools and as targets of the ecohydrology management approach. This workshop intends to create opportunities to discuss different experiences on hydrology and ecology in floodplains, establishing as priority the ecohydrological approach to manage floodplains.

Contacted and confirmed speakers: Marcelo Gaviño Novillo (UNESCO-Argentina); Ângelo Antonio Agostinho (UEM-Brazil); Florian Wittmann; Max Planck (Germany); David Motta Marques (UFRS-Brazil); Jose Galizia Tundisi (IIE-Brazil); Juan Jose Neiff (CECOAL- Argentina

• Provisorial List

Organization:

Information:

Centro de Pesquisa do Pantanal
Av. Fernando Correa da Costa,
Campus da UFMT – Bloco CCBSIII
Sala 210/213 – 1º Andar
CEP: 78060-900
Cuiabá - Mato Grosso - Brasil
Tel: +55 65 3615 8285
www.cppantanal.org.br
8thintecol@cppantanal.org.br

Photos: Izan Petterle
www.izanpetterle.com