N O T E F R O M T H E E D I T O R - Otter Specialist Group

IUCN Otter Spec. Group Bull. 25(1) 2008are open at www.atbc2008.org/register/ or http://www.bayceer.unibayreuth.de/atbc2008/.We (Pia Parolin and Florian Wittmann) are organizing a symposium on "Tropicalwetlands: Diversity, ecophysiological processes and conservation"Hoping to see you soon in our symposium in Suriname.PiaTitle: Tropical wetlands: Diversity, ecophysiological processes and conservationOrganizers:• PIA PAROLIN, University of Hamburg, Biozentrum Klein Flottbek, Dept.Plant Systematics, Germany; pparolin@botanik.uni-hamburg.de• FLORIAN WITTMANN, Max Planck Institute of Chemistry,Biogeochemistry, Mainz, Germany;F-Wittmann@web.deAbstract and goalsTropical wetlands cover huge areas and belong to the most diverse ecosystemsworldwide. They are the habitat for many partially endemic plant and animal speciesand they are indispensable for hydrological cycles, water resources management, etc.Whether fringed by grasslands or forests, wetlands are the source of many valuabletimber and non-timber products and represent the main food source for many fish andmammal species, which in turn are the main protein base for large part of the ruralpopulation.In spite of their ecological importance, wetlands belong to the most threatenedecosystems worldwide as they underlie a severe use conflict by human demands onwater supply, timber, agriculture and pasture area, fish and wildlife, wastewaterdisposal and leisure activities. Biodiversity is especially affected in wetlands, amongother reasons because of the recently drastic reduced area of undisturbed sites.Wetlands are characterized by a high organismic and functional diversity. Theoccurring gradients (e.g. flood duration and amplitude, sedimentation and erosion,etc.) cause the need for a series of morphological, physiological and anatomicaladaptations of the biota inhabiting them. Inundation dynamics create a mosaic ofenvironmental conditions, which are closely linked to the diversity and distributionpatterns of wetland species at different spatial and temporal scales. In past and recentscientific research, efforts dealt with the basic understanding of functioning andprocesses in wetland ecosystems.The present symposium aims at highlighting the status quo of organistic andfunctional diversity research, understanding traits of species composition anddiversity, ecophysiological processes and adaptation strategies of plant and animalspecies, and discuss the possibilities of implementation of scientific results intosustainable management and conservation schemes in wetlands.Some potential topics of the proposed symposium are:• Organistic, functional and structural diversity: Which databases can be used orcreated?• How do wetlands create favourable or adverse conditions for biodiversity?• Which species traits make organisms successful in wetlands?- 72 -