CALL FOR ABSTRACTS

Click here for the Abstract Submission Form.

The 17th Annual Meeting of the Society for Conservation Biology will be held 28 June - 2 July 2003 in Duluth, Minnesota, USA. The local organizing committee is now accepting abstracts for invited symposia, oral and poster presentations. The theme of the meeting, Conservation of Land and Water Interactions, will focus attention on water, forests, wetlands, the Great Lakes and other large lakes and rivers of the world, marine and coastal systems, and associated biodiversity issues.

Satellite Image of the Great Lakes - Photo: SeaWiFS Project, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, and ORBIMAGE

Please note that the topics for invited symposia have already been selected, and that abstracts for symposium presentations are by invitation only. The local organizing committee will still consider proposals for workshops and organized discussions if submitted by 30 November 2002.

The scientific program will include plenary sessions, invited symposia, workshops, organized discussions, poster sessions and concurrent sessions of contributed oral presentations. Due to the centralized location of the meeting site, the organizing committee is expecting a large response to our Call for Abstracts. Space for invited symposia and contributed oral presentations will be limited, and poster presentations are strongly encouraged. All posters will be displayed three days during the meeting providing for ample viewing time. There will be two poster sessions providing for in-depth discussion between authors and attendees.

Please adhere to the following guidelines when preparing your abstract:

• Oral presentations will be limited to 15 minutes, including time for questions.
  
  
• The abstract should include new information. Abstracts should not be submitted for presentations that have been given at previous
  SCB meetings or similar conferences.
  
  
• The abstract should include specific information about the results and conclusions of the research. Abstracts that state "results will be discussed" will not be accepted.
  
  
• The abstract should have a clear connection with conservation biology.
  
  
• Contributed oral presentations will be grouped according to topic. Please choose from among the list of general topic areas to assist us in placing your presentation in an appropriate session.
  
  
• If your abstract is accepted but cannot be accommodated as a spoken presentation, you will be notified as soon as possible so that you will have ample time to prepare a poster.
  
  
• Individuals are limited to presenting only one oral or poster
  presentation. If your name appears on more than one presentation make sure you are listed as the presenter for only one of them.
  
  

Presenting authors (oral and poster) must register prior to 28March 2003 or their presentation will be dropped from the program. Because late cancellation excludes others who might have presented, authors

Satellite Image of the Colorado River Delta - Photo: NASA/GSFC/MITI/ ERSDAC/JAROS and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team

who fail to notify the local organizing committee of their withdrawal by 30 May 2003 will be excluded from giving a presentation at the next annual meeting.

All session rooms will be equipped with a slide projector, an overhead projector, an SVGA computer projector and a PC laptop. Presenters who wish to give a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation will be required to submit the PowerPoint file by 13 June 2003 so that it may be pre-loaded to avoid incompatibilities and similar problems arising during sessions. If you need to make special arrangements for other types of audio or video presentations, please e-mail Kris Lund at 2003@conservationbiology.org for assistance.

Instructions for Preparing Abstracts
Abstracts should be submitted for oral and poster presentations and for invited symposia. Please note that the topics for invited symposia have already been selected, and that abstracts for symposium presentations are by invitation only.

Please follow the instructions carefully, including all requested information and formatting. Any abstract with errors or omissions will be returned to the sender for correction and runs the risk of missing the abstract submission deadline. Abstracts should be submitted electronically via the meeting Web site. Web submission is strongly encouraged.

If you cannot submit your abstract via the Web site, please e-mail your abstract to Kris Lund at 2003@conservationbiology.org. The abstract should be attached as a Microsoft Word, WordPerfect, RTF or ASCII text file, and the subject line of the e-mail should read "Abstract for SCB 2003".

If neither Web nor e-mail submission is possible, please submit your abstract on a PC computer disk. Mail the disk along with a hard copy of your abstract to:

Kris Lund
UMD Continuing Education
251 Darland
1049 University Drive
Duluth, MN 55812-3011 USA


Regardless of the method of submission, all abstracts must be received by 31 January 2003. The local organizing committee will attempt to notify all authors by 21 February 2003 regarding the outcome of the review process. Abstracts must be submitted following the format described below.

1. Type of Presentation: Indicate whether the abstract is intended for an Oral, Poster, Either Oral or Poster, or an Invited Symposium presentation.
   
   
2. Name of Invited Symposium: If applicable, indicate the name of the Invited Symposium to which the abstract belongs.
   
   
3. Authors: List the contributing authors with the name of the presenting author in CAPITAL LETTERS. Order should be last name first for the first author, but first name first for all other authors. Write out full first names.
   
   
4. Addresses: List the institutional affiliations and addresses, including countries, for each contributing author in the same order as given above. For the presenting author only, include an e-mail address in parentheses at the end of the address. If there are multiple addresses, place the initials of the author in parentheses at the end of each address (see examples below).
   
   
5. Title: List the title in CAPITAL LETTERS. Titles are limited to 150 characters or less.
   
   
6. Abstract: The body of the abstract is limited to 200 words (excluding formatting codes) and should not exceed one paragraph. Begin with a clear statement of the problem or objectives, give brief methods and major results, and end with a substantial conclusion. Do not use vague statements such as "results will be discussed". Abstracts submitted via the meeting Web site are limited to ASCII text format. Follow the instructions given below to indicate any special formatting or symbols within the abstract. Abstracts that exceed 200 words will not be accepted and will be returned to the author for revision.
   
   
7. Topic Areas: Please choose from among the list of general topic areas to assist us in placing your presentation in an appropriate session (see list below). Indicate your first, second and/or third choices. Also provide a suggested topic area, if desired.
   
   
8. Student Presentation: Indicate whether the presentation will be given by a student.
   
   
9. Session Chair: Indicate whether you would be willing to chair the session in which you will be presenting (chair own), a session in which you will not be presenting (chair other) , or none.
   
   
10. Comments: List any necessary comments pertaining to your abstract submission, including any special scheduling requests.
    
    
11. Name of Contact: Provide the name of the contact person for necessary correspondence, including notification of abstract acceptance and program position. Include the contact person's complete mailing address and country. Also provide an e-mail address and phone number, including the country code if outside the United States.
    
    

Satellite Image of the Mississippi River Sediment - Photo: SeaWiFS Project, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, and ORBIMAGE

NIEMI, GERALD, William Berg, JoAnn Hanowski, Malcolm Jones and James Lind. Natural Resources Research Institute, University of Minnesota, 5013 Miller Trunk Hwy, Duluth, MN 55811, USA (gniemi@d.umn.edu) (GN, JH, MJ, JL); Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, 1201 East Hwy 2, Grand Rapids, MN 55744, USA (WB).

LARGE-SCALE POPULATION TRENDS FOR GROUND-NESTING BIRDS AND MAMMALS: IS THERE A CONNECTION?

Conservation of vertebrate populations often requires an understanding of the interactions among predators and prey. Recent studies suggest that many mammals are incidental, but important predators of ground-nesting birds. Two large-scale monitoring programs in Minnesota and Wisconsin, USA have detected significant population declines for ground-nesting forest birds and increases for several mammals. Based on breeding bird samples of over 500 forest stands, four ground-nesting birds have declined including three neotropical migrant birds, black-and-white warbler, ovenbird, and mourning warbler, and one short-distance migrant, white-throated sparrow, over the past 10 years. In contrast, based on indices of abundance with scent posts and winter tracking, patterns of increase over the past 20 years have been observed in red fox, coyote, house and feral cats, raccoon, skunk, gray wolf, bobcat and black bear. Significant declines for the ground-nesting birds are greater than expected by chance for this guild and similar changes have not been observed for species nesting higher in the foliage. Increased populations for mammals is likely due to reduced human persecution, reduced trapping, increased tolerance to human-dominated landscapes, climatic warming, elimination of a top predator (wolverine), possible increased populations of small mammals with increased logging, combinations of these factors, or other factors.

Population dynamics; Conservation issues concerning birds; Conservation issues concerning mammals

Chair own

Gerald Niemi, Natural Resources Research Institute, University of Minnesota, 5013 Miller Trunk Hwy, Duluth, MN, 55811, USA; gniemi@d.umn.edu; 218-720-4270

SAMPLE #2

Oral

FLESSA, KARL, David Dettman, Bernd Schoene, Carlie Rodriguez, David Goodwin, Miguel Tellez-Duarte, Guillermo Avila-Serrano, Michal Kowalewski and Glenn Goodfriend. Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA (kflessa@geo.arizona.edu) (KF, DD, BS, CR, DG); Facultad de Ciencias Marinas, Universidad Autonoma de Baja California, Ensenada, Mexico (MT, GA); Department of Geological Sciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA (MK); Department of Geology, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA (GG).

NEW USES FOR THE DEAD: RECONSTRUCTING BASELINE CONDITIONS ON THE COLORADO DELTA

Paleoecological and geochemical techniques can be used to reconstruct the species composition, abundance and environmental tolerances of marine shelly invertebrates prior to human alteration of the environment. The problem on the Colorado Delta, like so many other places, is that people didn't start making scientific observations until people had already modified the habitat. We estimated benthic shelly productivity before the upstream water diversions that began in the 1930s. We used field counts, satellite images, radiocarbon-dated shells and analyses of shell growth to estimate pre-diversion population densities of <tilde>50 clams/m². Surveys of the living shelly fauna indicate densities of only 3 clams/m². The oxygen isotope composition of prehistoric shells of the bivalve mollusk <i>Mulinia coloradoensis</i> show that this once-dominant species thrived when salinity was lower than at present. The reduction in the number of shellfish has probably meant a diminished food supply for migratory waterfowl. Upstream dams and irrigation projects have profoundly changed the diversity and biological productivity of the Colorado River Delta in Mexico. Prehistoric shells can be used to reconstruct past diversity, composition, abundance, ecological interactions, growth rates, survivorship, salinity regimes and environmental preferences. Dead shells provide a baseline to assess environmental impact in coastal areas.

Marine conservation; Conservation issues concerning invertebrates; Other: paleoecology

Chair none

Karl Flessa, Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA; kflessa@geo.arizona.edu; 520-621-7336

For More Information
Kris Lund
University of Minnesota Duluth
Continuing Education
251 Darland
1049 University Drive
Duluth, MN 55812-3011 USA
Phone: 218-726-7810
Fax: 218-726-6336
E-mail: 2003@conservationbiology.org