I am writing to announce the Symposium “Patterns and processes of species dominance in tropical forests” that will be held in the European Conference of Tropical Ecology in Göttingen (Germany), 23-26 February 2016 ( http://www.gtoe-conference.de). This Symposium aims to cover the study of patterns and processes of dominance in tropical forests, at the time that will serve as a forum for meeting of different tropical research groups.
Why some species widely dominate tropical forests across different assemblages, whereas many other species are just sparsely distributed? Why dominant and oligarchic species tend to concentrate on certain families and genera? Which specific mechanisms provide the superior fitness of these species? Regardless of the causes creating dominance, the great importance of common species has significant consequences for the soil nutrient cycling, ecosystem functioning, plant and animal inter-specific relationships, and finally for the use and management of tropical forests. This session aims to draw on examples from both basic and applied perspectives. We would like to invite to any researcher or student that could contribute to the Symposium with a 15 minutes oral presentation in any relevant topic on taxa dominance in tropical forests. The deadline for abstract submission is October 15th. If you plan to attend the conference and you are interested in our session, please write Gabriel Arellano ( gabriel.arellano.tor...@gmail.com) or Manuel J. Macía (manuel.ma...@uam.es), so we can organize the details. Please take into account that the organizers of the conference do not cover travel and registration fees. We would be very grateful if you could circulate this information to your students, peers, or colleagues who might be interested in attending this session. I hope you find this initiative interesting. Hoping to see you in Göttingen. Best wishes, Gabriel Arellano and Manuel J. Macía (Symposium Steering Committee) Gabriel Arellano, PhD gabriel.arellano.tor...@gmail.com http://gabrielareto.weebly.com Skype: gabrielareto
