Symposia...

...Arctic to Tropical Peatland International Symposium (full day)

This full-day Symposium on Tuesday June 9, 1998 is being chaired by Dr. Ed Maltby, Director of the IUCN Commission on Ecosystem Management, Royal Holloway Institute for Environmental Research, Surrey, Eng.
This Symposium will consist of two sessions. The first entitled Exploring a New Paradigm for Peatlands includes 7 papers and are listed below. This will than be followed by a Scientific Panel - Linking Science to Policy which will include brief presentations and an open forum. Discussions during the forum may include but not limited to: research priorities and applications; the importance of peatlands as a sustainable global resource from the northern circumpolar regions to the southern tropics. In addition: maintenance of biodiversity and functions of peatlands from the Arctic to the tropics will be covered; and the problems facing peatland management as a result of urbanization, mining, oil exploration and large-scale water developments. This event will unite scientists, land managers, consultants and others from around the world to examine possible solutions and guidelines to practical issues related to the responsible management of peatlands.
Chair(s):
Dr. Ed Maltby at emaltby@rhbnc.ac.uk
Michelle Schuman mich@alaska.net

Preliminary speakers and topics

Introduction by Dr. Ed Maltby - Exploring a new Paradigm for Peatlands

Keynote Speaker Hans Joosten - Peat: the final frontier

Speakers

Bruce Forbes - Disturbance as a factor in the Tundra-Mire Ecosystems of Northwest Siberia

Clayton Rubec - Managing High Latitude Peat Resources - Problems and perspectives from Canada

Frank Klotzli - The birth of raised bogs

Herbert Diemont - The paradigm of sustainable use and the destruction of Tropical Forest peats

Aca Sugandhy - Topic to be announced

Panel Discussion: From Science to Policy

Introduction of panellists (All above speakers plus, Curtis Richardson, Hans Gottgens, Bill Streever, Ken Cox)

Presentation of IUCN Draft Guidelines for Sustainable Management of Tropical Peatlands.

Identification of key policy issues to be addressed. Role of International Conventions and other Policy instruments Recommendations for an action plan from the Wetland Science Community.

...Natural Processes that Regulate Wetland Systems

A one day symposium will be chaired by Keith Boggs, University of Alaska Anchorage on Tuesday. The Symposium will focus on the natural environmental processes that regulate wetland systems. An understanding of the biophysical and chemical processes that control wetlands enable managers to maintain healthy systems and to predict future conditions. This Symposium will include invited presentations followed by additional contributed papers in a concurrent technical session format. The focus will be on how these processes and other natural fluctuations influence wetland characteristics and functions through time and space. Wetlands that may be covered include northern peatlands, prairie potholes, vernal pools and tidal marshes. Environmental processes discussed may include thermokarst, hydrology, sediment supply, disturbance, succession, fluctuations in nutrient flow and climate change at coarse and fine scales.
Chair:
Keith Boggs, Ecologist, Alaska Natural Heritage Program, University of Alaska Anchorage ankwb@uaa.alaska.edu

Preliminary Speakers and Topics
Scott D. Bridgham- Climate Effects on Peatlands
Elisa D'Angelo and K.R. Ruddy- Biogeochemical Indicators to Evaluate Pollutant Transformations in Wetland Soils
J.L. Richardson- Aspects of Soil-Hydrology Dynamics in Prairie Pothole Wetlands
David W. Valentine- Seasonal Constraints and Seasonal Controls Over Methane Emissions in Northern Wetlands
T.C.Winter - Comparison of the Hydrology of Wetlands in Four Different Geologic and Climatic Settings
R.K. Wieder - Carbon Turnover at the Surface of Peatlands - Findings from a two year Field C14 Labeling Study
Mark E. Hines - Anaerobic Decomposition in Sphagnum Dominated Wetland Peat and Its Role in the Fate of Methylated Compounds
Mike J. Vepraskas - Redox Reactions: Types, Dynamics, and Simple Tests for Field Verification
Keith Boggs - Tidal Marsh Evolution in Response to Major Earthquake Uplifts in Alaska

...Wetlands of the Arctic and Subarctic Regions

This full day symposium chaired by Chien-Lu Ping, University on Alaska Fairbanks on Tuesday June 9, 1998 will cover wetlands in Arctic Alaska. The 9 invited papers in this symposium will discuss the effects of seasonal frost and permafrost on the morphology of soil redoximorphic features, hydrology, wetland vegetation and landscape patterns. Some of the types discussed during this Symposium may be visited during the field tour to the Arctic Coastal Plain or Matanuska Susitna Valley.

Chair:
Dr. Chien-lu Ping, Professor of Agronomy, University of Alaska Fairbanks pfclp@uaa.alaska.edu

Preliminary Speakers and Topics
M.Torre Jorgenson ABR, Inc, Fairbanks, AK - Evolution of Soils on the Permafrost Dominated Landscape of the Colville River Delta.
Larry D. Hinzman, University of Alaska Fairbanks - Use of Landforms as a Tool for Delineating Wetlands in the Alaskan Arctic..
Chien-Lu Ping, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Palmer, AK - Hydric Properties of Tundra Soils in Arctic Alaska.
Lothar Beyer , University of Kiel, Kiel, Germany - Moisture Conditions and Organic Matter Accumulation at an Ice-free Oasis in East Antarctica (Wilkes Island).
Roger Post, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Fairbanks, AK. - Influence of Ecological Processes on Distribution, Vegetation, and Delineation of Black Spruce Wetlands in Alaska: a Review.
C.A.S. Smith Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and Mougeot Geoanalysis, Whitehorse, Y.T. Canada.- Nature and Classification of Wetlands in the Whitehorse area, S.W. Yukon, Canada.
Charles H. Racine. US Army CRREL, Hanover, NH. - Wetland Development Following Permafrost Degradation in Forests on the Tanana flats, Interior alaska.
Mark Clark ,USDA-NRCS, Wassila, AK. - Application of Hydric Soil Criteria to Four Soils in Southcentral Alaska.
Michelle Schuman, Wasila, AK. - A Correlation of Hydrophytes and Hydrology on Four Soils in Southcentral Alaska.