Imprint Local Organizing Team Ecology and Environmental Education Group Institute for Biology and Chemistry University of Hildesheim Marienburger Platz 22 31141 Hildesheim, Germany Chair: Jasmin Mantilla-Contreras Scientific Committee Holger Buschmann, Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU) Lower Saxony, Germany Angus Garbutt, NERC- Centre of Ecology and Hydrology, United Kingdom Jasmin Mantilla-Contreras, University of Hildesheim, Germany Agnieszka Piernik, NCU Torun, Poland Jens Schirmel, University of Koblenz-Landau, Germany Patrick O. Waeber, ETH Zurich, Group of Forest Management and Development, Switzerland Stefan Zerbe, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy The Open Landscapes 2013 conference is organized in cooperation with the Society for Ecological Restoration (SER) - European Chapter, the European Dry Grassland Group, the Ecological Society of Germany, Austria and Switzerland (GfÖ) and the Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU) Lower Saxony. I Content II Welcome Notes Dear friends and colleagues, I cordially welcome you to the first international conference “Open Landscapes 2013 – Ecology, Management and Nature Conservation” in Hildesheim Germany. Hildesheim, located in the North of Germany is one of the oldest cities in Lower Saxony. It apparently became a city at the end of the 12th or early 13th century. Although Hildesheim was destroyed during World War II, the city has several cultural treasures to offer. Hildesheim is particularly known for its churches. Two of them, the Romanesque St. Mary´s Catholic cathedral and the St. Michael´s church are now part of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The St. Mary´s Catholic cathedral is famous for its ancient bronze doors and for the “Thousand-Year-Old- Rosetree” which is also the symbol of the city. The St. Michaels´s church is a noteworthy early Romanesque church and a unique example of Ottonian architecture. Other historical treasures, particularly from Egyptian culture, can be admired in the world-famous Roemer and Pelizaeus Museum. Hildesheim is a charming city with more than 100,000 inhabitants. Of high touristic attraction is the historic market place, which was reconstructed in 1990 and is famous for its beautiful half- timbered buildings such as the Butchers Guild Hall. In Lower Saxony, Hildesheim has made a name for itself in the theatre scene- the Theatre of Lower Saxony plays for the entire state from its home basis. You might use one of the city tours to see the attractions of Hildesheim during the conference. The University of Hildesheim Foundation is one of the first of its kind in Germany. The range of subjects covers study courses in Educational Science and the Social Sciences; Arts and Cultural Studies; Linguistics and Information Science; Mathematics; the Natural Sciences and Economics and Informatics. The University of Hildesheim Foundation cooperates with more than 160 universities or institutions of tertiary education in 40 countries and makes more than 400 student exchange places available annually. The University received the European Quality Label in 2007 and again in 2011 and was the sole German university to be honored by the European Union for its Erasmus success story in 2010. The students appreciate the compact campus with approx. 6.000 students and over 400 staff. There is a very personal atmosphere of learning with first-class tutoring and theory and practice are closely combined, the latter being a guiding principle of the University Foundation. The University of Hildesheim is thus the perfect place for the first Open Landscapes Conference. The Open Landscapes 2013 conference should bring together researchers from all over the world that have a focus on open landscape habitats. The conference will cover a wide range of topics including ecological pattern and processes in undisturbed and disturbed ecosystems; consequences of global change for biodiversity and/or ecosystem services; plant-animal relationships; tools and targets for ecosystem restoration and innovative strategies for nature conservation. With about 250 participants coming from 25 countries the conference is highly international. By a look into the conference program you will agree that the conference has a high scientific level with several sessions which focus on very different aspects of open and semi-open landscape habitats. As global change, ecosystem degradation and biodiversity loss are ongoing problems, one of the main goals of the conference is to find new conservation methods and alternative management tools to preserve open landscapes habitats such as heathlands, coastal ecosystems or dry meadows for future generations. Further, of course, we will discuss how open landscapes have developed in Europe, which role large herbivores have played in the past and which role they play today. The presence of six highly reputed keynote speakers represents a great value to our program. I am happy that the SER-Europe, the Ecological Society of Germany, Austria & Switzerland (GfÖ), the European Dry Grasland Group (EDGG) and the NABU have agreed to be involved into the conference. 1 Welcome Notes Finally, I like to thank all people involved for making this conference possible: the keynote speakers which highly enrich the conference by their presentations; the session chairs for putting the program together; the scientific committee for their input; the excursion leaders; all members of the Ecology and Environmental Education Group and the Institute of Biology and Chemistry- without whom I would be lost; the SER-Europe, GfÖ, EDGG and NABU for their help and scientific input; the DFG and Sparkasse Hildesheim for their financial support; and you, the participants who came to Hildesheim to join this exciting conference. I am looking to forward to five days stimulating oral and poster presentations which will all focus on Open Landscapes. Jasmin Mantilla Contreras Chair of Open Landscapes 2013 2 Social Events Ice Breaker Meet new and old colleagues and get a first impression of the University of Hildesheim by having some snacks and drinks at the “Café campus”. The Ice Breaker is included in the conference fee. When: Sunday, 29th September, 7 pm – approx. 12 pm Venue: Café Campus, main campus of the University of Hildesheim Address: Marienburger Platz 22, 31141 Hildesheim 3 Social Events Conference Dinner st When: Tuesday, 1 October, 7:30 pm – approx. 12 pm Venue: Novotel Hildesheim Address: Bahnhofsallee 38, 31134 Hildesheim Fee: 40 Euro including an Italian buffet with lot of choices and some drinks How to get there: From the Conference Venue (Marienburger Platz 22) take bus number 3, direction “Hauptbahnhof/Hildesheimer Wald” and get off at the Central station (Hauptbahnhof). From the Central station walk through the “Bahnhofsallee” to the Hotel (5-10 minutes). You can also take bus number 4 (104 in the evening), direction “Im Koken-Hof/Bockfeld” and get off in the City centre (Hindenburgplatz or Schuhstrasse) and walk from there (approx. 15 minutes). 4 Social Events City tours We offer two city tours (in English) where you will take a walk through the main attractions of Hildesheim. A registration for the city tours is not necessary and the price for the tour is already included in your conference fee. If you take the city tour on Sunday, it is NOT necessary to register prior to the conference, you can just go to the meeting point. When: Sunday, 29th September, 4 pm to 6 pm or Wednesday, 3rd October, 6:30 to 8:30 pm Where: City centre, historical market place (Tourist Information) 5 Keynotes 6 Keynotes Paul A. Keddy Restoring and maintaining biodiversity in semi-natural open landscapes: bridging the oceanic divide Monday, 30th September, 9:30 am Semi-natural open landscapes, the theme of this conference, provide an opportunity for us to collectively re-examine one of the most profound issues facing humanity—how to maintain and expand the habitat for the many wild species with which we share earth. How do open landscapes fit into a world which varies along a continuum from dense cities to strict wilderness? We need to look carefully at both the science that we have done, and the attitudes with which we apply that science. How we might do better in the future? A particular challenge is to restore natural driving forces that create open non-forested landscapes, such as natural water level fluctuations in lakes and floodplains. I will begin by exploring some of the attitudinal differences between North America and Europe, to wild areas, at least as I have experienced them in writing and in travel. I will describe the problems this dichotomy creates, and then suggest how they can be transformed into opportunities. Some examples will likely include Great Lakes wetlands, Gulf coast pine savannas, and European limestone grasslands. In a more technical section, I will present a short list of the models we have for managing and enhancing biodiversity, and some of the observational and experimental data that support them. I will suggest that we already have many of the tools we need, and the challenge is to accelerate the application of existing knowledge. I will close by reemphasizing that the rules of science do not change from Sicily to northern Germany, nor from Louisiana to the Great Lakes, so we can share the same principles wherever we live and whatever language we speak. If we take the right view (general models with regional calibration) and the right action (applying a consistent set of management tools based upon rigorous science) we should be pleasantly surprised by the many wild places we can create, restore and maintain. 7 Keynotes Osvaldo Sala Functioning of grasslands and savannas around the world Monday, 30th September, 2 pm Grasslands and savannas occupy 40% of the terrestrial surface. Primary production of this large region provides a supporting ecosystem service that affects 6.5 billion people who live in these ecosystems and many other individuals that although do not live in grasslands are affected indirectly by the condition of grasslands around the world.