Forests and global change

The annual British Ecological Society symposium, on 28-30 March, will convene some of the world's leading experts on forest ecology, management and conservation.

During the three-day symposium, which is supported by the Cambridge Conservation Initiative (CCI), speakers will highlight how forests house a significant proportion of global biodiversity and terrestrial carbon stocks, and as a result are at the forefront of human-induced global change.

The varied programme includes the role of forests in the global carbon and energy budgets, historical patterns of forest change and diversification, and the multiple ways in which forests supply ecosystem services that support human lives and livelihoods.

It will provide an opportunity to integrate perspectives on the changing nature of both temperate and tropical forests, as local conference organiser Dr David Coomes, from the Department of Plant Sciences, explained: "About 15% of all carbon dioxide emitted to the atmosphere comes from tropical deforestation, while many temperate forests are net carbon dioxide sinks. Paying landowners to protect their forests could be a cost-effective way of reducing greenhouse gas emission and protecting biodiversity. The conference brings together experts in the field of forest carbon dynamics to shed light on this topical issue of international concern."

Director of CCI, Dr Mike Rands, who will open the conference, added: "One of the key themes of CCI is to identify how to combat the effects of climate change on biodiversity and ecosystem services. Given that forests are home to an estimated 80% of the world's terrestrial biodiversity and that deforestation of closed tropical rainforests may account for the loss of as many as 100 species a day, a focus by the British Ecological Society conference here in Cambridge on this global priority for science and policy is very timely and welcome."

Launched in 2007, CCI is a collaboration between six departments of the University of Cambridge and nine leading conservation organisations (including the United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre, Birdlife International, Fauna and Flora International and the Tropical Biology Association) based in the Cambridge area. It represents a critical mass of expertise at the interface of research and education, policy and practice, for the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystems.