Managing Human-Dominated Ecosystems
26-29 March 1998

A conference on :Managing Human-Dominated Ecosystems" will be held in celebration of the dedication of Missouri Botanical Garden's new research center, The Monsanto Center. The conference is intended to make a substantial contribution to our understanding of the relationship between economics and environment. For information, contact Donna Rodgers, tel: 314-577-9410; fax: 314-577-9595; e-mail: (rodgers@mobot.org)

Phosphorus in Plant Biology
28-30 May 1998

An international symposium entitled Phosphorus in Plant Biology: regulatory roles in molecular, organismic, and ecological processes, will be held May 28-30, 1998 at Penn State University. For information contact Jonathan Lynch, Dept. Horticulture, Penn State, University Park, PA, 16802, tel 814-863-2256, fax 814-8636139, email JPL4@psu.edu, website: http://www.lsc.psu.edu/phys/annualsym.html.

1998 Congress on In Vitro Biology
30 May - 4 June 1998

The Society for In Vitro Biology will conduct the 1998 Congress at Bally's Las Vegas Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada, from May 30 to June 4, 1998. The abstract deadline is January 16, hotel reservation deadline is April 24, and meeting registration deadline is May 15. For information, contact Tiffany McMillan, tel 301-3245054, fax 301-324-5057, email < sicb@sivb.org>.

Columnar Cacti and their Mutualists: Evolution, Ecology, and Conservation
29 June - 3 July 1998

Columnar cacti are the dominant plants in many and ecosystems in North, Central, and South America. Interest in the evolution, ecology, and conservation of these impressive plants and their pollinators and seed dispersers has increased markedly in the recent years. These topics will be the majors themes of a five-day workshop to be held in Tehuacan City, Mexico on 29 June - 3 July 1998. This workshop will bring together scientists studying many aspects of the biology of these cacti and their mutualists. It will include invited talks, posters, informal discussions, and a field trip. For further information, please contact Ted Fleming (email < tfleming@umiami.ir.miami.edu>,tel3O5-284-6881,fax 305-284-3039) or Alfonso Valiente-Banuet (email < avaliente@miranda.ecologia.unam.mx>, fax 52-56228995 or 52-5616-1976).

Canadian Botanical Association / l'Association Botanique du Canada
Annual Meeting "Saskatoon 1998"
27 June - 1 July 1998

This meeting will be held at the Universityof Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada. The theme is Plants and Biotechnology, and the plenary symposium is "Biotechnology of plants" (speakers M. Hinchee, K. Kartha, W. Keller). Three other confirmed symposia are "Biocontrol of weeds" (D. Johnson, K. Bailey, S. Darbyshire, R. DeClerk-Floate, M. Schwarzlander, Z. Zhang); "Medicinal plants" (J. Blackburn, R. Marles, J. Moes, E. Murray, G. Towers); and "Weed communities" (D. Derksen, N. Kenkel, A. Legere, G. Thomas, P. Watson). Registration fees are $175 Can (regular delegates) and $100 Can (students); early deadline is March 31, 1998. All participants will visit Wanuskewin Heritage Park (1/2 day field trip; lunch and supper included) and receive a banquet ticket. Other field trips to Last Mountain Lake Wildlife Refuge; biodiversity and agroecosystems; southern boreal forest; fescue prairie; are possible.

For further information about registration, abstract submission, accommodation and other activities, please contact the website: http://www.usask.ca/biology/cba.html; Vipen Sawhney or Art Davis, Department of Biology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, S7N 5E2. Phone: (306) 966-4417 or 966-4732; email: sawhney@admin.usask.ca or davisa@duke.usask.ca.

Pollen and Spores: Morphology and Biology
6-9 July 1998

This is the fourth in an occasional series of palynological conferences organized by the Linnean Society. Palynology Specialist Group (LSPSG) in collaboration with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and the Natural History Museum, London. The previous conferences were: The Evolutionary Significance of the Exine (1974); Pollen and Spores: Form and Function (1985) and Pollen and Spores: Patterns of Diversification (1990). The conference is timed to coincide with the retirement from Kew of Keith Ferguson, founder and first Secretary of the LSPSG (1974-1998). There will be a mixture of invited and contributed papers and posters on the following topics: Pollen development; Anther and tapeturn; Pollen-pollinator interactions; Pollen-stigma interactions; pollen morphology in systematics and evolution; Ultrastructure (fossil and living groups); Pre-Cretaceous palynology; Cretaceous palynology; Tertiary palynology; Quaternary palynology; Pollen and archaeology; and Preparation and techniques. The proposed registration free will be around 130 sterling with reduced rates for students. Registration forms will be included with the second circular. For more information, contact Lisa von Schlippe, Conference Administrator, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey,TW9 3AB, fax 44-0181-332-5176, e-mail: l.von.schlippe@rbgkew.org.uk

IOPB VIIth International Symposium
10-15 August 1998

The Universiteit van Amersterdam will host the VII International Symposium of the International Organization of Plant Biosystematists, with the support of the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences, the Royal Dutch Botanical Society, the Hugo de Vries Foundation, the Faculty of Biology, and the City of Amersterdam. The theme of the Symposium is "Evolution in Man-Made Habitats." Correspondence concerning general matters of the Symposium should be addressed to: VIII IOPB Symposium, Dr. Hans den Nijs, ISP-Hugo de Vries Laboratory, Kruislaan 318, 1098 SM Amsterdam, The Netherlands, tel +31 20 5257660, fax +31 20 5257662, email <IOPB98@bio.uva.nl>

Tenth Wildland Shrub Symposium
12-14 August 1998

The Shrub Research Consortium in concert with the Great Basin Environmental Education Center is sponsoring the Tenth Wildland Shrub Symposium, August 12-14, 1998 at Snow College, Ephraim, Utah. The symposium theme is Shrubland Ecotones. There will be a mid-symposium field trip to the Great Basin Experimental Range and to hybrid zones in Salt Creek in the Uinta National Forest. Contributed papers and posters on succession within and between communities; biodiversity; the role of boundaries in the biology, management, and restoration of various shrubland communities and their interfaces with other communities; hybrid zones; and other shrubland biology subjects are invited. The proceeding will be published by the USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. If you would like to present a paper, send a title and abstract (² 200 words) to Dr. E. D. McArthur, Shrub Sciences Laboratory, Rocky Mountain Research Station, 735 North 500 East, Provo UT 84606 by January 15, 1998 (tel. (801) 377-5717, e-mail /S=E.MCARTHUR/OU1=S22@MHS-FSWA.ATTMAIL.COM). To receive pre-registration materials and additional information please contact: Dave Lanier, Great Basin Environmental Education Center, 150 East College Avenue, Ephraim, UT 84627 (tel. (801) 283-7261, e-mail davel@storm.snow.edu).

Sixth International Mycological Congress
23-28 August 1998

The Sixth International Mycological Congress -- IMC 6 is scheduled to take place from August 23-28, 1998 in Jerusalem at the ICC Jerusalem International Convention Center. The Congress Program encompasses a wide array of themes structured of symposia sessions and workshops, daily plenary lectures, social activities, and a special program for accompaning persons. For further information please contact: Congress Secretariat, P.O. Box 50006, Tel Aviv 61500, Israel. Tel: 972 3 5140014, Fax: 972 3 5175674/514007. E-mail: for Compuserve users: ccmail:MYCOL at Kenes; for Internet users: MYCOL@Kenes.ccmail.compuserve.com Information on the Sixth International Mycological Congress may be found on: the WWW at: http://lsb380.plbio.lsu.edu/ima/imc6.html

1998 Midwest Rare Plant Conference
4-6 November 1998

The 1998 Midwest Rare Plant Conference, sponsored by the Chicago Botanic Garden and the Center for Plant Conservation will be held November 4-6, 1998, at Glencoe, Illinois. For information, contact Kayri Havens, Program Chair, Rare Plant Conference, Chicago Botanic Garden, 1000 Lake Cook Rd., Glencoe IL 60022.

XVI International Botanical Congress
1-7 August 1999

The XVI International Botanical Congress will be held in St. Louis, Missouri at the America's Center on 1-7 August 1999. This promises to be a major scientific event, and marks the first time the IBC has been held in the United States since 1969 in Seattle. The Secretariat has a web site up and running (" http://www.ibc99.org/") For further information, contact the XVI International Botanical Congress, Missouri Botanical Garden, P.O. Box 299, St. Louis MO 63166-0299, USA; tel: (314) 577-5175; fax: (314) 577-9589; e-mail: ibc16@mobot.org

INQUA XV International Congress
3-11 August 1999

We intend to organize a Workshop for the International Union for Quaternary Research during the INQUA XV International Congress in Durban (3-11 August, 1999) with the following topic: "Migration of Asiatic (Turanian) and ecosystems to East and South Africa during the Miocene-Pliocene and the environmental conditions contributing to evolution of Hominidae (Kovalev's hypothesis)". This problem might include the following issues. 1. The Messinian climaticcrisis (6.7-5.3 Myr) and the formation of ecosystems involving C4 plants of the aspartate type in Southern Turan. Migration of riparian ecosystems (with Tamarix, Phragmites, Caroxylon and Populus as dominant elements) from Southern Turan to East and South Africa, where they replaced the climate-affected tropical rain forest. Comparison of such communities with their modem analogs (the South African relic communities and the North American saltcedars of the Asiatic origin). 2. Traces of the faunal migration accompanying the spreading of the Turanian plant assemblages and the possible Asiatic origin of the early hominoids (e.g., migration of Sivapithecus). 3. Developing of such communities in Africa during the Pliocene. The influence of these exotic (adventive) plant assemblages upon the African mammalian fauna, causing its essential pauperization and providing relatively safe conditions for the early hominid inhabiting (in contrast with the intensive predators' pressure in the savannahs). Contacts: Dr. Oleg V.Kovalev, Zoological Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences, 199034 St.Petersburg, Russia; e-mail: kov@zisp.spb.su, and Dr. Sergey G.Zhilin, Dept. of Palaeobotany, Komarov Botanical Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences, 197376 St.Petersburg, Russia; e-mail: zhilin@herb.bin.ras.spb.ru; fax: (812)234-4512

International Conifer Conference 1999
22-25 August 1999

The 4th International conference follows the tradition of the Royal Horticultural Society in organizing conferences addressing the major developments in conifers. The conference will be held 22-25 August 1999, Wye College, Kent, England. This conference is designed to promote maximum interchange of information between all users of conifers. Keynote sessions will address major subject areas of current interest. The conference will have a worldwide geographical coverage from the arctic to the tropics.

Main scientific sponsors: Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, The Royal Horticultural Society, Forestry Commissions and The International Dendrology Society. For more information contact: Miss Lisa von Schlippe, The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3AE. Tel.: 0181 332 5198, Fax.: 0181 332 5197, E-mail: L.von.schlippe@rbgkew.org.uk