[IUFRO Div 1] Oak session in IUFRO World Congress

Dear Colleagues of Division 1 Please submit or distribute our session on oaks to potential IUFRO congress participants. Here are the session details below. Regards Somidh Saha Session number T3.3 Oral / Poster Disappearing oak woods: conservation and management of global oak forests Organized by: Somidh Saha, Teresa Fidalgo Fonseca, Magnus Löf, Daniel C. Dey Oaks (Quercus spp.) are foundational species in many forest ecosystems. There are more than 500 species of oaks worldwide, and they can be naturally found in all continents except Antarctica and Australia. They exist in temperate broadleaved forests, subtropical and tropical montane/submontane forests, and temperate and subtropical arid and scrub forests. Mature oak trees provide direct and indirect support to thousands of species. For example, in the UK, old Quercus robur trees are associated with nearly 2300 species of flora and fauna. In addition to high biodiversity values, oaks provide high-quality timber and a wide range of other ecosystem services. Most of the oak species are long-living in their respective ecosystem; hence, they are essential for ecosystem functioning and health. However, oak forests worldwide are declining due to climate change impacts, diseases, habitat destruction, and the replacement of oak trees by fast-growing tree species. The report of oak decline has been emerging in scientific literature since the end of the 20th century. Therefore, there is an urgent global need to sensibilize and work towards the conservation and sustainable use of remaining oak forests. Moreover, we call to BRING BACK THE OAKS in their native ecosystem, where they used to thrive for thousands of years, to increase biodiversity, ecosystem services, and resilience to climate change impacts. Therefore, the planned session invites contributions to oak forests’ conservation, restoration, regeneration, and management. The proposed session aims to invite contributions from all different oak forest ecosystems comprising a wide range of topics. We also plan for a special issue from our session. ********************************************************* Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis (ITAS) Dr. rer. nat. Somidh Saha KIT-Associate-Fellow (Faculty of Civil Engineering, Geo- and Environmental Sciences) Senior Scientist Head of a Research Group: <https://www.itas.kit.edu/english/rg_syl.php> Sylvanus Karlstr. 11 76133, Karlsruhe, Germany Phone: +49 721 608-24644 Fax: +49 721 608-24806 E-mail: <mailto:somidh.saha@kit.edu> somidh.saha(a)kit.edu Web: <https://www.itas.kit.edu/english/rg_syl_saha_somidh.php> https://www.itas.kit.edu/english/rg_syl_saha_somidh.php; <http://www.somidh.com/> www.somidh.com KIT – The Research University in the Helmholtz Association Since 2010, the KIT has been certified as a family-friendly university. Disclaimer: Any views or opinions presented in this email are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology or any other institution.