Japanese

An international conference and field tour
 organized by
IUFRO Working Party 1.01.07
“Ecology and Silviculture of Beech”

Nanae, Hokkaido, Japan
September 8-13, 2008

===== What's New ===== Session program (provisional) is now available. Overall schedule is also available. (2008/8/7) 　Early-bird discounted registration is due June 30. (Sorry for the confusing earlier information) <Announcement for potential participants who submitted abstracts> (2008/5/2) - Notification of acceptance for presentation will be a bit delayed. - It will reach you by May 10. - Consequently, the deadline for submission of Extended Abstracts will be postponed to June 30. - Sorry for the inconveniences. Abstracts of Keynote speeches are now available ! (2008/3/21) Please make sure that Abstract Submission should be made by the end of March ! Information on accommodation has been added (2008/2/25) Keynote speakers have been determined ! (2008/01/11) Registration and Abstract submission have started ! (2008/01/01) Registration fees have been announced. (2008/01/01) Provisional schedule has been changed. (2007/12/27) Sponsors have been added. (2007/12/27)

Objectives

• The aims of the conference are to exchange and share state-of-the-art knowledge on the ecology and silviculture of beech (Fagus ) forests among researchers and forest managers worldwide, and to reflect the current scientific achievements on the future directions for sustainable management of beech forests in the changing social needs and global climate.

• The conference organizers will also expect to promote tighter linkage between recent advances in wide-ranging ecological studies and development of management systems of beech forests.

• In addition, this conference will be the first-ever IUFRO Beech Symposium held in East Asia which is one of the major distribution areas of the genus Fagus in the world. Thus, the conference will be expected to provide a precious opportunity for all participants to discuss both similarities and differences in ecology and management among wider species of Fagus than those discussed in the past symposia which had focused mainly on F. sylvatica and F. orientalis.

Themes and Topics

• Structure and Functions of Beech Forest Ecosystems

• - Stand structure and Regeneration processes
  - Ecophysiological traits (e.g., photosynthesis, water and nutrient use, etc.)
  - Reproductive ecology
  - Inter-species interaction
  - Abiotic environmental factors (e.g., soil, climate, etc.)
  - Structural and Functional modeling
  - Paleoecology and phyto-geography
  - Demo-genetics (e.g., gene flows, population dynamics, genetic diversity, etc.)
  - Landscape ecology
  - Effects of climate change

• Silvicultural Systems for Sustainable Management of Beech Forests

- Natural regeneration systems
- Regeneration techniques (planting, direct seeding, pest controls, etc.)
- Nature-based forest management
- Yield controls (density control, yield prediction, wood quality, etc.)
- Evaluation of ecosystem services
- Biodiversity and Wildlife management

Conference format

• The conference will consist of plenary technical sessions and field excursions. The expected number of participants will be 50 - 60.

• Technical sessions will include keynote speeches, voluntary paper presentations (oral) and poster sessions.

• A one-day in-conference excursion will be planned in the earlier part of the conference so that all participants will be able to share common backgrounds for further discussion in terms of ecology and management of Japanese beech forests.

• A two-day excursion to natural beech forests in “Shirakami-Sanchi”, the UNESCO World Natural Heritage site, will be also scheduled in the latter part of the conference.

Location and Venue

• The conference venue will be Onuma International Seminar House, Nanae-town, Hokkaido, Japan. (http://www.town.nanae.hokkaido.jp/english/onuma/default.htm).

• The seminar house is located in the Onuma quasi-National Park blessed with a scenic view of a volcano and lakes.

• You may reach the conference venue by one-hour bus travel from the airport of Hakodate (domestic airport), which has frequent domestic flights from major international airports, such as Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka.
  
    Bus fare: HAKODATE airport ---> Hakodate Onuma Prince Hotel = 1000 Yen
                  HAKODATE airport ---> JR "Onuma Kouen" station (close to Hotel Asahiya) = 1100 Yen

• You can also reach the venue from “Onuma Kouen” train station of the JR (Japan Railways) by taxi in 5 minutes.

• The Seminor House is equiped a wireless LAN system. You can access the Internet from every room in the seminor house if you bring your own laptop PC and LAN card.

• You can enjoy Japanese tea ceremony demonstrated by local voluteer ladies during a break between technical sessions at a Japanese tea house next to the conference room.

Location map	Onuma International Seminar House

Click for larger pictures.

Accommodations

• As the conference venue is in the center of tourist area, there are various types of accommodation facilities; resort hotels, B&Bs, YH and even camping sites.

• The following two hotels are recommendable. The conference secretariat will make room reservations only for the participants who will stay at these two hotels.

• Participants who plan to stay at these two hotels are kindly requested to complete the room reservation form ,which is attached to the registration form, and send it to the conference secretariat by August 8, 2008.

Hotel	Room type	Room charge ( /person /night ) (Japanese Yen)	Trasportation to the conference venue	Remarks
Hakodate Onuma Prince Hotel (Website)	Twin (occupied by one person)	11,000	5 min. (Shuttle bus available)	There in no single room. Hotspring bath is available. Room charge includes breakfast and taxes. All credit cards are acceptable
	Twin (shared by two persons)	8,200
	Twin (shared by three persons, with an extra sofa bed)	6,700
Station Hotel Asahiya	Single	5,985	5 min. (Shuttle bus available)	Room charge includes breakfast and taxes. No English-speaking staff
	Twin (shared by two persons)	5,985

• If you would plan to stay at other accommodation facilities, room reservations should be made by your own effort. Information on other accomodation facilities around the conference venue can be obtained at the following web sites.  
       - Onuma Tourist Association 

• During the conference (September 8 - 11), a suttle bus service can be availabe between the conference venue and major accommodation facilities around Lake Onuma in each morning and evening.

Schedule

September 2008	7	Sun.	Arrival, Registration
	8	Mon.	Registration, Opening addresses One-day excursion to beech forests in Kuromatsunai-town Welcome dinner
	9	Tue.	Technical Sessions
	10	Wed.	Technical Sessions
	11	Thu.	Technical Sessions
	12	Fri.	Overnight Excursion to Shirakami-Sanchi (UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site) Stay at Hirosaki city, Aomori prefecture
	13	Sat.	Excursion continued. Closing of the conference in the afternoon. Tour bus will arrive at the JR Hirosaki station at 15:00, and Aomori airport at 16:00. Departure

Programs

• Session program (Keynote, Oral and Poster) is available here. (Download an EXCEL file)

• Overall schedule is available here. (Download a WORD file)

• The scientific committee of the conference has been discussing the session structures and keynotes speeches for each session. The following 6 keynote speakers have been selected and confirmed to be invited.

Abstracts of the keynote speeches

Keynote speaker		Title
Dr. Richard Bradshaw	(UK)	The Holocene history of Fagus
Dr. Giovanni Vendramin	(Italy)	Historical and contemporary factors shaping genetic variation in Fagus: An overview
Dr. Kiyoshi Umeki	(Japan)	How do morphological and physiological traits determine the characteristics of individual beech trees?
Dr. Sven Wagner	(Germany)	Beech regeneration research: ecology and silvicultural aspects
Dr. Sebastian Hein	(Germany)	Crop-Tree-Oriented versus Whole-Stand Silviculture of Beech: Growth, Yield and Quality
Dr. Koen Kramer	(Netherlands)	How will Fagus respond to climate change? Modelling its geographic distribution, phenotypic plasticity and adaptive capacity

Language

• The official language of the conference will be English.

Papers and Posters

• Participants who intend to make oral or poster presentations are requested to submit abstracts for selection to the conference secretariat (beech2008(at)hfri.pref.hokkaido.jp) electronically by March 31, 2008.

• An abstract should be shorter than 150 words for main body. The following information should be added; title, name of author(s), affiliation, postal address, e-mail, phone and fax numbers, and preference for oral or poster.

• The Conference Scientific Committee will review the submitted abstracts. Styles of presentation (oral/poster) will be assigned by the committee in consideration of relevancy of topics and authors’ preferences. Acceptance and assignment of each presentation will be notified to the author by April 30, 2008.

• Authors whose papers and posters are accepted for presentation will be requested to submit Extended abstracts (three pages for each) electronically by June 30, 2008. Extended abstracts will be included in the conference program booklet to be distributed to all participants at the conference. Format instructions and example for Extended Abstracts can be downloaded at this website.

• We have been exploring the possiblity to publish selected papers in a special issue of an international scientific journal. Now, we are pleased to inform you that selected papers (6 synthesis papers to be presented as keynote speeches and a limited number of voluntary papers) will be published in "Forest Ecology and Management" (Elsevier, The Netherlands). The publication schedule is as follows:
  • Beginning of submission: September 15, 2008
  • Deadline of submission: December 31, 2008
  • Target publication date: December 1, 2009

Registration

• Advanced registration will be requested for all participants, including those who will not have presentations of papers or posters.

• Complete the registration form and send it to the conference secretariat by e-mail attachment or fax by August 8, 2008.

• Registration fees are shown below. Payments shall be made by Japanese Yen via bank tranfer to the designated account by August 8, 2008.

Category	Registration fee (Japanese Yen *)
	Early	Regular
	Before/On June 30, 2008	After/On July 1, 2008
Delegate	45,000	55,000
Student	35,000	45,000
Accompanying person (Family member only)	25,000	30,000

       * Note: One Euro is 155 - 165 Japanese Yen in 2007.

• Registration fee for a delegate/student includes:

  - Extended abstracts
  - Proceedings
  - One-day excursion on September 8 (incl., Bus transportation and lunch)
  - Two-days excursion on September 12 - 13 (incl., Bus + Ferry transportation, 4meals and lodging)
  - Welcome dinner on September 8 (at Hakodate-Onuma Prince Hotel)
  - Coffer/Tea for breaks

• Registration fee does NOT include:

         - Accommodation, except for September 12.
         - Lunches, except for September 8, 12 and 13.
         - Dinners, except for September 8 and 12

• To encourage active participation of local attendees,  registrations for a part of the programs are acceptable. More datailed information will be available at the conference webpage in Japanese.   

• No special program will be planned for accompanying persons.
• Participation fee for a accompanying person covers; welcome dinner on September 8, and two-days excursion on September 12 - 13.

• Cancellation policy: 100% refund if withdrawal is notified before/on August 8, 2008. All charges for bank transfer of refunding shall be borne by the recipient. No refund after/on August 9, 2008.

Timelines

Beginning of Registration and Abstract submission	1 January 2008	Already closed
Deadline for Abstract submission	31 March 2008	Already closed
Notification of Abstract acceptance	30 April 2008	Already notified
Early-bird discounted registration closed	30 June 2008	Already closed
Deadline for Extended Abstracts	30 June 2008	Already closed
Registration closed	8 August 2008	-
Conference	8-13 September 2008	-

Organizers

• IUFRO Division.1: Working Party 1.01.07: Ecology and Silviculture of Beech

• Conference co-chairs

Dr. Palle Madsen	(Forest and Landscape Denmark)
Dr. Khosro Sagheb-Talebi	(Research Institute of Forests & Rangelands, Iran)
Dr. Kazuhiko Terazawa	(Hokkaido Forestry Research Institute)

• Scientific committee

Dr. Catherine Collet	(INRA, France)
Dr. John Stanturf	(US Forest Service, USA)
Dr. Kiyoshi Umeki	(Chiba University, Japan)
Dr. Koen Kramer	(Alterra, Holland)
Dr. Magnus Lof	(Swedish Agricultural University, Sweden)
Dr. Myriam Legay	(INRA, France)
Dr. Norocel-Valeriu Nicolescu	(University of Brasov, Romania)
Dr. Richard Bradshaw	(University of Liverpool, UK)
Dr. Tohru Nakashizuka	(Tohoku University, Japan)
Dr. Palle Madsen	(Forest and Landscape Denmark)
Dr. Khosro Sagheb-Talebi	(Research Institute of Forests & Rangelands, Iran)
Dr. Kazuhiko Terazawa	(Hokkaido Forestry Research Institute, Japan)

• Local organizing committee

Chair	Kazuhiko Terazawa	(HFRI)
Treasurer	Hirokazu Kon	(HFRI)
Auditor	Kenji Seiwa	(Tohoku Univ.)
Member	Hiromasa Koyama	(Yamagata Univ.)
Member	Norio Kito	(Hokkaido Univ. of Education)
Member	Michiyasu Yasaka	(HFRI)
Member	Tomoyuki Abe	(HFRI, Donan-Branch)

Secretariat

• Conference secretariat

Office	Dr. Kazuhiko Terazawa Hokkaido Forestry Research Institute
Postal address	Koushunai, Bibai, Hokkaido 079-0198, JAPAN
E-mail	beech2008(at)hfri.pref.hokkaido.jp
Phone	+81-126-63-4164
Fax	+81-126-63-4166

• Bank account for the payment of registration fees

Bank	NORTH PACIFIC BANK, LTD.
Branch office	Bibai
Account number	3612643
Account holder	IUFRO Beech Symposium
Swift code *	NORP JP JP
Bank address	1-7, Minami-2, Nishi-1, Oodouri, Bibai, Hokkaido, 072-0023, JAPAN
Phone	+81-126-63-2181

* Note: The bank has no IBAN code.

Sponsors

• This conference is supported by . . .

  Forestry Agency, government of Japan

Hokkaido government

The Ecological Society of Japan

The Japanese Forest Society

• The conference is financially sponsored by . . .

National Land Afforestation Promotion Oraganization, Japan

Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences  

   The Broadleaf Program, Sweden                

     IUFRO - J

  The Kao Foundation for Arts and Sciences

Further information …

• Also available from;

Dr. Palle Madsen (pam(at)life.ku.dk)

Dr. Khosro Sagheb-Talebi (saghebtalebi(at)rifr-ac.ir)

Dr. Kazuhiko Terazawa (terazawa.kazuhiko(at)pref.hokkaido.lg.jp)