SCOPE Committee on Soil and Sediments: Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning

Diana Wall Freckman, Colorado State University, USA, Chair


This committee is having an extremely busy year, thanks to domain chairs, Soil Domain, Lijbert Brussaard, The Netherlands, Freshwater Sediment Domain, Margaret Palmer, USA; Marine Sediment Domain, T. Henry Blackburn, Denmark.

I. Activities for 1997 include:
A. AAAS symposium: Global Biodiversity: Is it in the mud and dirt? organizer, D Wall Freckman; Speakers, V. Behan-Pelletier, Canada; M. Palmer, USA; Wall Freckman, USA; P. Groffman, USA; P. Snelgrove, Canada.

B. SCOPE Committee Workshop: April 6-11, 1997, Wageningen, The Netherlands. Funded by The Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources Management and Fisheries of The Netherlands and the Winslow Foundation.

C. Presentations: Sept. 1997 Montreal - Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) of the Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biodiversity -DIVERSITAS workshop. Results of SCOPE Committee workshop as it relates to Agriculture, by D. Wall Freckman.

II. Problems:
A. Marine Domain Chair resigned, and we are searching for another.
B. Future Funding

III. Future Activities 1998
A. The Netherlands. SCOPE workshop on Soil and Sediment Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning: Spatial and Temporal Scales. Funding: The Netherlands Royal Academy and The Ministry of Agriculture, but matching funding is required and not yet available.
B. Location unknown: SCOPE Committee workshop on Soil and Sediment Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning: Above Surface and Below Surface interactions. Funding: The Ministry of Agriculture & Ministry of Enviroment, but matching funding is required and not yet available.
C. Steering Committee Meeting in conjunction with SCOPE meeting in NJ. Dependent on Funding.

IV. Surprises:
A. USDA Funds to Wall Freckman (for an additional workshop on Bioregional Approaches to Agricultural Research in the USDA, which was not held) have been approved for use for a 1 year postdoc to help with SCOPE Committee activities. The position is being advertised.
B. Committee activities (manuscipts- updates on manscripts, models and figures) were easily coordinated through the use of email and the www site http://www.nrel.colostate.edu/soil/ . Select the 'projects' link, and then choose the link to '
SCOPE Committee on Soil and Sediment Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning'. This part of the site is password protected.


Freckman Committee report

October 5, 1997



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