[Coral-List] Minisymposium: Smart Indicators for environmental impacts

[Katharina Fabricius]

Dear coral-list,

I would like to call your attention to the Okinawa 10th ICRS mini-symposium
"Smart indicators for environmental impacts", in Theme 4: Towards a system
where humans and coral reefs coexist: New approaches for coral reef
monitoring and assessment. Here an outline of the scope of the mini-symposium:

"Smart indicators for environmental impacts:

Pollution, overfishing, bleaching and Acanthaster all impact on coral reefs
in different ways, and depending on type and severity of the impacts,
disturbances may range from sublethal physiological changes to massive
downward shifts in trophic levels. To identify causes of deterioration, or
to predict changes in response to new pressures, can be difficult due to
complex natural gradients and a lack of environmental or historical data.
Indicators can be essential tools to distinguish between potential causes
of impacts, and to predict future impacts. Traditionally, indicators were
developed based on single physical, chemical or biological variables. With
the advancement of ecological understanding, smart composite indicators are
being developed that are both specific and widely applicable, and that may
be based on direct measures of relevant ecosystem processes (from molecular
to ecosystem levels). This mini-symposium aims at bringing together ideas
for smart indicators, which may be useful stand-alones or may become
components of a composite check card for the assessment of the condition of
coral reefs."

If you consider submitting your abstract to this session, please log in to:
http://www.plando.co.jp/icrs2004/   -   'Call for Papers'  -  'Abstract
Submission'. The code for mini-symposium "Smart indicators for
environmental impacts" is 4 - 3. Deadline for abstract submission is
December 25.

Looking forward to seeing you in Okinawa!

Best wishes,

Katharina Fabricius

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Dr. Katharina Fabricius
Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS)

Mail:  AIMS, PMB 3, Townsville Qld 4810, Australia
Phone:  +61 - 7 - 4753 4412   or   4758 1979,    Fax:  +61 - 7 - 4772 5852 
Email:  k.fabricius at aims.gov.au
Web:  http://www.aims.gov.au,  http://www.reef.crc.org.au