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IUFRO Announcements
IUFRO-Japan News No. 135
Read the latest issue of IUFRO-Japan News and learn more about the IUFRO World Congress to be held on 23-29 June 2024 in Stockholm, Sweden, IUFRO Research Group 3.08.00 and many other interesting things.
The IUFRO-Japan (IUFRO-J) Committee, http://www.ffpri.affrc.go.jp/labs/iufroj/index_Eng.html is an organization launched in 1970 to promote global and domestic partnerships in forest-related research; it cooperates with IUFRO Headquarters.
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Other Announcements
United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030
The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration is a rallying call for the protection and revival of ecosystems all around the world, for the benefit of people and nature. It aims to halt the degradation of ecosystems, and restore them to achieve global goals. Only with healthy ecosystems can we enhance people’s livelihoods, counteract climate change, and stop the collapse of biodiversity. The UN Decade runs from 2021 through 2030, which is also the deadline for the Sustainable Development Goals and the timeline scientists have identified as the last chance to prevent catastrophic climate change. Led by the United Nations Environment Programme and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, The UN Decade is building a strong, broad-based global movement to ramp up restoration and put the world on track for a sustainable future. That will include building political momentum for restoration as well as thousands of initiatives on the ground. Through communications, events and a dedicated web platform, the UN Decade will provide a hub for everyone interested in restoration to find projects, partners, funding and the knowledge they need to make their restoration efforts a success.
Find out how you can take part in the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration: https://www.decadeonrestoration.org/
Publications
IUFRO Vernetzt - 4/2024
New policy paper published by WoodPoP; new webinar on forest management and climate change hosted by TEAMING UP 4 FORESTS; new series of IUFRO Podcast on IUFRO Divisions. More…
The European Wood Policy Platform WoodPoP high-level representatives recently adopted the policy paper entitled “A Wood-Based Circular Bioeconomy for a Sustainable Europe”. The policy paper provides a solid foundation for political decision-makers. It contains a joint commitment to an economically valuable, ecologically sensitive and socially responsible timber industry, which is a crucial piece in the mosaic for achieving climate targets.
In the latest webinar hosted by TEAMING UP 4 FORESTS (TU4F), Florian Kraxner and Andrey Krasovskiy (IIASA), and Manfred Lexer (BOKU University) presented the impacts of climate change on forests and strategies for adaptation. Industry perspectives were shared by Karoliina Niemi (Finnish Forest Industries Federation) and Jessica Nordin (Södra), focusing on sustainable forest management and adaptive approaches.
The second season of Branching out: the forest podcast focuses on the IUFRO Divisions, starting with Division 1 Silviculture. IUFRO Podcast host Jose Bolaños and his co-host for this episode, Alexander Watson from IFSA, welcomed the two co-coordinators of Division 1 as guest speakers: Pil Sun Park, Seoul National University, Republic of Korea; and Teresa De Jesus Fidalgo Fonseca, Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Portugal.
Non-IUFRO Publications
Call for Submissions: Natural and Urban Forest Viromes and the Tree-Associated Microbiome: Composition, Properties, and Interactions
Submissions are invited for a Special Issue of microorganisms.
Recent insights on viral abundance in forest tree holobionts—which had previously only been explored to a limited extent—has been driven by the rapid rise of metagenomics. The total diversity of viruses in forests now includes more than 120 identified species, at least twice the number known a decade ago. These viruses have a wide range of hosts: they are found on trees as plant pathogens or can be harboured by all tree-associated organisms, including pathogenic fungi, mutualistic fungi, and saprotrophs, while some others parasitize arthropods. A high occurrence of cross-kingdom transmission events between fungi, oomycetes, plants, and arthropods has also been clearly shown.
What is the impact of the newly defined forest virome on forest health? How can information on the health and vitality of forest ecosystems enable the assessment of their capacity for resilience? These questions become even more relevant when we consider the many stress factors affecting forests: deforestation, air and soil pollution, forest fires, storms, droughts, and heat waves, recently exacerbated by climate change. Additionally, trees in urban environments face fragmentation and limited root space, soil compaction, and heat and drought stress, making them more susceptible to pathogens. Under these circumstances, the likelihood that these viral pathogens will trigger an emerging infectious disease in forests or urban environments in the future is considerable.
At the same time, forest health relies on the variability of microorganisms interacting with the host tree holobiont; symbiotic microbiota and pathogens are in a constant interplay that influences the host. Through interactions between pathogens, synergistic relationships can develop, which can drastically improve the health of the holobiont. Additionally, changes in the microbiome genome can also lead to genetic variations in the hologenome.
For this Special Issue, contributions are invited that are related to the forest virome. Possible topics include, but are not limited to, the following: - the diversity and evolution of viruses in forest and urban ecosystems; - the microbiota in natural and urban forests and interactions with the holobiont; - forest plant protection based on endophytes and biocontrol agents.
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2025
Guest editors: Dr. Julio J. Diez, Dr. Artemis Rumbou
Details: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/microorganisms/special_issues/T8U2BEOV25
Position Announcements
Assistant Professor – Sustainable Bioproducts // 6 January 2025
The Department of Forestry and Division of Public Health at Michigan State University invite applications for a 9-month tenure-system position (open rank) in Forest and Green Space for Improving Public Health (40% research, 25% teaching, 25% Extension/Outreach, 10% service). The successful candidate is expected to develop an internationally recognized research program by securing competitive external funding, publishing in leading peer-reviewed journals, and advancing our understanding of the green space-health relationship. This understanding could be attained through a wide range of expertise, including wellbeing, physical and mental health of urban populations, informatics, evaluation, community engagement, urban forestry, environmental justice and equity, wood design and wood product effects on health, health geography, urban planning, and other forest/health linkages (e.g., health effects of forest wildfires).
Institutions: Department of Forestry, Michigan State University
Duty station: East Lansing, USA
Closing date: 6 January 2025
Details: https://www.canr.msu.edu/jobs/assistant-professor-sustainable-bioproducts2
IUFRO Meetings
International Conference: The Forests Factor - More nature to fight climate change, and the role of protected areas
The international conference "The Forest factor" was held in Rome, Italy, on 6 and 7 June 2023, at the Roma Tre University, with the aim of placing the emphasis on the protection of forests, as an essential element in the fight against climate change, and on their vital importance for biodiversity, the carbon, water and energy cycles on a planetary scale.
Date: 6-7 July 2023
Location: Rome, Italy
Conference website: https://rsvp.rgpbio.it/evento/the-forest-factor/
Report: https://www.iufro.org/fileadmin/material/events/the-forest-factor-2023-report.doc
Pictures:
https://www.iufro.org/fileadmin/material/events/the-forest-factor-2023-panel.jpg
https://www.iufro.org/fileadmin/material/events/the-forest-factor-2023-hasenauer-corona.jpg
Other Meetings/Events
31st Annual Conference of the Yale Chapter of the International Society of Tropical Foresters (ISTF): Governing Resilient Tropical Forest Systems
Tropical forests are an important regulator of global climate, a natural carbon sink, and a repository of terrestrial biomass and diversity. Tropical forests are also home and provide livelihoods to millions of people living within or around them. Despite their tremendous social, economic, and ecological value, tropical forests remain under threat. From 1990 to 2020, 90% of the 420 million hectares of deforested land was in tropical regions.
The major causes of deforestation have shifted over time. Increasing local populations and small-scale agriculture drove forest loss in the 1980s and 1990s, whereas large-scale agriculture, plantations, and ranching are now the primary drivers of deforestation. The remaining tracts and fragments of forest are increasingly vulnerable to other factors, including further development and road construction, wildfires, poachers, illegal logging and mining, climate change, as well as new pathogens and invasive species. Many of these factors act synergistically to further degrade forest structure and function.
Due to the critical role of tropical forests in global socio-economic-ecological systems and the threats they are facing across the world, two of the most important international negotiations are taking place in the tropics in the 2024-2025 biennial: the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP16) in Cali, Colombia, and the UN Conference on Climate Change (COP30) in Belém, Brazil. While these negotiations are driving developments in environmental governance at the global scale, emerging movements in landscape and jurisdictional approaches and rights-based approaches to land management are reshaping forest governance at subnational scales.
For more than 30 years, the Yale Chapter of the International Society of Tropical Foresters (ISTF) Conference has promoted a space for exchange amongst world-class scientists, policy makers, and other practitioners. The ISTF 2025 Conference seeks to explore how research and policy discourses on forest governance at multiple geographic scales are treating and impacting tropical forests.
Date: 31 January, 8:00 AM - 1 February 2025, 5:30 PM EST (GMT-5)
Location: online and New Haven, CT, USA
Organizers: International Society of Tropical Foresters (ISTF), Yale School of the Environment
Details: https://istf.yale.edu/conferences/2025-conference/concept-note
University Courses, Summer Schools and Webinars
2025 Summer School on Ambrosia Symbiosis
Join the 2025 Summer School on Ambrosia Symbiosis!
Discover the fascinating world of ambrosia symbiosis in a 7-day immersive workshop packed with hands-on activities, lab exercises, and expert-led discussions where you will learn: - Hands-On Sampling & Isolation: Techniques for collecting and isolating ambrosia beetles and fungi; - Guided Analyses: Molecular barcoding, data interpretation, and ecological analysis; - Theory: Experiment design, biosecurity issues, and publishing strategies.
Lecturers Include: Dr. Jiri Hulcr, Dr. Matt E. Smith, Dr. Andrew Johnson, Miranda Barnes, Alora Richardson, and Katy Deitz.
Date: 14-20 May 2025
Location: University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
Organizers: Forest Entomology Lab, UF/IFAS School of Forest, Fisheries, & Geomatics Sciences
Contact: ForestEntomology(at)ifas.ufl.edu
Details: https://pitchtube.org/ambrosia-symbiosis-summer-school/
Registration: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ambrosia-symbiosis-summer-school-tickets-1091334313309
Fellowships/Scholarships/Research Funding
Gund PhD Research Fellowships // 5 January 2025
The Gund Institute for Environment at the University of Vermont (UVM) currently seeks exceptional PhD applicants to join the university to conduct interdisciplinary research on global environmental challenges beginning in the fall 2025 semester. Applications are due January 5, 2025.
Driven by the belief that research should inspire action, we explore environmental issues at the interface of five pressing research themes—climate solutions, health and well-being, sustainable agriculture, resilient communities, and equity and justice—in partnership with government, industry, and broader society.
Students will receive up to four years of funding, including an annual stipend of $35,000, plus tuition. All students are eligible for health insurance and additional funds for conference travel and research costs.
Institution: Gund Institute for Environment, University of Vermont (UVM)
Closing date: 5 January 2025
Details: https://www.uvm.edu/gund/gund-phd-research-fellowships
Fellowship Programs
Abdou-Salam Ouédraogo Fellowship
Bioversity International established the Abdou-Salam Ouédraogo Fellowship for research on conservation and use of forest genetic resources in sub-Saharan Africa to honour the memory and celebrate the work of Dr Abdou-Salam Ouédraogo. The Fellowship is awarded annually to a scientist from a university or national research institute in sub-Saharan Africa, with support from the CGIAR Research Program for Forests, Trees and Agroforestry. For more information, please visit: http://www.bioversityinternational.org/about-us/opportunities/fellowships/abdou-salam-ouedraogo-fellowship/.
Awards
IUFRO Awards
no news in this list.
Non-IUFRO Awards
no news in this list.