The International Seagrass Biology Workshop was held in China for the first time
The 11th International Seagrass Biology Workshop (ISBW11), hosted by South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (SCSIO), was successfully held in Hainan, China from November 6 to 10, 2014. More than 100 participants from about 30 countries, such as China, America, Australia, Japan, United Kingdom and so on, attended the workshop. Welcome speeches were delivered by Len McKenzie, the secretary of the World Seagrass Association (WSA), and Dongxiao Wang, the vice director of SCSIO.
The theme of ISBW11 is “Declining seagrasses in a changing world”. Four symposia themes were chosen for the workshop: (1) Key Ecological Processes; (2) Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services; (3) Ecosystem Vulnerability and Resilience; (4) Management and Restoration. Six keynote speeches were given by six experts, including Professor Frederick T. Short, from the University of New Hampshire in America; Professor Miguel D. Fortes, from the University of the Philippines in Philippine; Professor Rod Connolly, from the Griffith University in Australia; Professor Anitra Thorhaug, from the Yale University in America; Professor Masahiro Nakaoka, from the Hokkaido University in Japan, and Professor Xiaoping Huang, from the SCISO in China. Participants of ISBW11 also took a fieldtrip in the tropical seagrass bed in Hainan Island.
The meeting excerpted 92 abstracts, 46 oral presentations and 22 posters. This is the first time for China to host the International Seagrass Biology Workshop, providing an international platform to exchange ideas and achievements for the experts from home and abroad. Around 70 international experts have learned from this workshop about the development of seagrass research and marine sciences in China. It would greatly promote seagrass research, protection and management in China, and enhance the international status and influence of China in this academic field.
In 2012, the SCSIO obtained the opportunity to host the ISBW11 duirng the ISBW10 at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The ISBW11 was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and Guangdong Provincial Association for Science and Technology.
