Schedule

Preliminary Programme

Management and Conservation of Semi-natural grasslands: from theory to practice

Click here to download the programme and book of abstracts as PDF

Tuesday 20th September
Hotel Central Park
0900-1300	Scientific Writing workshop led by Péter Török (University of Debrecen)
1430-1830	Reflecting Ecology in Policy workshop, led by Jabier Ruiz, Caitriona Maher (EFNCP) & Clunie Keenleyside (IEEP)
1430-1830	Establishing and Maintaining National Grassland Databases workshop, led by Kiril Vassilev (Bulgarian Acad. Sci.)
1630-1900	Registration and possibility to install posters in Sala Sander
1900-2100	Welcome drink and a buffet meal of local products in Sala Sander


Wednesday 21st September
Sala Sander, Strada Turnului 1
0800-0830	Registration
0830-0900	Official opening by the EDGG and the Local Organising Committee
	Welcome from the Mayor of Sighisoara, Ovidiu Mălăncrăvean
0900-0950 Keynote	Integration by Place, Case and Process: Transdisciplinary Sustainability Science in Transylvania Prof. Joern Fischer, Leuphana University, Lüneburg

Session 1: Semi-natural grasslands and environmental policy and socio-economics
0950-1050	Andrei Marin	Environmental Policy Processes for pastures: contributions of local institutions to climate change adaptation and sustainability in Norway and Mongolia
	Monika Janišová	Role of traditional ecological knowledge in conservation of Carpathian grasslands
	Daniel Babai	The role of traditional ecological knowledge in nature conservation
1050-1110	Coffee break
1110-1250	(YI) Kinga Öllerer	Traditional vs. present management system of semi-natural grasslands from Southern Transylvania, Romania – a conservation perspective
	Laci Demeter	Developing management plans for Natura 2000 areas in Romania
	Didem Ambarli	Spatial and temporal trends in threats to biodiversity of Anatolian steppes (Turkey)
	Solvita Rusina	National conservation and management programme for grassland habitats of EU importance in Latvia
	Evelyn Rusdea	Sustainable management of semi-natural grassland – from interdisciplinary research to participatory implementation - An example from the Apuseni Mountains in Romania
1250-1410	Lunch break
Session 2: Management, conservation and restoration of semi-natural grasslands
1410-1530	Philipp Sengl	Naturalness indicator values as a tool for estimating success in grassland restoration
	(YI) Dragoș Luntraru	Identifying and monitoring High Nature Value grasslands using an indicator plant approach
	Nina Polchaninova	Cattle grazing and cursorial arthropods in steppe gullies of northeastern Ukraine. What groups are best indicators?
	Péter Török	The effectiveness of passive restoration in vegetation recovery of calcareous sand grasslands
1530-1550	Coffee break

1550-1630	Roman Hamersky	Restoration of Stipa spp. grasslands in Lounské Středohoří (southern part of České středohoří Mts.)/CZ
	Edina Tóth	Selection of livestock type is more important than just setting grazing intensity in short-grass steppic grasslands
Session 3: Ecology and biodiversity of semi-natural grasslands
1630-1710	Balazs Deák	Effects of local environmental factors on the species composition of loess grassland fragments - A case study on isolated kurgans
	Béla Tóthmérész	Increasing biodiversity of restored grasslands using establishment gaps
1710-1810	Poster Session


1830-1915	Evening tour of Sighisoara. Meeting place - outside Sala Sander
1930	Buffet at Hotel Sighisoara (for participants who selected the option during registration)


Thursday 22nd September
Meeting place - outside La Perla restaurant
0830-1700	Mid-conference field trip to the High Nature Value Grasslands of the hilly Târnava Mare landscape near Sighişoara
1700-2200	Grassland party in the village of Viscri


Friday 23rd September
Sala Sander, Strada Turnului 1
0900-0950 Keynote	Origins, evolution, management and conservation of semi-natural grasslands in Transylvania Dr. Cristina Craioveanu & Prof. László Rákosy, Babes-Bolyai University

Session 3: Ecology and biodiversity of semi-natural grasslands
0950-1050	(YI) Orsolya Valkó	Supporting biodiversity by prescribed burning in alkaline grasslands – a multi-taxa study
	(YI) András Kelemen	The effect of common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) on the native sandy flora. Is it a neutral alien or a noxious invader?
	Anikó Csecserits	What is the effect of a perennial invasive species (Asclepias syriaca) on the regeneration of sandy grassland?
1050-1110	Coffee break
1110-1210	Minodora Manu	Soil mite communities from heavy metal polluted grasslands from Transylvania- Romania
	(YI) Tsvetelina Terziyska	Functional diversity of high mountain pasture communities: a trait based comparative study
	Federico Maria Tardella	Functional response of an invasive tall grass (Brachypodium genuense) to environmental variability in sub-Mediterranean climate
Session 4: Landscape scale processes and historical evolution of semi-natural grasslands
1210-1250	(YI) Karina Piermarteri	How modifications of forage features related to inter-annual rainfall variations affect sheep morpho-physiological characteristics
	Mohammad Farzam	Effects of spring and summer times prescribed burning on spores and colonization of mycorrhiza and five plant species in a dry grassland
1250-1420	Lunch break


1420-1540	(YI) Judit Sonkoly	A new aspect of grassland vegetation dynamics: The presence of cyanobacterium colonies can affect establishment success of plants
	(YI) Csaba Tölgyesi	Hydrologic fluctuations trigger structural changes in steppe-wetland ecotones but have no effect on ecotone position
	Anna Kuzemko	Changes of meadow vegetation of the Forest and Forest-Steppe zones of Ukraine in the second half of the 20th - beginning of the 21st century
	(YI) Denys Vynokurov	High level units of the Festuco-Brometea class vegetation in Ukraine
1540-1600	Coffee break
1600-1830	EDGG General Assembly and Young Investigator Prizes
1930-2200	Buffet with live music at Hotel Central Park (for participants who selected the option during registration)


Saturday 24th September
Meeting place - outside La Perla restaurant
0830-1800	Post-conference field trip to the mountain hay meadows in the Csik Mountains area (for participants who selected the option during registration)