X OPTIMA Meeting
Palermo, 13-19 September 2001


PRELIMINARY SCIENTIFIC PROGRAMME


TUESDAY, 11 SEPTEMBER
[COMMISSION MEETINGS]


WEDNESDAY, 12 SEPTEMBER
[COMMISSION MEETINGS]


THURSDAY, 13 SEPTEMBER
MORNING: 9:00 h [BOARD AND COUNCIL MEETINGS]

AFTERNOON: 15:00 h OPENING CEREMONY
16:00 h MAIN LECTURE - Biogeography of the Mediterranean. - F. Dov Por (Jerusalem).

17:30 h ROUND-TABLE 1 - ARCHI-MED PROJECT "PROTECTION OF THREATENED ENDEMIC PLANTS AND ANIMALS IN SOUTHERN ITALY, SICILY AND CRETE". (ORGANISERS: M. MYLONAS & F. M. RAIMONDO).

20:00 h RECEPTION


FRIDAY, 14 SEPTEMBER
MORNING: 9:00 h SYMPOSIUM 1 - BOTANICAL RESEARCH IN ITALY I (ORGANISER: F. M. RAIMONDO).
1. F. Garbari (Pisa), A. Giovannini (Pisa) & D. Marchetti (Massa): "Biosystematics, taxonomy and phytogeography of the pteridological flora of Monte Pisano (NW Tuscany, Italy)".
2. P. L. Nimis & S. Martellos (Trieste): "Biodiversity on-line: an integrated informa-tion system on Italian fungi, lichens and bryophytes".
3. M. Bigazzi (Firenze), H. H. Hilger (Berlin) & F. Selvi (Firenze): "Recent advances in the systematics of the tribe Boragineae (Boraginaceae)".
4. B. Foggi & M. A. Signorini (Firenze): "The genus Festuca in Italy".
5. I. Camarda (Sassari): "The genus Quercus in Sardinia: diversity, distribution and problems".
6. P. Caputo (Napoli), O. De Castro & A. Moretti: "Patterns of variation in Scabioseae (Dipsacaceae)".

AFTERNOON: 15:00 h SYMPOSIUM 2A - URBAN AND PERIURBAN BIODIVERSITY (ORGANISERS: U. DEIL, F. M. RAIMONDO & B. VALDÉS).
1. S. Kokkini (Thessaloniki): "The origin of mint plants in the Mediterranean environ-ment: myth and reality".
2. R. Witting (Frankfurt): "Environmental stress and diversity in the spontaneous flora in urban ecosystems".
3. T. Casasayas (Barcelona): "La Flore ornementale du nord-est de la Péninsule Ibérique".
4. M. Suárez (Barcelona): "The urban pollen flora and its allergenic significance".
5. A. Danin: "Potential ornamental plants in the flora of Israel".
6. O. Vasic: The urban and periurban adventive flora - the threatening factor on the autochthonous plant diversity in yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro).
15:00 h SYMPOSIUM 2B - MEDITERRANEAN BRYOPHYTES: TAXONOMY, BIODIVERSITY AND PALEOGEOGRAPHY (ORGANISER: R. M. ROS ESPÍN).
1. M. Aleffi, C. Cortini Pedrotti (Camerino) & D. Gafta (Cluj-Napoca): "Bio-geographic determinants of moss richness in the small islands of Italy".
2. T. L. Blockeell (Sheffield): "Recent Bryophyta species records in Greece and Cy-prus".
3. M. G. Dia (Palermo), R. Lo Giudice (Catania) & M. Privitera (Catania): "Bryophyta diversity in urban areas in Sicily".
4. W. E.-S. El Saadawi (Cairo): "Mosses of the different phytogeographical territories of Egypt".
5. J. Múñoz (Madrid): "Taxonomy and biogeography of the moss genus Grimmia in the Mediterranean region".


SATURDAY, 15 SEPTEMBER
MORNING: 9:00 h SYMPOSIUM 3 - DIFFERENTIATION OF MEDITERRANEAN PLANT GROUPS IN SPACE AND TIME: NEW MOLECULAR AND CLASSICAL EVIDENCE (ORGANISER: F. EHRENDORFER).
1. Frank H. Hellwig (Jena): "Centaureinae in the Mediterranean - History of eco-geografical radiation".
2. D. Albach (Wien) & M. Martínez-Ortega (Salamanca): "Veronica: Convergent slow and fast evolution, east-to-west phylogeography in the Mediterranean".
3. A. Ainouche (Rennes): "Molecular phylogeny, diversification and character evolu-tion in Mediterranean and African lupines (Fabaceae)".
4. M. Pfosser (Wien) & F. Speta (Linz): "From Scilla to Charybdis - is our voyage safer now?".
5. M. W. Chase (Kew), M. B. Crespo (Alicante), M. Dolores Lledó (Alicante) & M. F. Fay (Kew): "Leucoium: one small genus, three data sets, how many answers?".

AFTERNOON: 15:00 h SYMPOSIUM 4A - BREEDING SYSTEMS AND HABITAT FRAGMENTATION IN POPU-LATION DYNAMICS (ORGANISER: J. M. IRIONDO).
1. G. Oostermeijer (Amsterdam): "The demography and genetics of fragmented plant populations".
2. C. Blanché, M. Bosch, J. López, J. Molero, A. Rovira & J. Simon (Barcelona): "Fragmentation effects on pollination ecology and genetic diversity in endemic Mediterranean species".
3. A. Escudero, E. Torres, C. Pérez & J. M. Iriondo (Madrid): "Spatial scales in the ge-netic diversity of allogamous Antirrhinum microphyllum".
4. M. J. Hutchings & C. Case (Brighton): "TRANSPLANT - Using an integrated hier-archical approach to study the effects of habitat fragmentation on plant biodiversity at a European scale".
5. F. Xavier Pico (Nijmegen): "Extinction risks and the re-introduction of plant species in a fragmented Europe".

15:00 h SYMPOSIUM 4B - MARINE ALGAE (ORGANISER: G. GIACCONE).
1. A. Athanasiadis (Goteberg): "Taxonomy of Rhodophyta, with particular reference to Mediterranean species".
2. A. Gómez Garreta (Barcelona): "Taxonomy of Phaeophyta, with particular refer-ence to Mediterranean species".
3. V. Amico (Catania): "Chemotaxonomy and evolution of the genus Cystoseira C. Agardh".
4. L. Babbini (Milano) & G. Bressan (Trieste): "Corallinales of Italy".
5. M. Cormaci, G. Furnari & G. Giaccone (Catania): "The benthic macroalgal flora of Italy".

21:00 h SOCIAL DINNER


SUNDAY, 16 SEPTEMBER
MID-CONGRESS EXCURSION

MONDAY, 17 SEPTEMBER
MORNING: 9:00 h ALL-CONGRESS LECTURE - Mediterranean plant life around the world - S. Pignatti (Roma).

10:00 h POSTER SESSION.

AFTERNOON: 15:00 h SYMPOSIUM 5 - BOTANICAL RESEARCH IN ITALY II (ORGANISER: F. M. RAIMONDO).
1. R. M. Baldini (Firenze) & B. Foggi (Firenze): "Biogeography and conservation of the Tuscan Archipelago's vascular flora".
2. A. Rambelli (Viterbo): "Fungal succession in Mediterranean ecosystems".
3. G. Moggi (Firenze) & V. La Valva (Caserta): "Flora of Cilento (Salerno): past, present and future".
4. F. Garbari (Pisa), A. Giordani (Pisa), R. Marcucci (Padova) & N. Tornadore (Padova): "The genus Ornithogalum L. (Hyacinthaceae) in Italy: towards a redefinition of infrageneric taxa, with new proposals".
5. N. G. Passalacqua & L. Bernardo (Cosenza): "The genus Paeonia in Italy: morpho-logical, taxonomical, and chorological data".
6. D. Ottonello: "Aperçu de la flore lichenique gypsicole de la Sicilie".


TUESDAY, 18 SEPTEMBER
MORNING: 9:00 h SYMPOSIUM 6 - MEDITERRANEAN PLANT COLLECTIONS: NEEDS AND OPTIONS (ORGANISER: S. JURY).
1. V. H. Heywood ( Reading ): "Setting the scene: what we have inherited".
2. S. Talhouk (Beirut), N. Sinnu (Beirut) & Jury S. (Reading): "Work on the Post Her-barium at the American University of Beirut".
3. P. Cuccuini (Firenze): "Mediterranean type specimens of the Herbarium Centrale Italicum".
4. P. Pando de la Hoz (Madrid): "The computerised way forward".
5. E. Vitek (Wien): "The organisation of a herbarium and its role in biodiversity".
6. M. Rejdali (Rabat): "Collecting for the Botanic Garden and the Herbarium of the In-stitut Agronomique et Vétérinaire Hassan II: prospects and challenges".
7. S. Jury (Reading): "The way ahead".

AFTERNOON: 15:00 h SYMPOSIUM 7A - MEDITERRANEAN AGROBIODIVERSITY (ORGANISERS: V. HEY-WOOD & M. SKOULA).
1. D. Zohary (Jerusalem): "The Mediterranean as a continued source of genetic diver-sity for agriculture".
2. E. Hernández Bermejo (Cordoba): "The importance of minor and neglected crops in Mediterranean agriculture".
3. M. Skoula (Chania): "Understanding and exploiting chemical diversity in Mediter-ranean aromatic plants".
4. C. Giupponi (Padova): "Global warming and Mediterranean agrobiodiversity".

15:00 h SYMPOSIUM 7B - FRESHWATER ALGAE (ORGANISER: L. NASELLI FLORES).
1. C. S. Reynolds (Cumbria.): "Pelagic community assembly and the habitat template".
2. J. Komarek (Trebon): "Areas of distribution in cyanobacteria: specifity of the cya-noprokaryotic microflora of the Mediterranean region".
3. R. Barone (Palermo): "Occurrence and distribution of freshwater red algae in the Mediterranean region".
4. A. Dell'Uomo (Camerino): "Les Algues des milieux lotiques de l'Italie et leur importance dans l'évaluation de la qualité biologique de l'eau".

17:30 h ROUND-TABLE 2 - EURO+MED PLANT BASE (ORGANISER: B. VALDÉS).


WEDNESDAY, 19 SEPTEMBER
MORNING: 9:00 h SYMPOSIUM 8 - GLOBAL CHANGE AND MAINTENANCE OF BIODIVERSITY IN THE MEDITERRANEAN AREA ARIDITY (ORGANISERS: M. FENNANE & J. MATHEZ).
1. R. G. Gavilán (Madrid): "Does global warming pose a true threat to Mediterranean biodiversity?".
2. F. Médail & P. Quézel (Marseille): "Conséquences possibles des changements climatiques sur la flore et la végétation du Bassin Méditerranéen".
3. D. Jolly & L. Dallari (Montpellier): "Reconstructing plant diversity history in the Mediterranean Basin: a challenge in the perspective of Global Change studies".
4. O. Delanoë (Montpellier): "Zones arides, désertification et biodiversité".
5. Razik M. Abdel (Alexandria): "Detection and understanding of changes in biodiver-sity in response to changes in environmental drives and pressures in the Mediterra-nean area: an example from Egypt".
6. A. Benabid (Salé) & M. Fennane (Rabat): "Evolution actuelle des écosystèmes arides et semi-arides au Sud de la Méditerranée, cas du Maroc".

AFTERNOON 15:00 h SYMPOSIUM 9 - CONSERVATION BIOLOGY (ORGANISERS: J. MORET & F. PEDROTTI).
1. L. Conti, G. Cristofolini (Bologna): "Genetic diversity as related to reproductive strategies in endemic species".
2. F. Pedrotti (Camerino): "Biologie de la conservation des phytocénoses dans différentes régions phytogéographiques".
3. V. Roussakova (Sofia): "La végétation du Massif de Rila (centre de la Péninsule Balcanique)".
4. A. Scialabba, F. M. Raimondo (Palermo): "Gene bank of Brassica: biological as-pects of seed conservation".

15:00 h ROUND-TABLE 3 - MEDUSA (ORGANISERS: V. H. HEYWOOD & C. B. JOHNSON).

17:30 h CLOSING PLENARY MEETING.


THURSDAY, 20 SEPTEMBER
DEPARTURE OF PARTICIPANTS AND POST-CONGRESS EXCURSIONS