Mirco Wölfelschneider

The European Conference of Tropical Ecology 2018 took place from the 26th until the 29th of March at the International Conference Center Sorbonne Universités (CICSU) at Sorbonne University, Campus Jussieu, in Paris. With more than 200 accepted talks and around 40 displayed posters the 2018’s conference was one of the biggest held by the Society for Tropical Ecology (gtö) so far. Over the years it developed from an exclusively German speaking event to one of the biggest gatherings of international scientists working in the tropics in Europe.

This year’s conference was under the topic “Challenges in Tropical Ecology and Conservation - Global Perspectives”. Around 400 people from over 40 different countries all around the world participated. As I am working in my PhD project on connectivity between mangrove forests and adjacent terrestrial and marine ecosystems it was a great chance for me to give a presentation on “Changes in White Mangrove Leaf Chemistry and Subsequent Ecosystem Functions upon Logging” in the session for “Mangroves Functioning and Management in a Changing World”. Every day were one to two planetary talks under the theme of “Women in Science” held by well-established female scientists. One of the special event highlights besides the talks, posters, and presentations was a public lecture by Sebastian Lotzkat on “Species revisited - catching (up on) the cornerstones of biology”. Another highlight was the book launch of “Mangrove, une forêt dans la mer” by its three authors François Fromard, Martine Hoassaert McKey, and Emma Michaud. The conference than closed with the annual meeting of the gtö members. Additionally, the active discussions, that arose from the presentations and talks, in the welcoming atmosphere of Paris and especially at the Aquarium tropical du Palais de la Porte dorée were very mind opening. From the big picture of tropical ecology down to very specific interests, such as mine in mangrove ecology, everyone could find a suitable topic to join in.

Overall, I am very grateful that I had the chance to present at an international conference of that level. Especially as it was my first international conference outside of Germany. I can only recommend the 2019’s “Joint BES/gtö Symposium - Unifying Tropical Ecology: Strengthening collaborative Science” to everyone who is interested in broadening their scope on research conducted in tropical ecosystems. As a site note, even though a range of marine focused topics are available the conference strongly focuses on terrestrial systems. Last but not least I want to thank my supervisors for making my attendance possible.