The 60th IAVS Annual Symposium – Vegetation patterns in natural and cultural landscapes

Welcome to Palermo

The 60th Annual Symposium of the International Association for Vegetation Science was held in Palermo, Italy, on June 20–24, 2017. The symposium saw 393 participants from 56 States across 5 continents. The general topic of the symposium (“Vegetation patterns in natural and cultural landscapes) offered an ideal framework for presenting and discussing a great wealth of vegetation studies linking biological and cultural diversity, on a wide array of landscapes and land-use patterns at different temporal and spatial scales.
Most of the presented research bridged towards neighbour disciplines, such as biogeography, palaeoecology, macroecology landscape history, global change biology, invasion biology, urban ecology. This also included more applied research such as remote sensing, green infrastructures, ecosystem service valuation, nature conservation, management and restoration. Besides the scientific sessions, the event comprised a six days pre-symposium excursion on the Sicilian coastal vegetation, a one day pre-symposium excursion to Cefalù, eight simultaneous mid-symposium excursions to different sites of Central and Western Sicily, a five days post-symposium excursion on the Sicilian mountains (Etna, Nebrodi, Madonie). These itineraries are described in the book “Botanical Excursions in Central and western Sicily” available here