Held at:

　　Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, CAS, Chengdu

Sponsored by:

Background:

　　Taking steps to preserve the quality and quantity of global soil resources should require no justification. Our future ability to feed ourselves and to live in an unpolluted environment depends on our ability to understand and to reduce the rates at which our soils are currently eroding. Over the last decades, most research on soil erosion by water has concentrated on sheet (interrill) and rill erosion processes operating at the runoff plot scale. Relatively few studies have been conducted on gully erosion operating at larger spatial scales. Recent studies indicate that soil losses by gully erosion are far from negligible in a range of environments and that gullies are important and effective links for transferring water and sediment from uplands to valley bottoms and permanent channels. Consequently, there is a particular need for monitoring, experimental and modeling studies of gully erosion, as a basis for predicting the effects of global changes (landuse and climate changes) on gully erosion rates as well as on the contribution of this soil degradation process to overall land degradation.

　　Contemporary research in these areas was presented at the (First) International Symposium in Leuven, Belgium (April 2000). The second Symposium aims to build upon the very success of the first symposium to review the further understanding of, report the latest progress in, and identify priorities for future research in the various research areas of global change impacts on gully erosion since the Belgium conference.

Topics include:

• field monitoring and experimental investigations on various gully types,
• subprocesses of gully erosion,
• critical thresholds for the initiation, development and infilling of gullies,
• factors controlling gully erosion rates,
• contribution of gully erosion to soil degradation and sediment production at various temporal and spatial scales and under different environmental conditions,
• mountain hazards induced by gully erosion,
• historical reconstructing of gully erosion,
• interaction between gully erosion and other land degradation processes,
• modeling rates of gully erosion at various temporal and spatial scales,
• gully erosion control measures and their efficiency.

Location:

　　The symposium will take place in Chengdu, China, which is the capital of Sichuan Province with more than 5 million population, located southwest China in the upper Yangtze River Basin, 2-hours airplane journey from Beijing International Airport or from Hong Kong Airport. Regular train express services link Chengdu with Beijing, Xi 抋 n, Shanghai, and Chongqing.

　　The symposium will be held at the Chengdu Branch of Chinese Academy of Sciences. The Chengdu Branch offers excellent conference facilities.

Oral/Poster Presentations:

　　One-page abstracts for oral and poster presentations related to the theme of the symposium will be accepted by the organizing committee prior to November 30, 2001. Guidelines for the submission of abstracts will accompany a second symposium announcement, which will be distributed in July 2001. All abstracts accepted for presentations during this symposium will be published in a book of abstracts that will be available to participants at the beginning of the conference.

Language:

　　The symposium will be conducted in English.

Conference Output:

　　Publication of both oral and poster presentations is anticipated in appropriate international scientific journals, subject to normal peer review.

Costs:

　　The registration fee for this symposium will be 150 US dollars (deadline for receipt is 01 February 2002). This registration fee will cover the cost of the mid-symposium tour (one-day), banquet during the symposium, and conference materials (including the book of abstracts). It does not include hotel costs. Chengdu does have a wide variety of hotels. Participants are therefore asked to book themselves a hotel room. A list of hotels having a good price/quality ratio with an indication of the room cost will be available for those who return the interest reply form.

Field excursion after conference:

　　A five-day field excursion after conference will be organized as required. This five-day excursion will bring the participants to some interesting research sites in Minjiang River watershed and one of the most famous tour scenic spot in the world, Jiuzhaigou natural protect area on the Tibetan Plateau in the Upper Yangtze River Basin, where studies on soil erosion and its control measures is being conducted by several Institutes of Chinese Academy of Sciences. This five-day field excursion costs 250 US dollars including all tickets to tour scenic spots, hotel, and meals and transport fees.

Organizing Committee:

　　Jean Poesen, Laboratory for Experimental Geomorphology, K.U.Leuven, Leuven, Belgium. email:[email protected]

　　John Boardman, Environmental Change Unit, University of Oxford, Oxford, U.K. email: [email protected]

　　Mike Kirkby, School of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds, U.K. email: [email protected]

　　Hans-Ruldolf Bork, CAU Ecology Center, Kiel, Germany. email: [email protected]

　　Mark Nearing, USDA-ARS National Soil Erosion Research Laboratory, Purdue University, West Lafayette, USA email: [email protected]

　　Chi-hua Huang, USDA-ARS National Soil Erosion Research Laboratory, Purdue University, West Lafayette, USA email: [email protected]

　　Christian Valentin, Institute of Research for Development, Paris, France [email protected]

　　Gerard Govers, Laboratory for Experimental Geomorphology, K.U.Leuven, Leuven, Belgium. email: [email protected]

　　Dino Torri, Instituto per la Genesi e l扙 cologia del Suolo, University of Firenze, Firenze, Italy email: [email protected]

　　Qiguo Zhao, Institute of Soil Sciences, Academia Sinica, Nanjing, China, email: [email protected]

　　Keli Tang, Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Academia Sinica, Yangling, China, email: [email protected]

　　Young Li, Center for Mountain Environment Research, Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Academia Sinica, PO Box 417, Chengdu 610041, China. Phone & Fax: +86 28 5238973, email: [email protected]

　　Peng Cui, Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Academia Sinica, PO Box 417, Chengdu 610041, China, - email: [email protected]

　　Genwei Cheng, Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Academia Sinica, PO Box 417, Chengdu 610041, China, - email: [email protected]

Jianhui Zhang, Center for Mountain Environment Research, Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Academia Sinica, PO Box 417, Chengdu 610041, China, Phone & Fax: +86 28 5238973, email:[email protected]

Interest Reply Form:

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