The ecology of fossil and extant molluscs
Organizers:
Simon Schneider (CASP, Cambridge, UK)
Andrzej Kaim (Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland)
Thomas Neubauer (Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany)
Keynote Speaker:
Bert Van Bocxlaer (CNRS, Lille University, France)
Title: Linking microevolutionary and macroevolutionary dynamics in freshwater mollusks of the East African Rift System
Abstract: Molluscs have developed a wide range of environmental adaptations, and some of them take an active role as ecosystem engineers. The functional morphology and biomineralisation of mollusc shells record information on their environment. In addition, molluscs have acquired advanced behavioural traits, related to feeding, predation and propagation.
This symposium welcomes presentations on all aspects of the
autecology and synecology of fossil and modern molluscs, including:
(1) Life-life interactions of molluscs, such as parasitism, commensalism, predator-prey or epibiont-substrate relationships.
(2) The impact of molluscs on their environment, including vegetation, water quality, food chains or community structure.
(3) Molluscs as (sclerochronological) archives of climate, pollution or other environmental parameters.
(4) Mollusc-dominated and chemosymbiotic communities, their ecology and evolution, and their environmental significance.