International conference of research experts on albatrosses and petrels at the University of Barcelona
More than 150 worldwide experts are taking part in the sixth edition of the International Albatross and Petrel Conference, which will take place at the Historical Building of the University of Barcelona from 20th to 23th September, under the supervision of Professor Jacob González Solís, from the Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences and the Biodiversity Research Institute of the University of Barcelona (IRBio).
This international forum, held in a European city for the first time, had been held in Hobart (Australia, 1995), Hawaii (United States, 2000), Montevideo (Uruguay, 2004), Cape Town (South Africa, 2008), and Wellington (New Zealand, 2012).
More than 150 worldwide experts are taking part in the sixth edition of the International Albatross and Petrel Conference, which will take place at the Historical Building of the University of Barcelona from 20th to 23th September, under the supervision of Professor Jacob González Solís, from the Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences and the Biodiversity Research Institute of the University of Barcelona (IRBio).
This international forum, held in a European city for the first time, had been held in Hobart (Australia, 1995), Hawaii (United States, 2000), Montevideo (Uruguay, 2004), Cape Town (South Africa, 2008), and Wellington (New Zealand, 2012).
Albatross and petrels are oceanic birds which are very vulnerable to any threat affecting adult survival. Particularly the giant petrel, which is a common victim of the accidental fishing traps, is included in the red list of threatened species of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). According to a recent study by Professor González Solís, albatrosses and giant petrels are the oceanic birds that are most exposed to mercury pollution in Antarctic and sub-Antarctic environments, probably by the increase in mercury pollution in emerging countries.
In the conference, the experts will cover the most innovative research areas related to the threats to the preservation of petrels and albatrosses, ecology, phylogenic, new telemetry study technologies, immunology, reproduction and human impact on bird population around the world, among other topics. The opening event, which will take place on Monday September 19 at 20.30 h, at the Observatory Fabra in Barcelona, the prestigious ornithologist Hadoram Shirihai will give the great conference “What it takes to rediscover & discover 6 petrel species”.
In the conferences, between the 19th and 23th of September, there will be also the participation of the experts Henri Weimerskirch (“Life time foraging and links with fisheries in albatrosses”) and John Croxall (“Seabird research for conservation: past successes, future prospects”), among other worldwide experts. The Albatross and Petrel International Conference will end with a magisterial conference by Professor Fran Zino, entitled “The start of the Selvagens Nature Reserve and the rediscovery of Zinoʼs Petrel”.
Images: Jacob González Solís (UB-IRBio)