Conference Organisers

The final biodiversity conference of the 1900s will be held in Perth, Western Australia, from 6 to 10 December, 1999. It will commemerate the 300th anniversary of William Dampier's second visit to "New Holland", when he made the first authenticated collections of plant specimens from the continent. The major theme of the conference will be 300 years of Australian biodiversity - what have we learned, and where do we go in the 21st Century? Most sessions will include botanical and zoological papers but there will be specialist sessions. There will be several geological papers. Conservation issues and future directions will be addressed wherever appropriate.

One session of invited papers will focus on the Shark Bay region, a World Heritage Site with a wealth of arid coastal landforms and diverse geology, flora and fauna. Pioneering conservation programs have been initiated there in both the marine and terrestrial environments.

Sessions will combine invited and contributed papers, and there will be poster displays. The Organising Committee reserves the right to determine the final program. The papers may be published as a statement on the current state of knowledge of the Australian biota.

Expressions of interest are called for presenting papers and posters. Time allocated for papers will vary between 15 and 30 minutes (including questions). Abstracts will be required by 30 September 1999. Bearing in mind the major historical and scientific themes as set out above, principal areas of interest will be:

• plant systematics, especially overviews of major groups including cryptogams,

• arid zone biodiversity,

• invertebrate diversity: subterranean biota, sampling and monitoring protocols, conservation,

• co-evolution,

• analytical advances and interactive keys,

• research priorities and funding.

Rooms will be available for meetings of smaller groups such as committees.

There will be two pre-conference excursions, one a coach tour on 3-4 December to the floristically-rich kwongan region north of Perth, and the other (subject to sufficient interest) a four-hour aerial tour on 5 December to shark Bay to view significant historical, geological and biological sites, including the Abrolhos Islands, Murchison River Gorge, Dirk Hartog Island and Hamelin Pool. A four-day post-conference coach tour (11-14 December) will visit the far South-West to see Jarrah and Karri forests, swamplands, coastal dunes and cliffs and the botanically rich Stirling Range. It will include King George Sound where Archibald Menzies in 1791 and Robert Brown in 1801 made large plant collections. This tour will pass through major wine-producing districts of Western Australia. Although it will be early summer, a diverse array of plants will be in flower, including spectacular species such as Nuytsia floribunda, Verticordia nitens and Anigozanthos pulcherrimus.

As a mid-week break there will be an afternoon cruise up the Swan River, including a visit to a winery in the State's original wine-producing district, the Swan Valley.

The Alexander Library is part of the State Library of Western Australia in Northbridge, immediately north of the Perth city centre. Next door are the Western Australian Museum and the Art Gallery of Western Australia. The Perth Central Railway Station is about 100 metres away, giving easy access for those staying out of the City. There is a wide range of hotels and restuarants within walking distance of the Library. For those who may wish to stay in the port city of Fremantle, there is a frequent train service that takes c. 30 minutes.

The Organising Committee acknowledges the support of the Library and Information Service of Western Australia and the Western Australian Museum in providing meeting facilities for the Conference.