Dear All,

Just a reminder that registration for our symposium on 'Economics as if life mattered: can we shape economic policy to save species?'  closes tonight at midnight. All registrations made after today will incur a £10 late fee. Please click through on the link to the right to find out more about the symposium.

THE SARGASSO SEA - 12th June 2012, 6pm

The Sargasso Sea is a huge area of water in the central North Atlantic Ocean that turns clockwise due to movement of the ocean currents it is bound by. The free-floating mats of algae (Sargassum spp.) that aggregate within this gyre support high biological diversity and hosts life at the surface for birds, in the water column for marine fauna and on the sea floor as well. Several of the associated species have life-history patterns amd ecologies specifically adapted to the floating weed including an endemic pipefish, a snail and a crab. In addition, the Sargasso Sea provides important shelter, nurseries, spawning and feeding grounds for many pelagic species of turtles, birds and fish. For example, species of eels from European and North American rivers migrate to the Sargasso to spawn. Although a portion of the Sargasso Sea is always within Bermuda's jurisdiction, most of it lies in the international high seas, making the protection and management of this unique ecosystem particularly difficult.

This meeting will highlight the unique ecosystem supported by the Sargasso Sea and its importance both for endemic species of animals and plants, and marine biodiversity generally. Further, we will use the Sargasso Sea as a case study to show the importance of protecting the high seas, and discuss the collective conservation efforts of policy makers, extractive industries and conservation science. Finally, the importance of the Sargasso Sea to a particular species, the European eel - equally as unusual as the Sea itself - will be presented.

Speakers

Dan Laffoley Marine Vice Chair, IUCN's World Commission on Protected Areas Senior Advisor Marine Science & Conservation
Howard Roe Sargasso Sea Alliance, Emeritus Director Southampton Oceanography Centre
David Righton Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Scienc
Organised by Matt Gollock, Institute of Zoology

These talks are free and open to everyone - no need to book in advance but please arrive early as seating is limited.

STAMFORD RAFFLES LECTURE - JUNE 19 6.30pm

Darwin, Sex and Sexual Selection - Professor Tim Birkhead

Darwin's concept of sexual selection transformed our understanding of animal behaviour. Although Darwin knew that the males of many species are promiscuous, he assumed females to be monogamous. Didn't he know it takes two to tango? Darwin missed a trick. We now know that promiscuity is common among females and knowing this has changed our view of many aspects of reproduction and helps to explain the remarkable diversity in copulatory behaviour, anatomy and physiology.

Tickets are available at the link above, and cost £20 for non-members, and £15 for Fellows, students and Members. 

Megan Orpwood-Russell
Scientific Meetings Co-ordinator, ZSL, London NW1 4RY, UK.
Tel: +44 (0)20 7449 6227. Fax: +44 (0)20 7449 6411.
E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it   
Web: www.zsl.org/science/scientific-meetings