Land use change and geomorphic, soil and water processes in
tropical mountain environments
December 16 - 21, 2002
Second Circular
Dear Madam, Dear Sir,
Thank you for showing interest in participating in the symposium "Land use change and
geomorphic, soil and water processes in tropical mountain environments", which will be
held in Ecuador from December 16 till 21, 2002. At present, over 40 persons have shown
interest in participating in the symposium.
Please find enclosed some additional information regarding the symposium. Note that
additional information will be available on the website of the Laboratory for Experimental
Geomorphology, K.U.Leuven:
http://www.kuleuven.ac.be/geography/frg/leg/symposia/ecuador/
This symposium aims at bringing together scientists from various disciplines dealing with soil
and water issues in tropical mountain areas. The main objectives of the symposium can be
formulated as follows:
-
To exchange information and scientific findings on the effects of land use change on
geomorphic, soil and water processes in tropical mountain areas in a broad sense.
-
To identify the gaps in our knowledge and understanding of the response of geomorphic,
soil and water dynamics in tropical ecosystems to environmental change.
-
To formulate research strategies and guidelines that will allow to further our
understanding of the response of geomorphic, soil and water processes to land use change
in tropical mountain areas.
-
To reflect on suitable strategies for the sustainable development of tropical mountain
areas.
Key topics
-
Factors controlling land use/-cover change in tropical mountain environments
Impact of land use/-cover change on geomorphological processes, such as tillage erosion,
water erosion and mass movements
-
Impact of land use/-cover change on water management
-
Impact of land use/-cover change on physical en chemical soil degradation
-
Assessment of the proportion of anthropogenic and natural degradation in mountain
areas
Development of suitable strategies for sustainable land and water management
Symposium organizing committee
The organizing committee is composed by:
-
Dr. Bert De Bievre
PROMAS, Programa para el Manejo de Agua y Suelo
Universidad de Cuenca, Ecuador
-
Dr. Felipe Cisneros
PROMAS, Programa para el Manejo de Agua y Suelo
Universidad de Cuenca, Ecuador
-
Prof. Dr. J. Deckers
Laboratory for Soil and Water, Department Land Management
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium
-
Prof. Dr. G. Govers
Laboratory for Experimental Geomorphology,
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium
-
Dr. R. Hofstede
Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics
Universiteit van Amsterdam, Netherlands
-
Dr. F. Maldonado
Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies
Quito, Ecuador
Pascal Podwojewski
IRD (ex ORSTOM), France
-
Prof. Dr. J. Poesen
Laboratory for Experimental Geomorphology,
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium
-
Prof. Dr. J. Sevink
Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics
Universiteit van Amsterdam, Netherlands
-
Dr. Veerle Vanacker
Laboratory for Experimental Geomorphology,
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium
Department
Geography
-
Geology
Department
Geography
-
Geology
Department
Geography
-
Geology
Provisional programme
The meeting will be organised in Ecuador: three days will be spent in Quito and three days in
Cuenca, the capital of the southern Ecuadorian Andes. It is our intention to spend ample time
in the field. The provisional program is as follows:
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
15/12
16/12
17/12
Arrival of participants
18.00 -
Registration at Hotel Quito
8.00 - 9.00
Registration at Hotel Quito
9.00 - 17.00
Presentation of papers/posters at Hotel Quito
8.00
Excursion Quito, Oyacachi, Papallacta (*):
QUITO
"Soil degradation by water and tillage erosion in the
northern Ecuadorian Andes"
"Water management in the páramo areas"
"Carbon sequestration by reforestation"
Wednesday 18/12
8.00 - 14.00
Excursion Quito, Ilalo (*):
"Effects of urbanisation on the intensification of the land
use"
"Forest management in the northern Ecuadorian Andes"
Thursday
Friday
19/12
20/12
15.30
Transfer to Cuenca by plane (*)
8.00 - 17.00
Presentation of papers/posters
19.00
Symposium dinner (*)
8.00
Excursion Cuenca, Josefina, Jadan, Machangara (*):
"Factors controlling land use change in the southern
Ecuadorian Andes"
CUENCA
"Landsliding in the southern Ecuadorian Andes"
"Effects of land use change on geomorphic processes and
river morphology"
Saturday
21/12
19.00 -
Visit to PROMAS, University of Cuenca
8.00
Excursion Cuenca, Tarqui, Giron, Santa Isabel (*):
"Natural and anthropogenic erosion processes in
mountain areas"
"Soil typology and its relation to agricultural potential"
GUAYAQUIL
"Soil erosion on irrigated parcels in mountain areas"

Sunday
22/12
Included in the registration fee
18.00
Transfer to Guayaquil ()
19.00
Concluding Session at Hotel de Oro, Guayaquil
8.00
Transfer to Quito and/or
departure from the international airport of Guayaquil
Post-conference tour:
From Sunday 22/12 till Monday 23/12, a post-conference tour is planned with as topic:
"Land Use Change and Geomorphological Processes in the Ecuadorian Andes
mountains".
The post-conference tour will start in Guayaquil on Sunday 22/12 and it will bring the
participants back to Quito on Monday 23/12 in the early afternoon.
Leaving the coastal plain where the port of Guayaquil is located, we will climb up the Andes
mountains to over 4.000. The highest section of the road passes through the páramo from
which you can see the Mt. Chimborazo (6310 m a.s.l.). Hereby, we will pass successively the
following bio-geographical regions: (1) mangroves right near the Pacific Coast, (2) dry
tropical forest in the Coastal Plain, (3) cloud forest at the Eastern exterior flank of the Andes
mountains, (4) the mountain region of the Inter-Andean valley and (5) the high mountain
region or páramo. Several stops will be held at interesting research locations along the road.
In the early evening, we will arrive in Riobamba where we will spend the night.
On Monday 23/12, we will leave Riobamba in the morning. On a clear day, it is possible to
see Mts. Chimborazo, Carihuairazo, Tungurahua, El Altar, and the Cotopaxi, all snow-capped
peaks of more than 5000 m in altitude. We will arrive in Quito in the early afternoon, so that
the connection with international flights can be guaranteed.
This excursion is optional, with a specific fee attached to it. The fee for the post-conference
tour is 150 USD and includes transportation, lunch, hotel accommodation in Riobamba and
excursion guides. The number of tour participants will be limited to a maximum of 42.
Reservations will be accepted on a first come-first serve basis. All reservations will be
acknowledged by airmail or fax.
Registration fee
The symposium registration fee, prior to September 30, 2002, will be 275 USD. The
registration fee after that date will be 300 USD. This registration fee will cover all conference
materials, a book of abstracts, the transfer Quito-Cuenca by plane, the symposium excursions
on 16/12,17/12, 20/12 and 21/12 (including the excursion guide, transportation and lunches),
the accommodation in Guayaquil on 21/12 and the symposium dinner on 19/12. The postconference tour from 22/12 to 23/12 is not included in this registration fee and costs 150
USD.
The registration fees mentioned above are exclusive bank transfer costs: bank transfer costs
are to be paid by the participant. Payment deadline is November 1, 2002. The organizing
committee will buy flight tickets only for those participants who payed the registration fee
before November 5, 2002. It will be very difficult to arrange for a transfer from Quito to
Cuenca after November 5 2002.
Travel assistance
Participants are encouraged to seek travel support from their own government agencies or
program sponsors. The symposium organising committee will be pleased to write pro forma
letters of invitation to the symposium, in order to support qualified symposium participants in
applying for financial assistance for travel and accommodations. These pro forma letters of
invitation do not include any financial commitment of the organising committee. In general,
no travel assistance will be available through the Symposium organising committee.
However, possibilities to provide travel assistance to a limited number of participants are
presently investigated. Participants needing travel support from the organising committee are
asked to contact the committee as soon as possible.
Participants are urged to make reservations for the airline ticket as soon as possible as because
the demand for airline tickets to Ecuador is very high in December. Ecuador has two
international airports, Quito and Guayaquil: most airline companies fly on both destinations.
However, it is suggested to arrive in the international airport of Quito as the symposium will
start in Quito.
Abstracts
Abstracts for poster and/or oral presentations should be submitted (i) as a hard copy and (ii) in
a computer format as: (1) ASCII text, (2) Microsoft Word, or (3) Word Perfect files.
Abstracts should not exceed 400 words in length and the format should be according to the
example included. The abstracts should include the author's name and affiliation, as well as
the mailing address, telephone and fax number and, if available, an e-mail address of the
corresponding author. Abstracts may be sent either on a computer diskette with an
accompanying hardcopy or via airmail to the Symposium correspondence address or by email to gerard.govers@geo.kuleuven.ac.be.
The deadline for submission of all abstracts is September 15, 2002. Individuals who submit
abstracts will be informed about the acceptance of their abstracts for an oral or a poster
presentation by October 1, 2002.
All abstracts accepted for presentation during the symposium "Land use change and
geomorphic, soil and water processes in tropical mountain environments" will be published
in a book of abstracts that will be made available to all participants at the outset of the
symposium.
Publication of papers
Selected papers will be published as a special issue of an international scientific journal after
proper reviewing procedures. Contacts have already been established with the editors of
Geomorphology. Deadline for submission of manuscripts is March 31, 2003.
Housing accommodation
Symposium participants are asked to book themselves a hotel room for December 15, 16 and
17 in Quito and December 18, 19 and 20 in Cuenca. For your convenience, it is
recommended to stay in Quito at Hotel Quito as the registration and poster/paper presentation
will be organized at this hotel. However, other hotel facilities are available, a short list is
given below. The accommodation in Guayaquil on 21/12 will be provided and is included in
the registration fee. Attached to this letter is a list of hotels in Quito and Cuenca, which are
close to the conference room. Participants are urged to make reservations for their
accommodation and flights as soon as possible because hotel rooms may be reserved a long
time in advance.
Timetable and Deadlines
Receipt of abstracts
September 15, 2002
Confirmation of acceptance of paper/poster presentation
October 1, 2002
Conference registration and payment: reduced rate
September 30, 2002
full rate
October 30, 2002
Registration and payment for post-conference tour
October 30, 2002
Submission of manuscript for publication
March 31, 2003
Symposium correspondence address
For general inquiry, abstract submission, registration, requests for letters of invitations, please
use the following address:
International symposium: "Land use change and geomorphic, soil and water processes in tropical
mountain environments"
Attn: Gerard Govers
Laboratory for experimental geomorphology, KULeuven
Redingenstraat 16
B-3000 Leuven
Belgium
Phone:
+32 16.32.64.23
Fax:
+32 16 32.64.00
E-mail: gerard.govers@geo.kuleuven.ac.be
Website: http://www.kuleuven.ac.be/geography/frg/leg/symposia/ecuador/
We look forward to meeting you at the International Symposium on Land use change and
geomorphic, soil and water processes in tropical mountain environments in Ecuador.
Yours Sincerely
Gerard Govers and Veerle Vanacker
On behalf of the Symposium Organising Committee
Registration and Payment form
International Symposium on
Land use change and geomorphic, soil and water processes
in tropical mountain environments
Ecuador, December 16-21, 2002
Please type or print in block letters and retain a photocopy of this form.
Name
(This name will be used on your symposium badge)
Title/Position
Institute
Street/P.O.Box
City
State
Zip
Country
Telephone No
Fax No
(Include Country and/or city codes)
E-mail Address
Registration
(Please mark the check boxes that apply)
Payment
Before 1/10/2002
1. Symposium registration
275 USD
2. Registration for post-conference tour
150 USD
Total registration fee
After 1/10/2002
300 USD
USD
Giro transfer made for the total amount in USD, to account N° 953 0529093 24 of
Citibank, Bondgenotenlaan 46-48, B-3000 LEUVEN, Belgium (Name of account
holder: Gerard Govers). The SWIFT code of Cibibank Belgium is: CTBKBEBX
Indicate on the giro transfer: REGISTRATION International symposium on land use
change and geomorphic, soil and water processes in tropical mountain areas, Ecuador.
Signature
Date
Airmail or fax this completed registration/Payment form to:
International Symposium “Land use change and geomorphic, soil and water processes in
tropical mountain areas”
Attn: Gerard Govers
Laboratory for Experimental Geomorphology, KULeuven
Redingenstraat 16
3000 Leuven
Belgium
Fax: +32 16 32.64.00
Prediction of ephemeral gully erosion in Mediterranean environments
Poesen, J. 1, Nachtergaele, J. 1, Vandekerckhove, L. 1, Oostwoud Wijdenes, D. 1, Roxo,
M. 2
1
Laboratory for Experimental Geomorphology, K.U.Leuven, Redingenstraat 16, 3000 Leuven,
Belgium.
2
Departamento de Geografia e Planeamento Regional, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Avenida de
Berna 26c, 1050 Lisboa, Portugal
Soil erosion by water is considered to be one of the most important land degradation
processes in Mediterranean Europe. Over the past decades most studies dealing with
water erosion in this environment have mainly focussed on interrill (sheet) and rill
erosion. However, recently collected data in the framework of the MEDALUS
project (Mediterranean Desertification and land Use) point to gully erosion as a very
important sediment source: 50 to 80 % of total sediment produced in upland areas
originates in ephemeral gullies. Given that gullies are effective links between upland
areas and channels, gully erosion aggravates flooding problems and the silting up of
reservoirs. Consequently, more attention should be given to the prediction of sediment
production by ephemeral gullying under a range of environmental conditions.
In order to predict soil losses by ephemeral gully erosion, the model EGEM
(Ephemeral Gully Erosion Model) has been tested. EGEM has two major components,
of which the hydrology component is a physical process model based on the runoff
curve number. The erosion component uses the hydrology outputs to solve a
combination of empirical relationships and physical process equations in order to
compute the final width and depth of the ephemeral gully. An EGEM-input data set
for 86 ephemeral gullies was collected in cultivated lands in Southeast Spain and in
both cultivated and abandoned lands in Southeast Portugal. A first analysis indicates
that EGEM tends to underpredict soil losses by ephemeral gully erosion, probably
because of the stony nature of most soils in the study area. However, an important
input parameter for this model is total ephemeral gully length which is seldom
available. Hence, threshold relationships between local slope gradient and drainage
area for the beginning and ending of ephemeral gully trajectories have been
established in a variety of Mediterranean environments in order to predict total
ephemeral gully length. Despite the various physiographic conditions, land uses and
storm characteristics in the studied areas, the results indicate a potential of the
topographic threshold concept to predict the location of ephemeral gullies.
Keywords: ephemeral gully erosion, EGEM, Mediterranean environments.
Corresponding author:
Jeroen Nachtergaele
Laboratory for Experimental Geomorphology,
KULeuven
Redingenstraat 16,
3000 Leuven, Belgium
Tel: +32 16 32 64 26
Fax: +32 16 32.64.00
e-mail: jeroen.nachtergaele@geo.kuleuven.ac.be
Housing accommodation
(see websites for a description of the accommodation and the hotel facilities)
Quito, Ecuador
* Low budget (approximately 35 USD for a single room / night)
Hotel Embassy
Av. Wilson E8-22 y 6 de Diciembre
tel: ++593-2-2561990; fax: ++593-2-2563192
email: efhotels@interactive.net.ec
http://www.ecuadorianfantasy.com
* Middle budget (approximately 65 USD for a single room / night)
Hotel Quito
Av. Gonzales Suarez 2500
tel: ++593-2-2230300; fax: ++593-2-2567284
* High budget (approximately 150 USD for a single room /night)
Hilton Colon Quito
Av Amazonas y Patria
tel: ++593-2-2560666; fax: ++593-2-2563903
www.hilton.com
Cuenca, Ecuador
* Low budget (approximately 20 USD for a single room / night)
Hostal Chordeleg
Gran Colombia No. 11-15 y General Torres
tel: ++593-7-822536; fax: ++593-7- 824611
email: hostalfm@etapa.com.ec
http://www.ecuaventura.com/azuay/wdis_ac_hhosta_chordeleg.html
* Middle budget (approximately 30 USD for a single room / night)
Hotel Patrimonio
Calle Simón Bolívar No. 6-22 y A. Borrero, Cuenca
tel: ++593-7-831599; fax: ++593-7-842163
email: hpatrimo@etapa.com.ec
http://www.hotelpatrimonio.com/
* High budget (approximately 60 USD for a single room / night)
Hotel Crespo
Calle Larga No. 7-93, Cuenca
tel: ++593-7-842571; fax: ++593-7-839473
email: info@hotel-crespo.com
http://www.paiceonline.org/hotel-crespo/index2.html