Past as the key            to the future
View from the Canyons of Rio Grande do Sul/BR

The XI Meeting of Paleobotanists and Palynologists, sponsored by the Latin American Association of Paleobotanists and Palynologists (ALPP) and hosted by the Universidade do Vale dos Sinos (Unisinos) and the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), will be held in Gramado, Rio Grande do Sul, southern Brazil, from November 07 - 10, 2004.

The program of the Meeting is tentatively planned to include submitted papers and poster sessions, workshops, working group meetings, conferences, field trips and social events. The theme of this Meeting is "Past as the key to the Future". We look forward to gathering expertise in different areas of the subject, aiming at the role of Paleobotany in the understanding of past climatic and environmental changes and its application in modern biomes and its conservation. Thus, a multidisciplinary approach is proposed and contributions from botanists, palynologists and other environmental researchers are welcome, taking into account the necessity of to establish a link between past and present information.

The Rio Grande do Sul state offers a good opportunity and an adequate location for this discussion due to its singular fossil record of the Permian and Triassic Gondwana floral succession and the presence of modern subtropical rainforests ("Mata de Araucária" and "Mata Atlântica") that include important Southern-Hemisphere elements evolved during the Mesozoic and Cenozoic times. Both ancient and modern floras will be visited during the two field trips scheduled.