SECOND CIRCULAR LETTER

INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM

ON SUSTAINABLE USE AND MANAGEMENT OF SOILS IN ARID

AND SEMIARID REGIONS

CARTAGENA, MURCIA

22^nd-26^th

September, 2002

Supporting Organizations:

International Union of Soil Sciences

Spanish Society of Soil Science

European Society for Soil Conservation

European Conservation Agriculture Federation

Spanish Society of Conservation Agriculture. Alive Soils

European Soil Bureau

Seneca Foundation

Cartagena City Council

Autonomous Region of Murcia

The Polytechnic University of Cartagena

The University of Murcia

Introduction:
This symposium is part of the inter-congressional activities of the Commission V Soil Genesis, Classification and Cartography of the IUSS. The Department of Agricultural Chemistry, Geology, and Pedology of the University of Murcia and the Department of Agricultural Production of the Polytechnic University of Cartagena will jointly organise this symposium. The Region of Murcia is one of the driest areas in Europe and it is facing many problems associated with agriculture and environment, including scarcity of water, urbanisation, salinization, soil erosion, and desertification. Explosion in greenhouse cultivation within the last two decades in the region, using advanced plantation technologies, created new challenges regarding the use and management of soils under arid and semiarid conditions. New agricultural developments in Murcia were in response to external demand rather than taking into account the suitability of the soil to produce appropriate crops. Therefore, most of the products are not used locally and shipped immediately to North European markets. New agricultural practices have sometimes created many soil and environmental problems that may be restorable. The region has reached a critical level that requires a close examination of the water use efficiency under new sets of conditions.
The objective of this symposium is bringing together an expert group for consultation to identify strategies, priority issues, and technical options for the sustainable use of arid and semiarid lands.

Venue of the Meeting:
The meeting will take place in Cartagena, Murcia, at the Auditorium of the Polytechnic University, placed in the “Muralla del Mar” Campus. The City of Cartagena, located in the South-East of the Iberian Peninsula, with a population of approximately 176,000 inhabitants, is the second largest city in the Region of Murcia. This city is surrounded by beautiful sandy beaches and rocky cliffs and has one of the main harbours in the Mediterranean Sea. Cartagena boasts a very rich history which dates back to 227 B.C. It can be reached by plane, railway, and bus from the major airports of Europe. The Region of Murcia has typical Mediterranean characteristics, which is hot and dry in the summer and rainy and mild in the winter. The Region in general has a lot of unique historical and tourist attractions with natural beauties. As a result of that, Murcia receives many tourists.

Address venue
Building of “Antiguo Hospital de Marina”.
The Polytechnic University Cartagena.
Campus Muralla del Mar, s/n.
30.202 Cartagena. Murcia. Spain.

All correspondence should be sent to the following address:

Dr. Ángel Faz Cano.
Secretary SUMASS2002.
Department of Agricultural Production.
The Polytechnic University of Cartagena.
Paseo Alfonso XIII, 48.
30.203 Cartagena. Murcia. Spain. Email: sumass2002@upct.es
Phone: 34-968 32 54 40
Fax: 34-968 32 54 35
Web Page:http://www.upct.es/sumass2002
http://www.um.es/sumass2002

The Structure of the Symposium:
The symposium will consists of invited lectures, scientific sessions with oral and poster presentations, and field excursions:
1.-Invited lectures and scientific sessions: 23rd, 24th and 26th September/2002.
2.-Midweek field excursions: 25th September/2002. There will be three options.

Excursion 1: Campo de Cartagena-Mar Menor. Mainly agricultural use of soils. It will include the examination of the major soils of the region and the visit to the newly established greenhouses with the most sophisticating nutritional and irrigation systems. Lunch will be in an exclusive typical restaurant along the Mar Menor.
Excursion 2: Valle del Guadalentín-Sierra Espuña. Combining agricultural use of soils and forestry. It will also include the examination of soils affected by salinization processes, observation of some amendment experiences using organic residues to improve soil quality and visit to Natural Park of Sierra Espu–a mountain where both, edaphodiversity and forestry soil management, will be seen. Lunch will be in a typical restaurant placed in that natural park.
Excursion 3: Escombreras-La Unión-Portman-Mar Menor. Mainly contamination problems of soils affected by pollutants from mining and industrial activity. It will include the examination of the polluted soils of the area and the visit to Portman Bay. Lunch will be in a typical restaurant along the Mediterranean Sea coast.

Main Topics of the Symposium:
The main topics are indicated below.
1.-Genesis, classification, and cartography of soils.
2.-Mineralogy of soils in arid and semiarid regions.
3.-Chemistry and physics.
4.-Soil biology and ecology.
5.-Land evaluation for different uses.
6.-Soil management techniques (conservation tillage, residue management, agroforestry) and sustainable use of fertilizers.
7.-Intensive agricultural production in Mediterranean agro-ecological conditions.
8.-Soil erosion.
9.-Soil-water-plant relationship.
10.-Indicators of soil quality.
11.-Carbon sequestration in arid and semiarid regions.
12.-Soil degradation (desertification) and mitigation technologies for degraded lands.
13.-Aplication of geographical information systems and remote sensing.
14.-Anthropogenic influence.
15.-Soil contamination and remediation.
16.-Soil salinization.
17.-Technologies to improve soil quality.

Summary Format:
The extended summary of both, poster and oral presentations, should be sent to the Secretary of the symposium no later than May the 15th. One copy of the summary should be received, either by regular mail, including printed copy and electronic version filed on a floppy disk, or directly attached by Email. We plan to publish those accepted presentations in a separate book, delivered at the symposium. It is also our intention to make arrangements with an appropriate journal to publish, as many scientific papers as possible, in a special issue following the regular review process. All the submissions are expected to be in electronic form MS Word 95 or latter version.

a.-The extended summary should not exceed 2 A4 size pages, single spaced typed with Times New Roman justified, with appropriate margins.
b.-The title in font Times New Roman 14, capital letters, bold and centred.
c.-The author(s) affiliation: in Italic letters, centred, if more than one author, number them and include the full address of each institution. This will be in Times New Roman 12.
d.-Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results and Discussion and Conclusions in text normal, Times New Roman 12. Different headings also in bold and centred.
e.-All the references cited in the text should be listed at the end of extended summary, in Times New Roman 12, preceded by References heading, also written in bold and centred. All should be written as follows:
Rasiah, V., Biederbeck, V. O., Curtin, D., Zetner, R. P. 1997. Parameterizing temporal changes in aggregation in a sludge amended soil. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 61, 579-585.

Registration Form:
Those interested in attending the Symposium should complete the attached registration form and send it back to the secretary. At the same time, a copy of the transfer of the registration payment should be included. The deadline for the submission of the registration form is June 30/2002. The registration form can be sent to the secretary of the symposium by E-mail, as indicated on the web page, although a copy of the payment receipt should be sent by regular mail or fax. For those that previously sent the preregistration form, including all their data, even the definitive title of the paper, it is not necessary to send the registration form. In this case, send only the payment receipt.

Registration Fee:
Registration fee will cover welcome receptions, general symposium documentation, abstract book, invited lectures book, field excursions guidebook, admissions to scientific sessions, mid-week excursion, coffee and tea, and others. The closing dinner is excluded from this price. Abstracts without paid registration will not be included in the programme.

Payments later than June 30/2002 will be increased by 25%.

Method of Payment:
The registration fee should preferably be paid by bank transfer. Please send the registration form together with the payment receipt. The total amount in Euros, as can be seen above, have to be transferred to the account number: 2043.0096.04.020051572-0, Caja Murcia, Cartagena, office number 096, Capitanes Ripoll, Paseo Alfonso XIII, 40 (from outside Spain, please consider Swift address: CECAESMM 043). Please, make sure that the surname of the registered person is clearly indicated on the transfer receipt. Consider also that all the bank charges should be paid by the person who is going to be registered. Payment by credit card is also possible.

Confirmation of Registration:
As soon as the registration form plus payment receipt are at the Symposium secretary, the registration confirmation will be sent by mail. Official receipt may be delivered, under request, at the registration desk during the symposium. It is recommended to bring a copy of the payment to the symposium in case there is any kind of misunderstanding.

Cancellations and Refunds:
The conference secretary must be notified in writing of cancellations before August 15/2002. Payment will be refunded minus an administrative fee of 30 €. No refunds are possible after that date.

Scientific Presentations:
The Organizing Committee will finally decide if the paper can be presented orally or as a poster.
Oral: Maximum 15 minutes including discussion. Overhead projectors, slide projectors for standard slides and Power Point IBM PC projectors will be available at the different halls.
Poster: Posters will be displayed and your time will be indicated in the program. Authors will be requested to be at their posters during the sessions. Maximun size of posters: 160 cm (height) x 110 cm (width).
Poster should be written in English; oral presentation, preferably in English, although presentations in Spanish are also possible.

Activities for Companions:
Different activities and visits will be organized. All of them, through Cartagena. They are guided and subject to minimum participation.

Accomodation:
As hotel reservations are required, you are requested to return the enclosed accomodation form, together with the aforementioned registration form and its payment receipt. In order to avoid disappointment, early booking is advised. Prices indicated are per room, per night, including breakfast and taxes. As Cartagena is very busy at that time of the year, we encourage the participants to book their rooms, directly with the hotels, by telephone, fax or E-mail, including the code Sumass2002, not later than June 30/2002. Those persons that don«t reserve accommodation should find other possibilities, by themselves, conditioned to vacancies. Student residence is also available at lower price, but without including breakfast. Almost all hotels are close to Symposium venue, some in a walking distance (see enclosed map). For those Hotels placed outside the city centre there will be available transport. All the necessary data of the different hotels are included in that accomodation form, as well as their situation. Symposium assistants should contact directly with hotels, either by phone, fax, Email or Webpage, and make their our bookings. A copy of the accomodation form with the chosen option should be sent to the symposium secretary in order to corroborate the information with hotels.

Preliminary Programme:
It will be detailed on the third circular letter.

Third Circular Letter:
The third circular letter will be sent to those that are already registered and will also be available on the web pages of the symposium from June 30/2002.

Organization Committee:
Roque Ortiz Silla, Chairman; Ángel Faz Cano, Secretary; Raquel Arnaldos Lozano, Treasurer; Antonio L. Alarcón Vera; Juan Albaladejo Montoro; José Álvarez Rogel; Héctor M. Conesa Alcaraz; Mª José Delgado Iniesta; Gregorio García Fernández; Francisco Guillén Mondéjar; Joaquín Hernández Bastida; Juan Miguel Hernández Huéscar; Miriam C. Llona Carrasco; Purificación Marín Sanleandro; A. R. Mermut, Chairman Commission V, IUSS; Antonio Sánchez Navarro.

Scientific Committee:
It will be indicated on the third circular letter.