Organizers

Mammal Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences (MRI PAS, Poland) – The MRI PAS is an independent scientific research unit of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAS), shaping the development of mammalogy in Poland since its foundation in 1952 and the only PAS institution in Podlasie region. MRI PAS is located in Białowieża, eastern Poland, in the central part of the last natural European lowland forest – Białowieża Primeval Forest, and close to Białowieża National Park (recognized as UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and World Heritage Site). Research conducted at MRI PAS focuses on mammalian morphology, taxonomy, systematics, evolution, population genetics, ethology, and ecology, with application in wildlife conservation and animal population management. The institute has an extensive zoological collection, comprising about 190.000 mammal specimens, from the yellow-necked mouse to the European bison.

Białowieża Geobotanical Station, University of Warsaw (BSG, Poland) – BSG is a scientific unit operating within the structures of the Faculty of Biology at the University of Warsaw since 1967, and located in Białowieża, eastern Poland. The station was founded in 1952 to undertake long-term research on the seasonal rhythm of forest communities in Białowieża Primeval Forest. In 1959, BSG began to function as a Botanical Station in Białowieża of the Institute of Botany PAN in Cracow, innovating with long-term research on the plant and plant population dynamics in a natural landscape and the human influence on the plant cover transformation. In 1974, the current Station was built and an experimental garden was organized next to it for long-term research on the initiation and course of secondary succession on farmland and mesic meadow. The Station also includes accommodation facilities, a laboratory and research base, and a herbarium (over 30,000 sheets with over 900 species, including vascular plants, bryophytes, liverworts, and lichens). Recent BSG research has been extended to fields such as plant-animal interactions and functional ecology, the impact of climate warming on ecosystem functioning, biological invasions, ecosystem services, and even urban ecology. The Station team also organizes annual seminars since 1983 (in cooperation with the Geobotany and Flora Protection Section PBS, Institute of Botany PAS, and Department of Plant Ecology and Environmental Protection AMU), teaching activities (Białowieża School of Statistics in cooperation with the Institute of Dendrology PAS in Kórnik, and the Polish-Swiss Summer School in cooperation with the Zurich University of Applied Sciences) and develops international projects (FunDivEUROPE, KlimaVeg, and Dr. FOREST), resulting in numerous international contacts and publications in the most prestigious scientific journals.