Catchments are important as natural units for hydrological and ecosystem research. The major disciplines (i) hydrology, (ii) soil sciences, and (iii) ecology are interacting as a complex landscape system with abiotic and biotic processes. This complexity has evolved over long-term periods of decades to millennia. Most ecosystem studies so far have been carried out in mature systems where an equilibrium of driving forces, structures, and processes are established.
Only limited knowledge exists on the very initial phase of natural development. However, the very first patterns and structures are considered to be crucial for the later ecosystem development, water and solute fluxes and the interplay of abiotic and biotic processes. To characterize the effect of this very initial phase of development on later stages of ecosystem structure and functioning, it is necessary to entangle the close interaction of spatial and temporal structures with processes. Moreover, the study of initial, probably less complex systems could help to better identify and characterize coupled patterns and processes compared to highly complex systems.
The oral and poster session aims at the formation of a forum for scientists from different disciplines (especially from soil science, hydrology and biosystems) to share experiences on these problems. Each research field will be introduced by a keynote speaker. We solicit contributions to the following topics (but not limited to):
• Soil formation
• Land form evolution
• Catchment evolution
• Modelling of initial systems
• Ecosystem development

Solicited speakers:
Brian McGlynn, bmcglynn[at]montana.edu
Ellen Kandeler, ellen.kandeler[at]uni-hohenheim.de