Plant Litter constitutes a major organic resource that makes most rivers and lakes dependent on heterotrophy; therefore, the quantity and quality of riparian and terrestrial vegetation is important for the sustainability of freshwater ecosystems. In this meeting, we will pay particular attention to the role of biodiversity, the ecological patterns and processes and underlying mechanisms, the impacts of multiple stressors, such as emerging contaminants, wildfires and climate-related stressors. We will highlight the importance of new tools (omics, next generation sequencing, bioinformatics, and modelling big data) to better understand ecological complexity towards an adaptation of biodiversity and ecosystems to global pressures.

The list of topics for abstracts:

• Diversity, interactions, traits and processes
• Structural and functional diversity
• Using genetic tools in litter decomposition research
• Carbon and energy budgets
• Food-web regulations
• Stoichiometry and nutritious quality
• Resource-consumer relationships
• Ecosystem services
• Multiple anthropogenic stressors
• Chemical stressors
• Climate change
• Hydrological alterations
• Ecological restoration: outcomes for detrital dynamics