10:00-13:10

Session I Biochemical and Microbial Processes of Nutrient Cycling in Soil-Plant System

Chair: Yongchao Liang

10:00-10:30

Keynote speaker: Sally Smith Mycorrhizas at the soil-plant interface: more than nutrient uptake.

10:30-11:00

Keynote speaker. Volker R?mheld Major constraints for plant growth in arid environments: Rhizosphere processes determining improvement in crop growth and quality.

11:00-11:20 Coffee Break (Lobby of University Conference Hall)

11:20-13:10

Session I Biochemical and Microbial Processes of Nutrient Cycling in Soil-Plant System

Chair: Hans Lambers, Co-chair: Qirong Shen

11:20-11:50

Speaker: Andrew Smith Growth responsiveness of arbuscular mycorrhizal plants: challenging the physiological explanations.

11:50-12:10

Speaker: Guohua Xu Facilitated Mycorrhizal colonization, legume nodulation, phosphate uptake and nitrogen transfer in a mycorrhizal upland rice and mungbean intercrop.

12:10-12:30

Speaker : Stephen Burgess Plants as an exchange interface between soil and atmosphere: processes and study techniques of interest.

12:30-12:50

Speaker: Pingan Jiang Impacts of long-term enclosure on soil microbes in a mountain-pasture in Bayinbuluke.

12:50-13:10

Speaker: Huijun Wu Soil water and nitrogen dynamics change under long-term tillage practices in a Chinese semiarid area.

15:40-19:00 15:40-17:00

Water Transport mechanism and Water Management in Arid Ecosystems (University Conference Hall)

Chair: Andrew Smith, Co-chair: Toru Fujiwara

15:40-16:10

Keynote speaker: Hans Lambers Water relations and mineral nutrition of closely related woody plant species on dunes and interdunes in the Great Sandy Desert, Australia . 

16:10-16:30

S peaker: Rony Wallach The patterns of synchronized environmentally and physiologically induced oscillations in whole-plant transpiration.  

16:30-17:00:

Keynote speaker. Yan Li On the partial discontinuity for water transport at the soil-root interface .  

17:20-19:00

Session II Water Transport mechanism and Water Management in Arid Ecosystems

Chair: Steve Tyerman, Co-chair: Yan Li

17:20-17:40

Speaker: Weiping Chen ENVIRON-GRO - An integrated water, salinity and nitrogen model: I. Model development.

17:40-18:00

Speaker: Zhenan Hou ENVIRO-GRO - An integrated water, salinity, and nitrogen model: II. Simulation and test.

18:00-18:20

Speaker: Li Ren Assessing the size dependency of measured hydraulic conductivity using double-ring infiltrometers and numerical simulation.

18:20-18:40

Speaker: Fuyu Ma Leaf production and light- and water-use efficiency in field-grown tomato as affected by soil water threshold during fruit development.

18:40-19:00

Speaker: Alasdair Grigg Water relations of woody plants in the Great Sandy Desert after a simulated cyclonic rainfall event.

9:30-17:00

Session III Physiological and Molecular mechanisms of Plant Adaptation to Stressful Environments

Chair: Sally Smith, Co-chair: Changzhou Wei

9:30-10:00

Keynote speaker Graham D. Farquhar (ABSTRACT not provided).

10:00-10:30

Speaker: T. Fujiwara Molecular physiological studies and potential application of boron transporters for crop improvement

10:30-10:50

Speaker: Hong Liao GmWNK1, an ortholog of kinases mutated in human hypertension, regulates ABA-dependent osmotic stresses in soybean.

10:50-11:20

Keynote speaker: Steve Tyerman The role of aquaporins in controlling root hydraulic conductance in grapevine.

11:20-11:40

S peaker: Qirong Shen Control of Fusarium wilt by nursery application of bio-organic agents.

11:40:12:00

Speaker: Shiwei Guo Ammonium enhances the tolerance to water stress of rice plants.

12:20:12:40

Speaker: Changzhou Wei Responses of soil microbes and cotton plants to plastic-film contaminated soils.

12:40-13:00

Speaker: Y. Cohen Mitigating adverse effects of low water quality on plants

15:00-17:00

Session III Molecular and Physiological mechanism for Plant Adaptation to Stressful Environments

Chair: Volker R.mheld, Co-chair: Jennifer Yang

15:00-15:20

Speaker: Miroslav Nikolic Iron availability in plants: Implications of drought stress.

15:20-15:40

Speaker: Asghari Bano Salt Tolerance in Zea mays (L).following inoculation with Rhizobium and phosphate-solubilizing bacteria.

15:40-16:00

Speaker: Suo-min Wang Na-containing fertilizer promotes growth and enhances drought resistance of desert plants.

16:00-16:20

Speaker: Ali. R. Gurmani Reduction in sodium transport and bypass flow by exogenously applied abscisic acid with silicon in rice and wheat seedlings under salt stress.

16:20-16:40

Speaker: Jinlin Zhang Effects of K + on Na + uptake and accumulation in a wild halophyte Suaeda maritima .

16:40-17:00

Speaker: Jin Cao Amelioration effects of alfalfa ( Medicago sativa ) on salt-affected soils in Yingda irrigation district in Gansu Province .

17:20-19:10

Session IV Nutrient and/or Metal Bio-availability in Agro-ecosystem

Chair: Yongguan Zhu, co-chair: Y. Cohen

17:20-17:50

Speaker: Mike Mclaughlin Reactions of trace element fertilisers in dryland soils and effects on crop nutrition .

17:50-18:10

Speaker: Chunjian Li Root growth and spatial distribution in soil in relation to nitrogen-acquisition efficiency in maize (Zea mays L.) plants.

18:10-18:30

Speaker: Xiaohong Tian Approaches to increase zinc concentration and bioavailability in wheat grain.

18:30-18:50

Speaker: Yibing Ma Accumulation of phosphorus in soils related to application rates and crop yields in wheat-maize cropping system s.

18:50-19:10

Speaker: Jennifer Yang (Abstract not provided).