Abstracts of the 5th annual meeting of the Gesellschaft für Biologische Systematik (Society for Biological Systematics)

AbstractThe Organisms Diversity and Evolution Electronic Supplement (http://www.senckenberg.de/odes/03-02.htm) contains 36 short communications that were presented as lectures or posters at the 5th annual meeting of the GfBS (see www.gfbs-home.de/) held in Munich, 18–20 September 2002. The meeting was organized by the Botanische Staatssammlung München (BSM), Zoologische Staatssammlung München (ZSM), Department Biologie I of Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU), and the GeoBio-CenterLMU.The main topics were (i) theory of systematics, mechanisms of evolution, molecular systematics; (ii) biodiversity and collection information systems; and (iii) special issues concerning various taxa, in particular Coniferales, Anthozoa, Brachiopoda, Mollusca, Acanthocephala, Nematoda, Arthropoda and Vertebrata. An invited lecture was given by Bernd Schierwater (“Molecular development and molecule morphology in systematics: back to the future?”), and a public lecture by Ragnar Kinzelbach (“Der Seidenschwanz Bombycilla garrulus in Europa vor 1758”).In addition, a curators' meeting – organized by Marion Kotrba (ZSM) – and a meeting of the “Young Systematists” – organized by Sybille Seifried (Oldenburg) – were held in parallel sessions.The organizers thank all those persons who spent time and energy to make this meeting a successful one, and send a “vivat, crescat, floreat” towards the GfBS