Agricultural biodiversity -- making use of and conserving a variety of plant and animal species in commercially viable agricultural operations -- is the focus of an international symposium scheduled next month at UC Davis.

The symposium boasts historic links. First, the symposium comes during the UC Davis Centennial, and serves as an example of the university's long history of leadership in global research.

Second, the symposium is the successor to a program held 11 years ago at the International Center for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas in Aleppo, Syria. Organizers dedicated the 1997 symposium to the late Jack R. Harlan, one of the leading scientists in the field of crop evolution, thus the successor event is called Harlan II.

The symposium's subtitle is "Domestication, Evolution and Sustainability. It is set to run from Sept. 14 to 18.

Organizers said evolutionary biologist and author Jared Diamond will deliver the opening keynote, discussing the role that chance or destiny play in the local origins of agriculture. Diamond is a professor of geography at UCLA and author of the books Collapse and Guns, Germs and Steel.

The program also includes a keynote by Gary Nabhan, talking about the originis of food diversity. Nabhan, a professor at the University of Arizona's Southwest Center, is an ecologist and expert in how different cultures use plants, and a pioneer in the local food movement.

The symposium's scientific program will be held on campus, featuring international speakers who are at the forefront of their fields.

Tours will follow to agricultural sites near Davis and elsewhere in Northern California.

The symposium is being coordinated by the departments of Animal Science, Anthropology, Human and Community Development, and Plant Sciences; as well as the UC Genetic Resources Conservation Program, part of the Agriculture and Natural Resources division, with guidance from an international advisory committee.

The symposium is open to the public, with preregistration required: harlanii.ucdavis.edu.