Organized Oral Sessions Schedules

Organized Oral 1

Advances in Biodiversity Science with Remote Sensing

Monday, August 2, 2021
8:30 AM-9:30 AM Pacific Time

Session Description
Biodiversity is declining rapidly under stark pressures from human activities and climate change, highlighting the need for biodiversity observations and monitoring that can contribute to advancing global biodiversity targets, help guide biological conservation and restoration and address critical science questions related to changes in ecosystem functioning and resilience. Towards this end, remote sensing is an increasingly valuable tool to address urgent biodiversity science questions at a range of spatial and temporal scales from genes to biomes at diurnal to decadal time scales. In this session, we present contributions that utilize remote sensing to address science questions in an interdisciplinary context related to biodiversity and its vital connections to plant functional traits, ecosystem functioning and services, and the environment. The presentations cover different remote sensing techniques, such as imaging spectroscopy and lidar, in a range of ecosystems, such as grasslands, bushlands, forests and mixed landcover types in arctic to tropical climates, and at spatial scales from individual communities to whole landscapes.

One-sentence Summary
This session presents research using novel remote sensing methods to address terrestrial biodiversity research questions and applications across a range of temporal and spatial scales and various ecosystems.

Organizer
Fabian Schneider – Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology

Co-organizers
Jeannine Cavender-Bares – University of Minnesota, Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior
Philip Townsend – University of Wisconsin, Madison, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology

Moderator
Fabian Schneider – Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology

Speakers

• Imagi(ni)ng spectroscopy: understanding functional trait syndromes that lead to ecosystem service potential
  • Maria J. Santos, Geography, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland, Shruti Khanna, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Stockton, CA, Martin O. Reader, URPP GCB/Geography, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland and Susan Ustin, Land, Air & Water Resources, University of California Davis, Davis, CA
• The spatial structure of beta-diversity revealed with imaging spectroscopy
  • David A. Coomes, Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
• Landscape Diversity is positively linked to Landscape Functioning
  • Jacqueline Oehri1,2, Bernhard Schmid2,3, Gabriela Schaepman-Strub1,2 and Pascal A. Niklaus1,2, (1)Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland, (2)University Research Priorty Programme Global Change and Biodiversity (URPP GCB), University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland, (3)RSL, Department of Geography, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
• Biodiversity Survey of the Cape (BioSCape): A NASA Biodiversity field campaign in the Greater Cape Floristic Region of South Africa
  • Adam Wilson, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, NY, China, Erin Hestir, School of Engineering, University of California Merced, CA, Jasper A. Slingsby, Fynbos Node, South African Environmental Observation Network (SAEON), Henry A. Frye, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, Mansfield, CT and Cory Merow, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, Storss, CT
• Remote sensing of biodiversity in grasslands: opportunities and challenges
  • Hamed Gholizadeh1, Nicholas A. McMillan2, William Hammond3, Michael Friedman4, Kianoosh Hassani1, Amy Trowbridge5, Samuel D. Fuhlendorf2 and Henry D. Adams6, (1)Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, (2)Natural Resource Ecology and Management, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, (3)Plant Biology, Ecology, and Evolution, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, (4)Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI, (5)Entomology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, (6)School of the Environment, Washington State University, Pullman, WA
• Using imaging spectroscopy to predict above- and below-ground carbon fluxes: a case study in alpine meadows
  • Sandra M. Duran1,2, Nicola Falco3, Haruko Wainwright4, Sergio Marconi5, Amanda N. Henderson6, Heidi Steltzer7, Eoin Brodie4, Scott R. Saleska8 and Brian Enquist9, (1)Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, (2)Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Minnesota, (3)Climate & Ecosystem Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, (4)Earth Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, (5)School of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, (6)Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, (7)Biology, Fort Lewis College, Durango, CO, (8)Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, (9)The Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM

 

Organized Oral 2

Connecting Wildfire, People and Global Change in the Pacific Northwest

Monday, August 2, 2021
8:30 AM-9:30 AM Pacific Time

Session Description
In 2020 multiple fast-moving wildfires burned 400,000 hectares Oregon, USA, destroying over 4,000 homes and resulting in many fatalities. The fires were rare but catastrophic events in the moist temperate forests of Oregon. Are the fires connected to climate change? Or do they arise from poor fuels management? And what effects do they leave on the ground, for people and forests? The 2020 wildfires raise poignant ecological and social questions, which resonate with many societies beyond the Pacific Northwest that face infrequent but highly consequential natural events. Their infrequent nature makes the events susceptible to a changing perspective and changing levels of readiness by society. How are we to think of these infrequent but large fires? What will the future bring, and are we prepared? The theme of this session is tackling the evolving perspectives on wildfires and its connections to the moist forests and its human residents. The purpose is to examine the connections between weather/climate and fire, forests, and people, and invigorate discussions in both the ecological and sociological arenas. We start with two in-depth examinations of the 2020 wildfires: an exploration of weather and climate; and an exploration of the long-term ecological context for the fires. Then we explore fires more generally, by examining how fires blow up, what fire severity patterns result and what refugia they leave behind. To examine the connections between wildfire, forests and human society, we examine how catastrophic fires intersect human infrastructure, both in urban and rural settings. Finally, we highlight an emerging dynamic, where invasive species create new connections between forests and non-forests on the forest mosaic landscape.

One-sentence Summary
Starting with examinations of the catastrophic 2020 wildfires in Oregon, we explore connections between people, forests, wildfire and global change in the Pacific Northwest. We challenge and invigorate our evolving perspectives on infrequent but catastrophic natural events.

Organizer
John B. Kim – USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station

Moderator
John B. Kim – USFS, Pacific Northwest Research Station

Speakers

• Ecological context for large fires in temperate rainforests of the Pacific Northwest
  • Matthew J. Reilly, Pacific Northwest Research Station, USDA Forest Service, Corvallis, OR
• Extreme fire weather and the historical context of the 2020 Labor day fires
  • David E. Rupp, Oregon Climate Change Research Institute, College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, John T. Abatzoglou, Management of Complex Systems, University of California, Merced, CA, Larry W. O’Neill, College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR and Mojtaba Sadegh, Department of Civil Engineering, Boise State University, Boise, ID
• Fire within the fire: the role of fire growth rate on patterns of fire refugia, severity and their drivers in forests of the Pacific Northwest
  • Cameron E. Naficy, Department of Forest Ecosystem & Society, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, Garrett W. Meigs, Washington Department of Natural Resources, Olympia, WA, Matthew J. Gregory, Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, David M. Bell, Pacific Northwest Research Station, USDA Forest Service, Corvallis, OR and Meg A. Krawchuk, Forest Ecosystems and Society, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR
• Hazards of Risk: using wildfire simulations to identify and plan for plausible extreme events
  • Andrew McEvoy1, John B. Kim2 and Becky K. Kerns2, (1)USFS PNW ORISE Fellow, Corvallis, OR, (2)Pacific Northwest Research Station, USFS, Corvallis, OR
• Identifying rural communities vulnerable to wildfire and evacuation risk
  • Alex W. Dye, Forest Ecosystems and Society, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR
• Feeding the fire: Invasion in a forest-mosaic landscape
  • Rebecca Lemons1, Claire Tortorelli1, Becky K. Kerns2, John B. Kim2, Kevin Vogler3, Alex W. Dye1, Karin Riley4, Nicole Vaillant5, Ty Nietupski1 and Meg A. Krawchuk1, (1)Forest Ecosystems and Society, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, (2)Pacific Northwest Research Station, USFS, Corvallis, OR, (3)Pyrologix, Missoula, MT, (4)Missoula Fire Sciences Lab, USFS, Missoula, MT, (5)Rocky Mountain Research Station, USFS, Bend, OR

 

Organized Oral 3

Plant-microbe interactions in wetland ecosystems: challenges under increasing environmental pressures

Monday, August 2, 2021
8:30 AM-9:30 AM Pacific Time

Session Description
Interactions between plants and microbes significantly impact ecosystem function and stability. In wetland ecosystems, the dynamics of these plant-microbe associations can determine not only the response of both plants and microbes to each other, but also the resiliency of ecosystems as a whole in response to environmental pressures. Yet, little is known about the forces that drive the dynamics of these interactions. While plants and microbes have been shown to be key players in wetland ecosystems individually, associations between plants and microbes have largely been overlooked until recent years. Emerging studies indicate that microbial communities (fungi, bacteria, archaea, and viruses) that form specific associations with wetland plants – from endosphere to rhizosphere and phyllosphere – can influence plant fitness, performance, and growth. On the other hand, plants also exert influence on these microbial communities, for example, via exudates, shaping their diversity, composition, and distribution. This, in turn, can feedback into plants and, ultimately influencing ecosystem processes. The dynamics of these interactions can vary among plant species (and whether they are native or non-native), across habitats, and within local environments. Despite what is known about the far-reaching impacts of plant-microbe interactions in upland habitats, we are only beginning to understand how these plant-microbe interactions can impact wetland ecosystem function. This session aims to bring together studies on plant-microbe interactions across differing wetland types and among plant species. These studies represent a wide breadth of perspectives. Topics that are explored here include, but are not limited to: (1) how microbial communities can boost or hinder plant performance under stress, (2) how plant communities exert control over the microbial communities in a feedback process, and (3) how plant-microbe interactions can be harnessed as potential solution for dealing with biological stressors (e.g., non-native/invasive species) or even environmental pressures, such a climate change.

One-sentence Summary
Increasing environmental changes are putting pressure on and influencing the outcome and extent of plant-microbe interactions. In this session, we explore the nature and dynamics of plant-microbe interactions in wetland ecosystems and the ramifications these interactions may have on wetland processes and functions in the face of changing environmental pressures.

Organizer
Candice Y. Lumibao – University of Tennessee, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Co-organizer
Demetra Kandalepas – Southeastern Louisiana University, Biological Sciences

Moderator
Demetra Kandalepas – Southeastern Louisiana University, Biological Sciences

Speakers

• Sea level rise and the microbial communities of baldcypress
  • Sunshine A. Van Bael1, Candice Y. Lumibao2, Elizabeth R. Kimbrough1, Lorena Torres Martinez3, Stephen K. Formel1, William H. Conner4, Richard H. Day5 and Ken W. Krauss6, (1)Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, (2)Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, (3)Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Riverside, Riverside, CA, (4)Baruch Institute of Coastal Ecology and Forest Science, Clemson University, Georgetown, SC, (5)U.S. Geological Survey, National Wetlands Research Center, Lafayette, LA, (6)Wetland and Aquatic Research Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Lafayette, LA
• Belowground Fungal Communities Associated with Sagittaria lancifolia and Polygonum punctatum Along an Elevation Gradient
  • Ariel Ebanks1, Demetra Kandalepas1, Sunshine A. Van Bael2 and Gary P. Shaffer1, (1)Biological Sciences, Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond, LA, (2)Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA
• Plant communities exert deterministic control over microbial community structure in coastal wetlands
  • Jennifer L. Bowen1, Ashley N. Bulseco2, Joseph A. Vineis1 and John H. Angell3, (1)Marine Science Center, Northeastern University, Nahant, MA, (2)Ecosystems Center, Marine Biological Laboratory, (3)University of South Florida
• The dark side of the Phrag: exploring the role of dark septate endophytes in salinity tolerance of Phragmites australis
  • Martina Gonzalez Mateu, Department of Crop and Soil Science, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, Andrew H. Baldwin, Department of Environmental Science and Technology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, Jude E. Maul, USDA-ARS, Sustainable Agriculture Systems Laboratory, Beltsville, MD and Stephanie A. Yarwood, Environmental Science and Technology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD
• Targeting microbe-plant relationships as a new treatment for non-native Phragmites
  • Kurt Kowalski, Great Lakes Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Ann Arbor, MI
• Context-dependency in soil microbial mediation of Schoenoplectus americanus response to salinity stress
  • Candice Y. Lumibao1, Lorena Torres Martinez2, J. Patrick Megonigal3, Sunshine A. Van Bael4 and Michael J. Blum1, (1)Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, (2)Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Riverside, Riverside, CA, (3)Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, MD, (4)Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA

 

Organized Oral 4

Emerging Pursuits in Agroecology: Forging new interdisciplinary research connections and collaborations

Monday, August 2, 2021
11:00 AM-12:00 PM Pacific Time

Session Description
Climate change, biodiversity loss, and social inequities pose simultaneous, current and future, challenges to food production. Agriculture is inherently both an ecological system and a socioeconomic system where all the socio-ecological components of an agricultural system, from the farm to the surrounding landscape, are tightly interlinked – influencing each other, negatively or positively, through multiple divergent pathways. Accordingly, novel and innovative trans-disciplinary research approaches that connect ecological principles to socially constructed landscapes are required to meet the various environmental and socioeconomic challenges facing agriculture. As a response, agroecology – defined as simultaneously a science, movement, and a practice – bridges natural and social sciences as a way to meet these complex challenges. Agroecology involves the critical connections between the environment and humans through multiple disciplines and perspectives in the natural and social sciences. In this session, we will bring together agroecologists at the forefront of emerging and innovative research who are tackling critical research gaps in agricultural sustainability. Specifically, the session will cover interdisciplinary perspectives from multiple geographies (in the U.S. and beyond) and multiple disciplines (i.e. soil science, insect ecology, environmental sociology, and policy) to illustrate the vital connections between natural science and social science and between research and community engagement needed to meet the challenges facing agricultural production. Altogether, this session will highlight the agroecological pathways to more just and sustainable food systems.

One-sentence Summary
This session will cover agroecological pathways, through cross-disciplinary connections in ecology and social science, to meet the environmental and socioeconomic challenges facing agriculture and move towards more just and sustainable food systems.

Organizer
Aidee Guzman – University of California Berkeley, Environmental Science, Policy, and Management

Co-organizer
Kenzo Esquivel – University of California Berkeley, Environmental Science, Policy, and Management

Moderator
Theresa Wei Ying Ong – Dartmouth College, Environmental Studies

Speakers

• Highlighting complex processes for managing soils
  • Nicholas Medina, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
• Agroecology: a path to reach out environmental justice in peasant territories
  • Alejandra Guzmán Luna, Gund Institute, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT; Agroecology and Livelihoods Collaborative, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT and Atsiry Fabila López Fabila, Sociedad y Cultura, El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Mexico
• Enacting Everyday Resistance: Food and Agricultural Practices of Mexican Migrant Farmworker Women in North Carolina
  • Emila Cordero Oceguera, North Carolina State University
• Ecological impacts of organic pasture raised poultry on cover crop and arthropod communities
  • Karina Garcia, Delia Scott Hicks and David J Gonthier, Entomology, University of Kentucky
• Diversifying maize cropping systems increases drought resilience and productivity
  • Leah L.R. Renwick1,2, Bill Deen3, Anthony A. Kimaro4, Todd S. Rosenstock5 and Amélie C.M. Gaudin1, (1)Department of Plant Sciences, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, (2)Departamento de Ingeniería y Suelos, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile, (3)Department of Plant Agriculture, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada, (4)ICRAF Country Programme, World Agroforestry (ICRAF), Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, United Republic of, (5)Land Health Decisions, World Agroforestry (ICRAF), Kinshasa, Congo (The Democratic Republic of the)
• Life in the Plantationocene: Biodiversity Conservation and Political Ecologies in Shade Grown Coffee Plantations in Mexico
  • Esteli Jimenez-Soto, Community Studies, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA

 

Organized Oral 5

Leveraging FAIR data to discover new connections in ecology

Monday, August 2, 2021
11:00 AM-12:00 PM Pacific Time

Session Description
At the beginning of this century, the National Research Council identified eight grand challenges in environmental science, which focused on the importance of understanding and being able to predict trends in biogeochemical cycles, biodiversity, ecosystem functioning, climate variability, hydrology, infectious disease, and land-use dynamics. It is becoming increasingly clear that ecologists must consider connectivity as they develop the theory underpinning predictive models to tackle such challenges. In this context, connectivity may refer to (1) cross-system causal relationships between important ecosystem variables (e.g., teleconnections) or (2) the physical transfer of material (e.g., water, sediment, genes, organisms) or energy across boundaries. As FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reproducible) data principles gain traction in ecology, decades of observations of species counts, habitat characteristics, geochemical concentrations, meteorological measurements, and many other types of data from a diverse variety of ecosystems are becoming increasingly available, presenting new opportunities for ecologists to identify previously overlooked connections within and across ecosystems. Importantly, the increasing availability of open and FAIR data has the potential to democratize ecology and provide opportunities for a much more diverse pool of researchers to collaborate and identify novel relationships and connections in ecological data that are crucial for advancing theory and improving predictive models and/or forecasts. In this session, we invite contributions that highlight novel connections in ecology that have been identified through the synthesis of open and FAIR data, including data provided by one or multiple ecological observatories, experimental, and/or collaborative networks. We especially encourage speakers to highlight how FAIR data have provided unique opportunities to identify broad-scale ecological connections that would not have otherwise been detected.

One-sentence Summary
This session will highlight novel connections in ecology that have been identified through the synthesis of open and FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) data.

Organizer
Eric R. Sokol – Batelle, National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON)

Co-organizers
Corinna Gries – University of Wisonsin, Center for Limnology
Christine Laney – Batelle, National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON)

Moderator
Corinna Gries – University of Wisonsin, Center for Limnology

Speakers

• The Global Restore Project: A collaborative scientist-practitioner synthesis initiative with an open-science vision
  • Emma Ladouceur, The German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), Leipzig, Germany, Nancy Shackelford, nstitute of Arctic and Alpine Research, Colorado University, Boulder, CO, W. Stanley Harpole, German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research, Lars Brudvig, Plant Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, Holly P. Jones, Department of Biological Sciences and Institute for the Study of the Environment, Sustainability, and Energy, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL and Jonathan M. Chase, German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Germany
• From soils to plants and herbivores: emergent understanding from a decade of the Nutrient Network experiment
  • Peter A. Wilfahrt, Eric W. Seabloom and Elizabeth T. Borer, Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, MN
• Diversity-stability relationships across spatial scales: aggregate and compositional variability correlate with different dimensions of metacommunity diversity
  • Nathan Wisnoski, University of Wyoming and Eric R. Sokol, Batelle, National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON), Boulder, CO
• Ecosystem stability is related to animal community dynamics at a continental scale
  • Marta A. Jarzyna, Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, Kari EA Norman, Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, Jalene LaMontagne, Department of Biological Sciences, DePaul University, Chicago, IL, Matthew R. Helmus, Biology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, Daijiang Li, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, Stephanie Parker, National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON), Battelle, Boulder, CO, Sydne Record, Biology, Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, PA, Eric R. Sokol, Batelle, National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON), Boulder, CO, Phoebe Zarnetske, Department of Integrative Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI and Thilina Surasinghe, Department of Biological Sciences, Bridgewater State University, Bridgewater, MA
• Combining open NEON and Landsat data to connect biodiversity and disturbance regime
  • Jasper Van doninck1,2, Annie C. Smith3, Jonathan Knott1,2,4, Patrick Bills5, Sydne Record6, Benjamin Baiser7, Angela L. Strecker8 and Phoebe L. Zarnetske1,2, (1)Department of Integrative Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, (2)Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior Program, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, (3)Washington State Department of Natural Resources, WA, (4)Forest Inventory & Analysis, USFS Northern Research Station, St. Paul, MN, (5)Michigan State University, (6)Biology, Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, PA, (7)Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, (8)Institute for Watershed Studies, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA
• Harmonizing microbial community data for broader biodiversity and ecological meta-analyses
  • Jeffrey L. Blanchard, Biology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Amherst, MA, Emiley Eloe-Fadrosh, Metagenomics Program Head, Joint Genome Institute, Berkeley, CA, Janet K. Jansson, Earth and Biological Sciences Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, Margaret O’Brien, Marine Science Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, Jorge L. Mazza Rodrigues, Land, Air, and Water Resources, University of California Davis, Davis, CA and Lee Stanish, Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado, Boulder, Boulder, CO

Organized Oral 6

Social-Ecological Drivers of Change in Urban Forest Patches

Monday, August 2, 2021
11:00 AM-12:00 PM Pacific Time

Session Description
Forest patches are hotspots of biodiversity in urban regions, yet are subject to urban conditions influencing their composition, condition, and function. Many different public, private, and non-profit organizations engage in management and stewardship of these urban forest patches. Management efforts vary in emphasis according to organizational mandates and available resources; different management choices occur simultaneously in nearby parcels. Fine-scale heterogeneity of land ownership in cities often limits the scope of these interventions. The position and context of a forested patch in the urban landscape can further influence long-term forest community dynamics. This session draws upon three ongoing efforts of cross-city researcher-practitioner exchanges focused on understanding social-ecological drivers of urban forest patch condition (SESYNC Pursuit on Changing Urban Woodlands), management of urban forest patches across cities (Forests in Cities network), and research as adaptation to climate change (Urban Silviculture network) to explore multiple social and ecological aspects of urban forest patches.

One-sentence Summary
Forest patches are hotspots of biodiversity in cities, and urban social-ecological conditions influence their condition and function. This session presents the work of three cross-city researcher-practitioner efforts focused on social-ecological drivers of urban forest patch condition, management of urban forest patches across cities, and research as adaptation to climate change.

Organizer
Lea R. Johnson – University of Maryland, Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture, Longwood Gardens, Division of Research and Conservation, Associate Director, Land Stewardship and Ecology

Co-organizer
Michelle L. Johnson – USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station, NYC Urban Field Station

Moderator
Lindsay E. Darling – The Morton Arboretum

Speakers

• Conceptualizing social-ecological drivers of urban forest patch condition
  • Michelle L. Johnson1, Lea R. Johnson2, Myla F.J. Aronson3, Lindsay K. Campbell4, Megan E. Carr5, Mysha Clarke6, Vincent D’Amico III7, Lindsay E. Darling8, Tedward Erker9, Robert Fahey10, Kristen King11, Katherine Lautar12, Dexter H. Locke7, Anita T. Morzillo10, Stephanie Pincetl13, Luke Rhodes14, JP Schmidt15, Lydia Scott16 and Nancy F. Sonti7, (1)Northern Research Station, NYC Urban Field Station, USDA Forest Service, Bayside, NY, (2)Division of Research and Conservation, Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square, PA, (3)Department of Ecology, Evolution and Natural Resources, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, (4)Northern Research Station, USDA Forest Service, (5)Plant Science & Landscape Architecture, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, (6)School of Forest Resources and Conservation, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, (7)Northern Research Station, Baltimore Urban Field Station, USDA Forest Service, Baltimore, MD, (8)Chicago Region Trees Initiative, The Morton Aboretum, Lisle, IL, (9)Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, (10)Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, (11)Forestry, Horticulture & Natural Resources, NYC Parks, Long Island City, NY, (12)Baltimore Greenspace, Baltimore, MD, (13)Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, (14)Fairmont Park Conservancy, Philadelphia, PA, (15)Pasture Systems and Watershed Management Research Unit, USDA ARS, University Park, PA, (16)Chicago Region Trees Initiative, The Morton Arboretum, Chicago, IL
• A tale of urban forest patch governance in four eastern US cities
  • Anita T. Morzillo1, Lindsay K. Campbell2, Kristen King3, Katherine Lautar4, Lydia Scott5, Michelle L. Johnson6, Mysha Clarke7, Luke Rhodes8, Stephanie Pincetl9, Nancy F. Sonti10, Dexter H. Locke11, John Paul Schmit12, Robert Fahey1, Matthew E. Baker13 and Lea R. Johnson14, (1)Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, (2)Northern Research Station, USDA Forest Service, (3)Forestry, Horticulture & Natural Resources, NYC Parks, Long Island City, NY, (4)Baltimore Greenspace, Baltimore, MD, (5)Chicago Region Trees Initiative, The Morton Arboretum, Chicago, IL, (6)Northern Research Station, NYC Urban Field Station, USDA Forest Service, Bayside, NY, (7)School of Forest Resources and Conservation, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, (8)Fairmont Park Conservancy, Philadelphia, PA, (9)Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, (10)Northern Research Station, Baltimore Urban Field Station, USDA Forest Service, Baltimore, MD, (11)National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC), Baltimore, MD, (12)National Capital Region Inventory and Monitoring Network, Office of Natural Resources and Science, US National Park Service, Washington, DC, (13)Geography & Environmental Systems, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD, (14)Division of Research and Conservation, Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square, PA
• Macro-scale analysis of forest patch canopy composition highlights syndromes of response to urbanization
  • Lea R. Johnson1,2, John Paul Schmit3, Lindsay E. Darling4, Dexter H. Locke5,6, Matthew E. Baker7, Robert Fahey8, Nancy F. Sonti6, Myla F.J. Aronson9 and Michelle L. Johnson10, (1)Division of Research and Conservation, Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square, PA, (2)Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, (3)National Capital Region Inventory and Monitoring Network, Office of Natural Resources and Science, US National Park Service, Washington, DC, (4)Chicago Region Trees Initiative, The Morton Aboretum, Lisle, IL, (5)National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC), Baltimore, MD, (6)Northern Research Station, Baltimore Urban Field Station, USDA Forest Service, Baltimore, MD, (7)Geography & Environmental Systems, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD, (8)Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, (9)Department of Ecology, Evolution and Natural Resources, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, (10)Northern Research Station, NYC Urban Field Station, USDA Forest Service, Bayside, NY
• Functional traits of urban forest patch vegetation across multiple gradients of urbanization intensity
  • Myla F.J. Aronson, Department of Ecology, Evolution and Natural Resources, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, Lea R. Johnson, Division of Research and Conservation, Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square, PA, Michelle L. Johnson, Northern Research Station, NYC Urban Field Station, USDA Forest Service, Bayside, NY, Matthew E. Baker, Geography & Environmental Systems, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD, Lindsay Darling, The Morton Arboretum, Robert Fahey, Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, Dexter H. Locke, National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC), Baltimore, MD, John Paul Schmit, National Capital Region Inventory and Monitoring Network, Office of Natural Resources and Science, US National Park Service, Washington, DC and Nancy F. Sonti, Northern Research Station, Baltimore Urban Field Station, USDA Forest Service, Baltimore, MD
• Urban and climate adaptive silviculture in the city: managers and scientists work together to co-produce management and research strategies for urban oak forests in the Northeast U.S.
  • Richard A. Hallett, Northern Research Station, USDA Forest Service, Durham, NH and Max R. Piana, USDA Forest Service
• Nurturing a national network: advancing the science and practice of managing forests in cities across the U.S.
  • Sophie Plitt, The Natural Areas Conservancy, New York, NY and Dr. Clara C. Pregitzer, Natural Areas Conservancy, New York, NY

 

Organized Oral 7

Using individual traits for macro-studies across space, time, and taxa

Monday, August 2, 2021
1:30 PM-2:30 PM Pacific Time

Session Description
Biogeography, macroecology, and community ecology has shifted focus from clade-based ecology (e.g, mammal-centric, avian-centric, herp-centric) to functional-trait-based ecology (species-level traits) and now to individual-level traits as metrics by which to understand drivers of patterns of species that occur across space and time. Most trait measurements are done at the individual-level, but primary data are often lacking, forcing researchers to use averages from the literature without knowing geographic, sex, or other biases in sampling. This undermines researchers’ efforts to discern intra-specific changes in traits across geographic and environmental scales. Further, as environmental metrics increasingly become finer and finer in scale (~1 m2), geographic scale no longer matches the scale of traits reported in the literature (typically at the regional to global scale). Individual-level traits are used as a metric to test for functional redundancy in a system and niche overlap within and among species in a community, which is important for understanding the effects of biodiversity loss; susceptibility to invasion, which is increasing with global connectivity; and response of traits to stressors, such as human-induced climate and land-use change. Characterizing trait variation within a species is especially important to understand if and how species can respond to climate change by differentiating phenotypic plasticity from evolution. As climate change progresses, populations at the edges of species’ geographic range are likely to be most affected, and so understanding the range of a trait gives insight into the amount a species can shift phenotypically. Thus, using individual-level traits are important. Here, we highlight work using individual-level traits to answer pressing questions in biogeography, macroecology, and community ecology. We seek to inspire and build a community of researchers contributing to and using individual-level traits to answer pressing ecological issues.

One-sentence Summary
Research using individual-level traits to answer questions about trait variation in response to abiotic and biotic factors across spatial, temporal, and taxonomic scales.

Organizer
Meghan Balk – University of Arizona, BIO5 Institute

Co-organizers
Ramona L. Walls – University of Arizona
Robert P. Guralnick – Florida Museum of Natural History
Edward Davis – University of Oregon, Department of Earth Sciences
Kitty Emery – University of Florida
Ray Bernor – Howard University

Moderator
Meghan Balk – University of Arizona, BIO5 Institute

Speakers

• Using body size to understand patterns of guild assembly: A case study using North American Cenozoic herbivorous mammals
  • Advait M. Jukar, Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies, Yale University, New Haven, CT
• Seven million years of North American herbivory
  • Melissa Pardi, Research & Collections Center, Illinois State Museum, Springfield, IL and Larisa R. G. DeSantis, Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
• Using Osteometrics and Geometric Morphometrics to Explore Ancient Cattle Population Dynamics in Colonial Spanish America
  • Nicolas DelSol, University of Florida
• Informatics workflows for reconstructing breeding phenologies and phenological change through time in North American small mammals
  • Bryan McLean, Biology, University of North Carolina Greensboro, Greensboro, NC and Robert Guralnick, Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
• Improving trait data resolution to realize the promise of the functional trait revolution
  • Brooks A. Kohli1,2 and Marta A. Jarzyna1,3, (1)Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, (2)Biology and Chemistry, Morehead State University, Morehead, KY, (3)Translational Data Analytics Institute, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
• The relationship between intraspecific variation in body size and diversity for three vertebrate taxa across North America
  • Benjamin Baiser, Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, Quentin D. Read, SESYNC, Annapolis, MD, Sydne Record, Biology, Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, PA, Angela L. Strecker, Institute for Watershed Studies, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA, Morgan W. Tingley, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA and Phoebe L. Zarnetske, Department of Integrative Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI

 

Organized Oral 8

When the tropics get drier: Lessons from natural and drought manipulation experiments in low-latitude forested ecosystems

Monday, August 2, 2021
1:30 PM-2:30 PM Pacific Time

Session Description
Climate models suggest that droughts at low latitudes/in tropical ecosystems may become more frequent and/or more severe in the coming decades due to anthropogenic climate change. Droughts are known to cause myriad disruptions to tropical forest ecology, including via tree mortality and shifts in biogeochemical cycling. Numerous open questions remain about how a changing drought regime might affect tropical forests, including whether there will be widespread or substantial changes to the soil or vegetation carbon (C) sinks, to biodiversity and plant physiology, or to nutrients such as nitrogen (N) or phosphorus (P). Drought manipulation studies are a powerful tool for assessing soil drought of varying lengths of time and degrees of severity and can lend insight into how future drought regimes may affect ecosystem functioning. The response of forests to natural drought often differ from those of experimental drought, providing critical context; both are important ways of studying ecosystem response to drought. In this session, experts will discuss lessons learned from drought studies in tropical forest systems, with a particular focus on either plant physiological responses (e.g., from stem to sky and across communities) or changes to biogeochemical cycling (e.g., estimating how C, N and P cycles may be affected). How can drought studies improve our broader understanding of the risks posed to tropical forests by global change? In particular, this session has three objectives: 1) review findings that have emerged from drought studies in the tropics, 2) compare and contrast observations across systems and areas of the globe, and 3) identify new directions of inquiry that ought to be prioritized for investigation. Speakers will discuss primary research conducted across the tropics from a mix of perspectives – included are talks appealing to plant ecologists, ecosystem ecologists, soil scientists, microbial ecologists, and ecohydrologists given by researchers from early-career to established scientists. This session will provide an overview of how droughts are affecting tropical ecosystems and highlight critical questions moving forward, making it useful for scientists operating at diverse scales and in systems both outside and across the tropics.

One-sentence Summary
In this session, experts will discuss impacts of changing drought intensity and patterns in tropical ecosystems, using results from a variety of ecosystem manipulation drought experiments and studies of natural drought in tropical forests, with a particular focus on investigating impacts on plant communities and biogeochemical cycling.

Organizer
Christine S. O’Connell – University of California, Berkeley, Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management

Co-organizer
Tana E. Wood – USDA Forest Service, International Institute of Tropical Forestry

Moderator
Christine S. O’Connell – University of California, Berkeley, Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management

Speakers

• Drought impacts on tropical forests: A multi-scale perspective
  • Maria Uriarte1, Robert Muscarella2, Naomi B. Schwartz1, Chris Smith-Martin3 and Jess Zimmerman4, (1)Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology, Columbia University, New York, NY, (2)Plant Ecology and Genetics, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden, (3)Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology, Columbia University, New York, NY, (4)Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras, PR
• The impacts of multi-decadal drought on tropical forest function
  • Patrick Meir1,2, Antonio CL da Costa3, Lucy Rowland4, Maurizio Mencuccini5, Sarah Ingrid Coughlin1, Oliver Binks6, Paulo R. Bittencourt7, David Bartholomew8, Rafael Oliveira9, Mathias Disney10, Andrew Burt11 and Leandro Ferreira12, (1)Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia, (2)School of Geosciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, (3)Ecology and Earth Sciences Division, Emílio Goeldi Museum, Belém, Brazil, (4)University of Exeter, (5)Ecological and Forestry Applications Research Centre (CREAF), Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain, (6)School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, (7)Geography, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom, (8)Department of Geography, Unviersity of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom, (9)University of Campinas, Brazil, (10)Dept of Geography, UCL, London, United Kingdom, (11)Department of Geography, University College London, London, United Kingdom, (12)Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi, Belém, Brazil
• Measures to Models of Moisture Effects on Soil Respiration in Panamanian Lowland Forests
  • Daniela Cusack1,2, Lee H. Dietterich1 and Benjamin N. Sulman3, (1)Ecosystem Science & Sustainability, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, (2)Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Ancon, Panama, (3)Climate Change Science Institute and Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN
• The relevance of temporal and spatial distribution of water supply in tropical forest trees
  • Oliver Binks1, Maurizio Mencuccini2, Lucy Rowland3, Antonio CL da Costa4, Paulo R. Bittencourt5, Steel Silva Vasconcelos6, Rafael Oliveira7, Ingrid Coughlin8, Mathias Disney9, Kim Calders10, John Finnigan8 and Patrick Meir11, (1)Australian National University, (2)Ecological and Forestry Applications Research Centre (CREAF), Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain, (3)University of Exeter, (4)Ecology and Earth Sciences Division, Emílio Goeldi Museum, Belém, Brazil, (5)Geography, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom, (6)Embrapa Eastern Amazon, Belem, Brazil, (7)University of Campinas, Brazil, (8)Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia, (9)Dept of Geography, UCL, London, United Kingdom, (10)University of Ghent, Ghent, Belgium, (11)School of Geosciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland
• Drought-Ex: Soil Fertility Affects Tropical Dry Forest Responses to Experimental Drought
  • German Vargas G., Plant and Microbial Biology, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, MN, Daniel Perez-Aviles, Plant and Microbial Biology, University Of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, David Medvigy, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, Bonnie G. Waring, Grantham Institute, Imperial College of London, London, United Kingdom and Jennifer S. Powers, Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN
• Luquillo Throughfall Exclusion Experiment: Belowground effects of drought in a wet tropical forest
  • Omar Gutierrez del Arroyo and Whendee L. Silver, Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA

 

Organized Oral 9

Maintaining Vital Connections in Human Dimensions During a Global Pandemic

Monday, August 2, 2021
2:30 PM-3:30 PM Pacific Time

Session Description
This session presents findings on various challenges that COVID-19 has created for continuing the human-focused work done by members and sections in the ESA human-dimension collaborative. To keep the focus on overcoming challenges rather than listing problems a Solutions Journal format is proposed, where no more than one third of the presentation is on the problem (i.e. 5 minutes) and two thirds are on practical solutions and even benefits (i.e. 10 minutes). The series of talks discuss how COVID-19 has disrupted vital human connections in ecology, but has also prompted the opening of new avenues for ESA to expand its tent. The Session’s first talk focuses on new pathways through which human connections in ecology can be maintained and strengthened. The second presentation explores the challenge of maintaining community-university partnerships during times of transition and opportunities for virtual connections among ESA members and local communities during the annual conference. The third talk takes the topic of inclusion, and considers whether online access to workshops, meetings, and policy forums has expanded avenues for inclusion, or trivialized them. The 2020 virtual conference, for example, was notable for the number of students, including international students, who were able to participate. The presentation discusses ways that COVID-19 responses can promote true inclusivity. The fourth speaker examines how COVID-19 has changed access to sources of knowledge, research, and learning. This talk discusses the dynamics of changing learning platforms and journal readership and asks if COVID-19 can lead towards a positive expansion, opening up and democratizing knowledge access. One of the meta-lessons of COVID-19 is the need to have effective transdisciplinary practitioners and policy makers to help coordinate and synthesize the many sources of knowledge demanded by an effective societal response. Budgetary limits often encourage competitive attitudes between disciplines, thereby hindering creative solutions that come from transdisciplinary dialogue. Our fifth talk will consider these issues more closely. The final presentation discusses the kinds of knowledge, including but not limited to applied ecological sciences, which will be used to build back environment-society interactions once the immediate pressure of COVID-19 is lifted. This goes to the heart of the question concerning whether the goal of recovery is the old normal, which created the ecological conditions for COVID-19 to flourish, or a new normal where fewer pathways for epidemiological catastrophes are present and better informed and integrated policy responses are enabled, should similar outbreaks arise.

One-sentence Summary
This session examines the ways COVID-19 has disrupted vital human connections in ecology, but has also allowed for the opening of new avenues for ESA to expand its tent.

Organizer
Robert Dyball – Australian National University, Fenner School of Environment and Society

Co-organizer
Angee Doerr – Oregon State University, Oregon Sea Grant

Moderator
Robert Dyball – Australian National University, Fenner School of Environment and Society

Speakers

• Vital connections in ecology: Extending and connecting ESA to the real world
  • Richard Pouyat, Chesapeake Bay Career Consulting and Phyllis Thibodeau, Career Ecologia, Tilghman, MD
• Navigating change in community-university partnerships: maintaining vital connections during times of transition and disruption
  • Elizabeth M. Cook, Environmental Science, Barnard College, New York, NY and Kirsten Schwarz, Departments of Urban Planning & Environmental Health Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
• Open democratic access to knowledge and research globally
  • Angee Doerr, Oregon Sea Grant, Oregon State University, Newport, OR
• Networking and Mentoring Beyond Knowledge Silos
  • Sarah Davis, Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs: Environmental Studies Program, Ohio University, Athens, OH
• Applied Ecological Science for Change and Betterment
  • Ajay Sharma, West Florida Research and Education Center, University of Florida, Milton, FL
• Connecting the world through Planetary Health discussion
  • Lin Meng, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

 

Organized Oral 10

The value of diversity in forest ecosystems: resistance and resilience to extreme climatic events

Monday, August 2, 2021
2:30 PM-3:30 PM Pacific Time

Session Description
The functionality of forests is in jeopardy due to the synergistic effects of human driven climatic and landscape changes. An increase in the frequency and magnitude of drought events is causing worldwide tree mortality. The combined effect of global warming and novel pests and diseases are putting many forest ecosystems at risk of losing large portions of their biomass. Overexploitation and degradation are shifting tropical forests from sinks to sources of carbon. Together, these processes may act as a positive feedback on global climate change by increasing the rate of accumulation of carbon (as CO2) in the atmosphere rather than in terrestrial ecosystems. Natural disturbances are integral to the functioning of forests; they often renew ecosystems and contribute to the creation of temporal and spatial heterogeneity, which are critical for the maintenance of high levels of biodiversity. Within the realm of natural disturbances, healthy forests have the capacity to withstand temporary disturbances by either maintaining similar properties, i.e., showing resistance or low vulnerability, or by recovering their original properties afterwards, i.e., being resilient. However, even healthy ecosystems can be seriously disrupted under novel and recurrent stressors such as those imposed by global change. As most forested areas are experiencing combinations of global change stressors, the persistence and functionality of these ecosystems is dependent on both their vulnerability or resistance to these stressors and on their capacity to recover, i.e., their resilience. In this session, a diverse set of forest scientists will present current research on forest resilience and the potential role of biodiversity. These talks will provide comprehensive insight on how biodiversity may determine both forest resilience and resistance to extreme climatic events.

One-sentence Summary
This session will present cutting edge research on how forest biodiversity may determine resistance/resilience of forest ecosystems to climate extremes.

Organizer
Ines Ibanez – University of Michigan

Co-organizers
John Devaney – Maynooth University

Bastien Castagneyrol – INRA

Martin Gosser – WSL

Moderator
John Devaney – Maynooth University

Speakers

• The effect of diversity on carbon storage in plantation forests – a meta-analysis
  • Emily Warner1, Susan C. Cook-Patton2, Owen Lewis3, Nick Brown1, Julia Koricheva4, Nico Eisenhauer5,6, Olga Ferlian5,6, Dominique Gravel7, Jefferson Hall8, Hervé Jactel9, Carolina Mayoral8,10, Céline Meredieu9, Christian Messier11, Alain Paquette12, William Parker13, Catherine Potvin14, Peter B. Reich15 and Andy Hector1, (1)Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom, (2)Global Lands, The Nature Conservancy, Arlington, VA, (3)Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom, (4)Department of Biological Sciences, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, United Kingdom, (5)Institute of Biology, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany, (6)German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research, Leipzig, Germany, (7)Départment de Biologie, University of Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada, (8)Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Panama, (9)INRAE Centre de Nouvelle-Aquitaine-Bordeaux, Cestas, France, (10)Birmingham Institute of Forest Research, Birmingham, United Kingdom, (11)Sciences Biologiques, Université du Québec à Montréal, (12)Centre d’étude de la forêt (CEF), Montreal, QC, Canada, (13)Ontario Forest Research Institute, Sault-Sainte-Marie, ON, Canada, (14)Biology, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada, (15)Department of Forest Resources, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN
• Warming and mangrove encroachment into marshes alter belowground processes with positive implications for resilience to sea level rise : findings from the WETFEET project
  • Samantha K. Chapman1, Emiy Geoghegan2, Ilka C. Feller3, Nicole Dix4, Gabriela Canas5, William C. Vervaeke6, J. Adam Langley3, Mark W. Hester7 and James T. Morris8, (1)Biology, Villanova University, Villanova, PA, (2)University of California David, (3)Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, MD, (4)Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Esutarine Research Reserve, Ponte Vedra, FL, (5)Department of Biology, University of North Florida, Jacksonville, FL, (6)U.S. Geological Survey Wetland and Aquatic Research Center, Lafayette, LA, (7)Biology, University of Louisiana, Lafayette, LA, (8)University of South Carolina
• How a diversity of mortality mechanisms are countered by a diversity of survival systems in forest communities
  • Sean M McMahon, Forest Global Earth Observatory, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, MD, Daniel F. Zuleta, ForestGEO and NGEE–Tropics, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC, Gabriel Arellano, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI and Stuart J. Davies, Forest Global Earth Observatory, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Washington, DC
• Tree species interactions alter aridity impacts on foliar and woody traits in Fagus sylvatica L.
  • Margaux Didion-Gency1, Arthur Gessler1,2, Christoph Bachofen3,4, Nina Buchmann2, Xavier Morin5, Eduardo Vicente6, Pierre Vollenweider1 and Charlotte Grossiord3,4, (1)Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland, (2)Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich ETH, Zürich, Switzerland, (3)Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, Lausanne, Switzerland, (4)School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering ENAC, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland, (5)CEFE, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique CNRS, Montpellier, France, (6)CEAM Foundation, University of Alicante, Alicante, Spain
• Functional role of biodiversity in the resistance of forest ecosystems to insect pests
  • Hervé Jactel, INRAE Centre de Nouvelle-Aquitaine-Bordeaux, Cestas, France
• The interplay between disturbance and diversity in Central European forest ecosystems
  • Rupert Seidl1,2, Cornelius Senf1 and Werner Rammer1, (1)School of Life Sciences, Technical University of Munich, Freising, Germany, (2)Berchtesgaden National Park, Berchtesgaden, Germany

 

Organized Oral 11

Trajectories and tipping points of watersheds in response to disturbances

Monday, August 2, 2021
2:30 PM-3:30 PM Pacific Time

Session Description
Disturbances fundamentally alter ecosystem functions, yet predicting their impacts remains a key scientific challenge. This challenge is paramount to current research in ecology and the environmental sciences, as many disturbances have dramatically increased and/or are predicted to increase with changes in climate in the coming century. Watersheds serve as integrators of the effects of disturbances by encompassing both terrestrial and aquatic landscapes, as well as the highly dynamic interfaces that connect them. For instance, over the last 15 years wildfires in the US alone have burned ~2.8-million ha year-1, which is almost 1-million ha year-1 greater than the 80 year average. The cascade of effects from landscape disturbances into aquatic ecosystems remain largely unknown. Increasing occurrence and severity of other disturbances, like drought, temperature changes, pest outbreaks, pathogens, and other natural hazards affect soil and plant health and also alter stream intermittence, seasonal flow variations, and materials transported into the river corridor. This interconnectivity of terrestrial and aquatic domains is often overlooked in our collective investigations of disturbance drivers and impacts. As a consequence, process-based representations of disturbance impacts on ecosystems remain poorly represented in state-of-science modelling frameworks. Advancing our understanding requires a suite of investigations across sub-daily to multidecadal, as well as molecular to landscape and larger scales. This session explores the ecological ramifications of disturbances spanning terrestrial and aquatic domains and highlights remaining obstacles including: integrating across ecological scales, understanding disturbance interactions, establishing baselines and trajectories of ecosystem functions after disturbances, and developing process-based models and ecological forecasting initiatives. Our session will include speakers that span terrestrial and aquatic domains and/or extend through time, space, or multiple ecoregions.

One-sentence Summary
We explore disturbances from a watershed perspective that integrates across terrestrial and aquatic landscapes—including temporal scales ranging from sub-daily to multidecadal and spatial scales ranging from molecular to multi-basin.

Organizer
Emily Graham – Washington State University, School of Biological Sciences

Co-organizers
Allison Myers-Pigg – Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Marine Sciences Laboratory

Kevin Bladon – Oregon State University

Moderator
Emily Graham – Washington State University, School of Biological Sciences

Speakers

• • At what scale do disturbances matter for terrestrial to marine carbon fluxes? Comparing undisturbed aquatic carbon fluxes to disturbance frequency, extent, and associated carbon export at fine and regional scales.
    • Brian Buma, Natural Science, University of Colorado, Denver, Denver, CO, Allison Bidlack, NOAA, Juneau, AK and Sarah M Bisbing, Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, University of Nevada – Reno, Reno, NV
  • Fire Impacts on River Water Chemistry, Microbial Diversity, and Watershed Hydrological Connectivity
    • Michelle Newcomer1, Jennifer Underwood2, Susan Hubbard1, Ronald Harvey2, Craig Ulrich1, Hannah Rigoni2, Jeramy Jasmann2, Sheila Murphy2, David Roth2, Paul Bliznik2, Todd Schram3, Marcus Trotta3, Jay Jasperse3 and Donald Seymour3, (1)Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, (2)US Geological Survey, (3)Sonoma Water
  • Linking carbon export to watershed hydrology enables an integrated view of biogeochemistry in fire-affected streams
    • Sasha Wagner1, Riley Barton1, Lauren Giggy2, Peter Willits2 and Margaret Zimmer2, (1)Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, (2)University of California, Santa Cruz
  • Trajectories of ecosystem functions after disturbances spanning terrestrial and aquatic domains in the Intermountain West
    • Kathleen A. Lohse1, Kayla Glossner2, Mark Seyfried3, Ruth MacNeille2, Jennifer Pierce4, Jason Williams5, Nicholas Patton6, Gerald Flerchinger7, Aaron Fellows7 and Fred Pierson8, (1)Department of Biological Sciences, Idaho State University, Pocatello, ID, (2)Biological Sciences, Idaho State University, Pocatello, ID, (3)Northwest Watershed Management Research, U.S.D.A. Agricultural Research Services, Boise, ID, (4)Geosciences, Boise State University, Boise, ID, (5)USDA ARS, Tucson, AZ, (6)Geosciences, Idaho State University, Pocatello, ID, (7)Northwest Watershed Research Center, USDA Agricultural Research Service, Boise, ID, (8)USDA-ARS, Boise, ID
  • Adapting carbon dynamic models to characterize biogeochemical processes across terrestrial-aquatic interfaces
    • Jianqiu Zheng1, Vanessa Bailey1, Melanie A. Mayes2 and Timothy Scheibe1, (1)Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, (2)Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN
  • Salinity gradients in coastal river corridors impact organic matter processes and ecosystem function
    • Aditi Sengupta1, Matthew H. Kaufman2, Joyce Barahona1, Nallely Delara1, Lupita Renteria3, Joshua M. Torgeson4, Marcy R. Garcia2, Vanessa A. Garayburu-Caruso5, Nicholas D. Ward6, Jianqiu Zheng7 and James C. Stegen3, (1)Biology, California Lutheran University, Thousand Oaks, CA, (2)Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, (3)Biological Sciences Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, (4)Energy and Environment Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, (5)Earth and Biological Sciences Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, (6)Marine Sciences Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Sequim, WA, (7)Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA

 

Organized Oral 12

Ecological Consequences of Variability in Climate

Tuesday, August 3, 2021
7:00 AM-8:00 AM Pacific Time

Session Description
Anticipating the consequences of climate change is arguably the most pressing challenge at the interface of science and society. Forecasting the ecological futures of Earth’s ecosystems requires understanding not only the long-term consequences of changes in average climate, but also the impacts of increasing variability in climate at seasonal and inter-annual time scales. Prior empirical work, particularly existing climate change experiments, has largely emphasized mean climate trends, with some attention to extreme events. Yet, theory predicts that temporal variance in climate can have powerful ecological impacts. Effects of variance can arise from nonlinearities in ecological responses to climate variables and stochasticity in climate events. Empirical resolution of the effects of variance in climate has lagged behind theory because these effects often play out over timescales that exceed standard funding cycles, making this a critical scientific frontier.

One-sentence Summary
Temporal variance in climate may have powerful ecological impacts, but data to resolve ecological responses to climate variability have lagged behind theory. This session explores the ecological consequences of climate variability across ecosystem types, organisms, and levels of biological organization to catalyze synthesis of current empirical understanding.

Organizer
Jennifer Rudgers – University of New Mexico, Department of Biology, Sevilleta Long Term Ecological Research Program

Co-organizers
Melanie Kazenel – University of New Mexico, Department of Biology
Laureano Gherardi – Global Drylands Center

Moderator Anny Chung – University of Georgia

Speakers

• Desert bee and rodent assemblages track climate variability
  • Melanie R. Kazenel1,2, Pablo A. Cárdenas1,2, Karen W. Wright1,2,3, Kenneth D. Whitney1,2, David C. Lightfoot4, Terry L. Griswold5, Erica Christensen6, S.K. Morgan Ernest7, Robert L. Schooley8, Paul Stapp9 and Jennifer A. Rudgers1,2, (1)Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, (2)Sevilleta Long Term Ecological Research Program, Albuquerque, NM, (3)Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, (4)Museum of Southwestern Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, (5)Pollinating Insects Research Unit, USDA-ARS, Logan, UT, (6)Jornada Experimental Range, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, (7)Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, (8)Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, (9)Department of Biological Science, California State University, Fullerton, CA
• Dryland soil mycobiome response to precipitation variability depends on host plant association
  • Nicolas Louw, Plant Biology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, Osvaldo Sala, School of Sustainability, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, Laureano Gherardi, Global Drylands Center, Tempe, AZ and Anny Chung, University of Georgia
• Ecosystem adaptation is the dominant source of uncertainty in projections of rangeland production responses to climate change
  • Andrew Felton, Department of Wildland Resources and The Ecology Center, Utah State University, Logan, UT, Robert Shriver, University of Nevada-Reno, Reno, NV and Peter Adler, Department of Wildland Resources and the Ecology Center, Utah State University, Logan, UT
• Divergent response of aboveground net primary production to increasing precipitation variability in global drylands
  • Enqing Hou1, Marcy Litvak2, Jennifer A. Rudgers2, Lifen Jiang1, Scott Collins2, William T. Pockman2, Dafeng Hui3, Shuli Niu4 and Yiqi Luo1, (1)Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, (2)Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, (3)Department of Biological Sciences, Tennessee State University, Nashville, TN, (4)Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
• Increased precipitation variability causes boom-bust cycles in invasive annual grasses, while increasingly stressed perennials persist
  • Lauren M. Porensky1, David L. Hoover1 and Troy W. Ocheltree2, (1)Rangeland Resources and Systems Research Unit, USDA-ARS, Fort Collins, CO, (2)Forest and Rangeland Stewardship, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
• Population responses to past and future environmental variability across the LTER network
  • Benedicte Bachelot1, Aldo Compagnoni2, Pedro Brandão Dias Ferreira Pinto3, Marion Donald4, Joshua Fowler5, Daniel Gorczynski5, Carsten G.B. Grupstra6, Joseph T. Neale6, Linyi Zhang6, Jennifer Rudgers7, Kai Zhu8 and Thomas Miller5, (1)Plant Biology, Ecology, and Evolution, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, (2)Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research–UFZ, Leipzig, Germany, (3)Biosciences, Rice University, Houston, TX, (4)Department of Biosciences, Rice University, Houston, TX, (5)Department of BioSciences, Rice University, Houston, TX, (6)BioSciences, Rice University, Houston, TX, (7)Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, (8)University of California, Santa Cruz

 

Organized Oral 13

Healthy Soils for Healthy Communities: A Community-based Initiative Exploring Vital Connections in Urban Soil Science

Tuesday, August 3, 2021
7:00 AM-8:00 AM Pacific Time

Session Description
The Healthy Soils for Healthy Communities Initiative is a partnership between an environmental non-profit organization in Los Angeles (TreePeople), multiple academic institutions, and local government that engages L.A. communities around urban soil research and action. The motivation for the Health Soils for Healthy Communities Initiative is grounded in the need to have urban soil research informed by community and collaboration – two vital connections that are central to our understanding of ecology. In this session, we bring together speakers from the Initiative to highlight multiple components and discuss the bases, scope, status, and ambitions of the endeavor. In the aggregate, the presentations will offer a working template of locally-grounded science and practice centered on managing urban natural resources for direct community benefit. The objectives of the Initiative include: 1) Elevating healthy soils as the “brown” in green infrastructure policy, planning, management, and investments in both the built and natural environments; 2) Increasing public and policy-maker awareness of the importance and potential of healthy soils in building climate resilience, sustaining urban ecosystem functions, and enhancing public health; 3) Conducting cutting-edge science and research that gets used to fill the information gaps; 4) Facilitating policy changes to promote and support healthy urban soil projects; and 5) Empowering communities with science-based information, best management practices, and practical tools. Particular emphasis in this session will be the initial needs assessment phase of the Initiative aiming to: 1) determine the current status of Los Angeles’s urban soil health; 2) identify the most pressing urban soil issues and community needs through community consultation and outreach; and 3) provide specification of subsequent work regarding urban soil research, policy, public education and community engagement in the region.

One-sentence Summary
The Healthy Soils for Healthy Communities Initiative is a partnership between an environmental non-profit organization in Los Angeles, multiple academic institutions, and local government that engages L.A. communities around urban soil research and action. Join us to learn about the Initiative as a model for community-engaged urban ecosystem science.

Healthy Soils for Healthy Communities: A community-based Urban Soil Initiative Rooted in Los Angeles

Yujuan Chen1, Richard Pouyat2, Susan Day3, Erica L. Wohldmann4, Kirsten Schwarz5, Gordon Rees6, Manny Gonez7, Edith de Guzman7,8 and Selena Mao7,8, (1)TreePeople, Beverly Hills, CA, (2)Chesapeake Bay Career Consulting, (3)Forest Resources Management, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, (4)California State University, Northridge, (5)Departments of Urban Planning & Environmental Health Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, (6)California Polytechnic State University, (7)TreePeople, (8)University of California, Los Angeles

Organizer
Kirsten Schwarz – University of California, Los Angeles, Departments of Urban Planning & Environmental Health Sciences

Co-organizers
Yujuan Chen – TreePeople
Richard Pouyat – Chesapeake Bay Career Consulting

Moderator
Richard Pouyat – Chesapeake Bay Career Consulting

Speakers

• Soil in the City: Results from a Soil Needs Assessment in Los Angeles
  • Erica L. Wohldmann, California State University, Northridge and Yujuan Chen, TreePeople
• Community Engagement Around Urban Soil Needs as a Means to Inform Research
  • Kirsten Schwarz1, Selena Mao2,3, Andres Gonzalez3 and Yujuan Chen4, (1)Departments of Urban Planning & Environmental Health Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, (2)TreePeople, (3)University of California, Los Angeles, (4)TreePeople, Beverly Hills, CA
• Do scientists need to do a better job making the link between green infrastructure and brown infrastructure?
  • Susan Day, Forest Resources Management, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, Erica L. Wohldmann, California State University, Northridge, Kirsten Schwarz, Departments of Urban Planning & Environmental Health Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA and Yujuan Chen, TreePeople, Beverly Hills, CA
• Initial steps to characterize Los Angeles’s soils
  • Gordon Rees, California Polytechnic State University and Dyani Frye, NRES, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA
• RegenerateLA and LA’s Green New Deal
  • Michelle Barton, LA Sanitation and Environment, City of Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA and Mas Dojiri, L.A. Sanitation & Environment

 

Organized Oral 14

Meta-analysis and Beyond: Connecting Secondary Data and Scientific Synthesis to Environmental Decision-making

Tuesday, August 3, 2021
7:00 AM-8:00 AM Pacific Time

Session Description
Rigorously designed experiments and the primary data that they generate are powerful tools in ecology that define and shape ecological theory. However, many problems and questions require that the results of individual experiments or studies be brought together in a synthetic way. Such scientific synthesis can enable ecological understanding within a larger context by comparing results from different species, time scales, or ecosystems. Specialized kinds of synthesis can also create new insights about central tendency, strength of association, and certainty/uncertainty that integrate findings across a variety of study types, species, and systems. The very successful work of synthesis centers in the U.S. (e.g., National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center, Powell Center) and others around the world showcase the value and application of scientific synthesis, and ecological synthesis, in particular. One important application of scientific synthesis is evidence-based environmental decision-making. The process of decision-making often relies on analysis and interpretation of secondary data and information (i.e., data and information used by someone besides the individual that originally generated and analyzed it). The scale of the decision (geographic, political, cost) often dictates the scale of the relevant supporting data – which can be quite large. The challenges associated with secondary data acquisition, analysis, and communication are probably familiar to those who have conducted quantitative meta-analysis. They also exist for other forms of qualitative synthesis like conceptual syntheses, causal analysis, and risk assessment. In this session, we introduce how ecologists are connecting secondary data synthesis to environmental decision-making. We lay bare the challenges that exist for scientists utilizing secondary data to inform decisions in different scales and contexts with various requirements for specificity, comprehensiveness, timeliness, rigor and transparency. We will explore state-of-the-art methodologies for secondary data analysis and interpretation that cut across several fields of environmental decision-making, including application to national-scale US environmental policy and international environmental management. We will address translational aspects of communicating results from scientific synthesis. Finally, we will look ahead to the next generation of bringing together secondary data and why ecologists should lead the way. Note: This session was submitted and accepted for the 2020 annual meeting but was withdrawn in deference to pandemic challenges faced by several presenters. In this re-submission, we have updated the description to align more closely to the theme of the 2021 annual meeting.

One-sentence Summary
In this session, we explore approaches and applications for secondary data analysis, interpretation, and delivery in several fields of environmental decision-making, including national-scale US environmental policy and international conservation.

Organizer
Caroline E. Ridley – US EPA, Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment

Co-organizer
Douglas Kaylor – US Environmental Protection Agency, Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment

Moderator
Richard Rice – US Environmental Protection Agency, Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment

Speakers

• Better late than never: the even bigger picture to contemporary scientific syntheses
  • Christopher Lortie, Biology, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada
• Systematic review of plant sensitivity to ozone: Application to US National Ambient Air Quality Standards
  • Douglas Kaylor, Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment, US Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC and Emmi Felker-Quinn, Air Resources Division, National Park Service, Lakewood, CO
• A Canadian perspective on the benefits and challenges with “big” secondary environmental data
  • Trina Rytwinski1, Steven J. Cooke1, Jessica J. Taylor1, Dominique G. Roche1, Paul A. Smith2, Greg W. Mitchell2, Karen E. Smokorowski3, Kent A. Prior4 and Joseph R. Bennett1, (1)Canadian Centre for Evidence-Based Conservation, Department of Biology and Institute of Environmental and Interdisciplinary Sciences, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada, (2)Wildlife Research Division, Environment and Climate Change Canada, National Wildlife Research Centre, Ottawa, ON, Canada, (3)Great Lakes Laboratory for Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Sault Ste. Marie, ON, Canada, (4)Parks Canada, Gatineau, QC, Canada

• Air Pollution in National Parks: Using ecological data to scale up and then back down again
  • Emmi Felker-Quinn1, Michael D. Bell1, Kevin Horn, S. Douglas Kaylor3, Leigh C. Moorhead3 and Nick Russell4, (1)Air Resources Division, National Park Service, Lakewood, CO, (2)Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment, US Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC, (3)University of Colorado-Denver, Denver, CO
• Know your audience: Delivering big secondary data to decision-makers
  • Samantha Cheng, Center for Biodiversity and Conservation, American Museum of Natural History
• The future of meta-analysis and ecological synthesis for environmental decisions and practices
  • Jessica Gurevitch, Stony Brook University

 

Organized Oral 15

Integrating Climate Justice Into Ecology Education – Elevating the Human Dimensions of ESA’s 4DEE for a Sustainable Future

Tuesday, August 3, 2021
11:00 AM-12:00 PM Pacific Time

Session Description
Climate Justice has arisen as a major global concern in International Science Assessments, non-governmental including faith-based organizations and people’s movements. All are raising the importance of ensuring that as we address climate change solutions, that we ensure that those already disadvantaged, especially those of low income and other vulnerable groups – particularly BIPOC (black, indigenous and other people of color) already experiencing environmental injustice are not further disadvantaged. In the US, the movements towards Anti-racism, Inclusion, diversity, and multicultural awareness in society, our Universities and ESA as a whole provide opportunities for ecologists and the field of ecology to integrate more broadly. Ecologists can provide data, tools and training for local communities as well as educating in ways that show the interconnections between the human dimensions of ecology along with the non-human elements of ecosystems. Such integration is essential for all career tracks and members of society in finding socio-ecological solutions to environmental problems. In 2018 the Ecological Society of America recognized the importance of elevating the human dimension in ecology education and endorsed its first curricular framework, the Four-dimensional Ecology Education (4DEE) to support efforts for educating ecologists to be able to address the environmental justice issues related to climate change. In this session, we invite experts in climate justice, equity and diversity in ecology, and environmental education to present on their areas of expertise and provide a comprehensive action plan for integrating climate justice into ecology education. This session features a diversity of presenters, from different generations, cultures (LatinX, Black, Indigenous, Caucasian) and faith-based organizations who have worked from local to global levels in formal and non formal educational settings. Presenters will respond to the following: * Describe the dimensions of climate justice in your work and the challenges faced * What are the ways that ecology knowledge is needed to address the injustice? * From your work, How do you see climate change and justice solutions interfacing with the components of 4DEE ? www.esa.org/4DEE/framework * How can ecologists and students of ecology engage in the issue ? What training/skills (ecological practices) do they need? * How/where do you experience the passion and interest of students/young people in addressing the issue of climate justice ? * What are resources you’d recommend for ecology educators and students? Educational approaches you’ve found helpful, or that you think are needed?

One-sentence Summary
Higher education and ngo presenters explore multicultural, local to global, and socio-ecological components of Climate Justice – ensuring equity and environmental justice for disadvantaged groups while achieving sustainable solutions – and how to integrate it into youth and adult initiatives, and ecology education for students, faith groups and general public.

Organizer
Leanne Jablonski – Marianist Environmental Education Center, University of Dayton Hanley Sustainability Institute

Co-organizer
Carmen Cid – Eastern Connecticut State University, Biology

Moderator
Carmen Cid – Eastern Connecticut State University, Biology

Speakers

• Climate Justice Education: Connecting culture, ethics and values with ecology in the college classroom and in faith-community justice and sustainability programming.
  • Dorothy Boorse, Biology, Gordon College, Wenham, MA and Leanne M. Jablonski, University of Dayton Hanley Sustainability Institute, Marianist Environmental Education Center, Dayton, OH
• Connecting the dots: ecosystem services, traditional ecological knowledge, community resilience, and climate justice
  • Astrid Caldas, Union of Concerned Scientists
• What environmental justice means in Indian Country: Challenges and Opportunities in the 21st Century
  • James Rattling Leaf Sr., North Central Climate Adaptation Science Center, University of Colorado – Boulder, Boulder, CO, Robert Newman, Biology, University of North Dakota and Amber Finley, Environmental Management Program, University of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
• Environmental Racism and Climate Change: Vulnerabilities for People of Color and the Planet
  • Adrienne L. Hollis, Climate and Energy, Union of Concerned Scientists, Washington, DC
• Underrepresented, underserved, understudied: gaps and opportunities for advancing environmental justice in disadvantaged communities
  • Jose Pablo Ortiz-Partida1, Angel S. Fernandez-Bou2, Humberto Flores-Landeros2, Kristin B. Dobbin3, Leigh Bernacchi4 and Josue Medellin-Azuara2, (1)Union of Concerned Scientists, Oakland, CA, (2)Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Merced, Merced, CA, (3)Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, (4)Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS), University of California, Merced, Merced, CA
• Incorporating climate justice into formal and informal education, from K-16
  • Sarah Riggs Stapleton, Education Studies, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR

 

Organized Oral 16

Microbial community coalescence: When isolated microbial communities collide

Tuesday, August 3, 2021
11:00 AM-12:00 PM Pacific Time

Session Description
Every seed germinating in soils, handshake, tidal change, and stream confluence exemplify common instances of community coalescence – the blending of previously isolated communities. Do dispersal events change how we perceive disturbances, and how might the merging communities scale up to changes in terms of their composition and ecosystem function? In this session, research will examine how previously isolated microbial communities and environmental conditions collide and mix under dynamic conditions. Understanding the isolated community structure and function is needed to accurately predict the resultant microbial community and a range of functions at mixing zones. We will leverage community coalescence theory, which integrates meta-ecosystem dynamics and metacommunity studies. Research will focus on the community coalescence framework for predicting community responses to disturbance in diverse environments and host-associated habitats. The objectives of this session are to (1) understand the importance of community coalescence to ecology and engineered biotic systems, (2) develop innovative approaches to analyzing community mixing during coalescence, and (3) highlight the potential importance of network connectivity and specific biotic interactions in understanding and predicting the consequences of community coalescence.

One-sentence Summary
Merging of whole, isolated communities occurs endlessly in the microbial realm, yet we are just now appreciating the crucial role of this process on community structure and ecosystem functions.

Organizer
Mario Muscarella – University of Alaska Fairbanks, Assistant Professor of Microbiology

Co-organizer
Jennifer D. Rocca, North Carolina State University

Moderator
Ariane Peralta – East Carolina University, Department of Biology

Speakers

• Microbial community coalescence: when communities and ecosystems collide
  • Mario Muscarella, University of Alaska Fairbanks
• Dominance of eutrophic generalist species after microbial community coalescence events
  • Sara Beier, Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research and Guilherme P. de Moraes, Department of Botany, Universidade Federal de São Carlos, São Carlos, Brazil
• Dispersal modifies the responses of bacterioplankton to salinity disturbances
  • Dandan Izabel-Shen1,2, Silke Langenheder3 and Klaus Jürgens2, (1)Department of Ecology, Environment and Plant Sciences, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden, (2)Section of Biological Oceanography, Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research, Warnemünde, Germany, (3)Department of Ecology and Genetics/Limnology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
• The consequences of bifidobacteria diversity for ecosystem functioning
  • Cynthia Rodriguez, University of California, Irvine and Jennifer B.H. Martiny, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA
• Microdiversity is associated with low phylogenetic turnover in the glacier-fed stream microbiome
  • Stilianos Fodelianakis1, Alex Washburne2,3, Massimo Bourquin1, Paraskevi Pramateftaki1, Tyler J. Kohler1, Michail Styllas1, Matteo Tolosano1, Vincent De Staercke1, Martina Schön1, Susheel Bhanu Busi4, Jade Brandani1, Paul Wilmes4, Hannes Peter1 and Tom J. Battin1, (1)Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland, (2)Montana State University, (3)Selva Analytics LLC, Bozeman, MT, (4)University of Luxemburg, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg

 

Organized Oral 17

Within-species variation in plant physiology informs environment x genetic interactions via common garden experiments

Tuesday, August 3, 2021
11:00 AM-12:00 PM Pacific Time

Session Description
Climate change may outpace the capacity of forests to adapt to rapid environmental changes, leading to the potential for a mismatch between the climate to which a plant population is adapted and climates of the future. However, our ability to predict and mitigate climate change effects on future forest distributions is limited by an incomplete understanding of the basic rules of how genotype x environment interactions influence an organism’s phenotype (e.g. functional responses or traits enabling a species to persist in a certain climate). Intraspecific, or within-species, variation in functional responses to the environment enables a species to persist in a wide range of climates. Within-species variation can occur via phenotypic plasticity and genetic or ecotypic differentiation. Examination of phenotypic plasticity and genetic differentiation elucidates how the environment x genetic interaction influences species distributions including its size, the direction of distributional shifts, and identification of populations most vulnerable to future climates. Including such intraspecific variation in predictive models would improve predictions of species distributions under future climates. A major limitation is the lack of data from common garden studies. This session promotes research on common garden and reciprocal transplant studies examining the effects of the interaction between the environment and genetic differentiation on plant phenotype, specifically ecophysiology and responses to the environment from leaf-level traits to species distributions. Six speakers (Leander Anderegg, Joe Bailey, Beth Roskilly, Anna Schoettle, Duncan Smith, Kristen Waring) will discuss their expertise in this field of research. The goal is to share research and identify successes, opportunities, challenges, and ways forward to promote future research using common gardens and reciprocal transplant study designs to improve our understanding of the effect of the genotype x environment interaction on plant phenotype and species distributions.

One-sentence Summary
Examining how the interaction between the environment (past, current, future) and genotype influences plant phenotype (responses to the environment from leaf-level to whole plant traits) via common gardens and reciprocal transplant studies provides a mechanistic understanding of drivers of species distributions to improve management and conservation efforts.

Organizer
Danielle Marias Ulrich – Montana State University, Department of Ecology

Co-organizer
Kelly Kerr – University of Utah, School of Biological Sciences

Moderator
Danielle Marias Ulrich – Montana State University, Department of Ecology

Speakers

• Adaptive variation in Pinus aristata, Rocky Mountain Bristlecone Pine: application to conservation of a species challenged by climate change and a non-native disease
  • Anna W. Schoettle, Rocky Mountain Research Station, USDA Forest Service, Ft. Collins, CO, Betsy Goodrich, Forest Health Protection, USDA Forest Service, Wenatchee, WA and Detlev R. Vogler, Institute of Forest Genetics, USDA FS, Pacific Southwest Research Station, Placerville, CA
• Dealing with drought: Does plasticity or local adaptation underlie geographic variation in drought resistance in a California oak?
  • Leander Anderegg, Ecology, Evolution & Marine Biology, UC Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, Robert Skelton, South African Ecological Observatory Network, Cape Town, CA, South Africa, Jessica V. Diaz, Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, Prahlada D. Papper, Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, David Ackerly, Integrative Biology & Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA and Todd Dawson, Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA
• Species-range models vastly over-predict suitable habitat relative to models that include intraspecific genetic variation
  • Shannon L.J. Bayliss and Joe Bailey, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Knoxville, TN
• Rangewide patterns of climate adaptation and phenotypic plasticity in western larch
  • Beth Roskilly, Brandon M. Lind and Sally N. Aitken, Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
• Plasticity of physiological and anatomical leaf traits in Eucalyptus across a water availability gradient
  • Duncan D. Smith1,2, Katherine A. McCulloh1, Thomas N. Buckley3, Mark A. Adams2 and Thomas J. Givnish1, (1)Botany, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, (2)Swinburne University of Technology, VIC, Australia, (3)Plant Sciences, University of California Davis, Davis, CA
• Adaptive traits across families and common gardens: results from Pinus strobiformis common garden experiments
  • Kristen M. Waring1, Amy V. Whipple2, Ethan Bucholz1, Jessica A. Hartsell1, Ehren Moler2 and Jared Swenson2, (1)School of Forestry, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, (2)Biological Sciences, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ

 

Organized Oral 18

Woody invaders in temperate and tropical forests: different species, same strategy?

Tuesday, August 3, 2021
11:00 AM-12:00 PM Pacific Time

Session Description
One of the largest emerging threats to forest biodiversity worldwide is the spread of shade-tolerant woody invaders, which are able to establish and outcompete native forest species even in relatively undisturbed conditions. Case studies in both tropical and temperate forests indicate such invaders often combine shade tolerance and fast growth to a degree that is rare in native species, and point to a ‘forest invader syndrome’ that may unify invasion processes across latitudes. However, invasion research in temperate and tropical ecosystems remains poorly integrated, in part because management strategies are often focused on particular species that are unique to tropical or temperate habitats. This division has stymied theoretical advances in invasion research that could arise from a synthesis of invader behavior across regions, and impeded the development of shared invasion management strategies. This organized oral session will bring together six scientists working on woody invasions of closed-canopy forests in temperate and tropical ecosystems. Our goal is to foster discussion on commonalities of mesic forest invasions as a means to better develop a theory of plant invasions in shaded habitats. For example, comparison of functional traits and demographic attributes of invaders may allow identification of a syndrome of traits common to invaders of closed-canopy forests that could be used for invader prevention in risk assessment protocols. In addition, participants will discuss whether particular native forest attributes, such as preservation of a vigorous native understory layer, reduce the invasibility of introduced shade-tolerant species. Represented ecosystems include tropical evergreen forests in Australia and the Caribbean, subtropical seasonal forests in South America, and cold-deciduous forests of Eastern North America and central Europe. Forest ecology has long been an important research theme of ESA members, and forest invasions are of worldwide ecological significance due to their association with native biodiversity decline. There is a dire need to integrate research findings across disparate habitats, and between researchers of diverse perspectives. We view this session as an opportunity for dialogue in basic science between researchers that rarely get to interact.

One-sentence Summary
By presenting diverse case studies of temperate and tropical forest invasions, this session explores whether woody invaders of mesic, undisturbed forests worldwide share a common set of ecological attributes that may enhance invader management and prevention strategies.

Organizer
Jason Fridley – Syracuse University

Co-organizer
Curtis Daehler – University of Hawaii, Department of Botany

Moderator
Curtis Daehler – University of Hawaii, Department of Botany

Speakers

• Between light and shadow: behaviors of invasive trees in European mesic forests.
  • Déborah Closset-Kopp, Université de Picardie Jules Verne, Amiens, France and Guillaume Decocq, University of Picardie Jules Verne, Amiens, France
• Determining factors for the occurrence of woody invaders in Neotropical forests.
  • Amanda Carmes1, Rafael Barbizan Sühs2, Pedro Fiaschi1 and Michele Dechoum1, (1)Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Brazil, (2)Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil
• Deciduous forest invasions of North America: functional strategies above- and belowground.
  • Jason Fridley, Biology, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY
• How to invade an intact tropical rainforest: a case study of Psidium cattleianum
  • David Tng, School for Field Studies, Yungaburra, Australia and Susan G. Laurance, Centre for Tropical Environmental and Sustainability Science (TESS) and College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Cairns, Australia
• Shade tolerance, seedling banks, and cyclone release: trajectories of woody invasion in disturbed tropical forests.
  • Helen T. Murphy, CSIRO, Atherton, Australia
• Woody plant invasions in the Caribbean: introduction history and ecological insights
  • Julissa Rojas-Sandoval, Institute of the Environment, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT

 

Organized Oral 19

Connecting Students, Instructors, and the Scientific Community Through Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences.

Tuesday, August 3, 2021
1:30 PM-2:30 PM Pacific Time

Session Description
Hands-on research experiences are invaluable opportunities for students to learn about scientific inquiry, gain confidence in overcoming obstacles, and self-identify as scientists. Because limited opportunities, time, and finances prevent many students from participating in extracurricular research, Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) are increasingly promoted as a strategy for providing equitable access to research opportunities. However, instructors in the ecological sciences face a number of barriers when trying to integrate authentic research into classes. Although many excellent CUREs focus on lab-based activities, existing field-based CUREs are rare, and the development and maintenance of new CUREs can be time consuming and unsustainable without support from an institution or network. Furthermore, field-based activities can be difficult to fit within the constraints of scheduled classes, may require additional permitting (e.g., Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) approval for work with vertebrates, or local land-use permits), and often result in inadequate data for meaningful data analysis. In this session, we will (1) discuss how we created an ecology-based CURE network to address these challenges, (2) present instructor and student perspectives on participation in the network, and (3) share results from the first year of pedagogical assessment of CURE implementation. Squirrel-Net started as a group of nine educator-researchers who wanted to integrate meaningful ecological research into undergraduate biology education. We developed a series of four CUREs investigating the behavioral ecology of sciurid rodents (e.g., squirrels, chipmunks, marmots, prairie dogs). Each module uses standardized protocols, accompanied by templates for institutional approvals (e.g., IACUC protocols), to collect data on local species which students contribute to a linked multi-institutional dataset. These national datasets allow students to test broader and more complex hypotheses than would be possible using data from a single institution (or species/habitat). Access to the national datasets also helps instructors and their students to overcome common obstacles associated with small datasets (e.g., missing data or unmet model assumptions) and engage in hands-on ecological research, even during remote instruction. Here, we present both instructor and student perspectives on participation in the network. Finally, in creating a network that links data collection across institutions, Squirrel-Net has also created opportunities to evaluate how variations in implementation of CUREs across diverse courses and institution types influence student outcomes. We report the findings from the first year of a three-year NSF-funded study assessing the value of utilizing networked CUREs to positively influence student learning and development as scientists.

One-sentence Summary
This session will discuss the benefits of networked, ecological course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs), from the diverse perspectives of creation, implementation, participation, and assessment.

Organizer
Laurie Dizney – University of Portland, Biology

Co-organizer
Jennifer Duggan – California State University, Monterey Bay

Moderator
Laurie Dizney – University of Portland, Biology

Speakers

• An Introduction to Networked CUREs using Squirrel-Net as a Case Study
  • Jennifer M. Duggan, Department of Applied Environmental Science, California State University, Monterey Bay, Seaside, CA, Laurie Dizney, Biology, University of Portland, Portland, OR, Patrice K. Connors, Department of Biological Sciences, Colorado Mesa University, Grand Junction, CO, Liesl P. Erb, Departments of Biology and Environmental Studies, Warren Wilson College, Asheville, NC, Elizabeth A. Flaherty, Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, J.D. Hanson, Biodiversity Research and Education, Hayley C. Lanier, Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History and Department of Biology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, Johanna Varner, Biology, Colorado Mesa University, Grand Junction, CO and C.J. Yahnke, University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point, Stevens Point, WI
• Engaging Non-Science Majors in Course-Based Ecological Research
  • Elizabeth Davis-Berg, Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, IL
• Guiding Students through CURE Participation as a Teaching Assistant
  • Emily L. Kiehnau, Biology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK and Rebecca M. Prather, Department of Biology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK; Department of Biological Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL
• Advanced Adaptations to Course-based Research for Upper Level Students
  • Jennifer Kovacs, Biology, Agnes Scott College, Decatur, GA
• Student Perspectives on Participating in Squirrel-Net Research
  • Tori Gyorey, Zamira Johnson-Sfaelos and Dakota Mitchell, Biology, Agnes Scott College, Decatur, GA
• Assessment of Student Learning Outcomes from Squirrel-Net CUREs
  • Lorelei Patrick, Fort Hays State University, Hays, KS

 

Organized Oral 20

Managing Organic Inputs in Agriculture to Optimize Soil Nutrient Cycling and Other Ecosystem Services

Tuesday, August 3, 2021
1:30 PM-2:30 PM Pacific Time

Session Description
Growers have a variety of choices for organic soil nutrient inputs, including animal manure, composted organic waste, cover crops, and processed amendments such as biochar or bone meal. These diverse options, and the complex ecological processes that arise from them, mean that it is not always straightforward to choose the best options for a particular operation. This session will explore benefits, tradeoffs, and interactions of organic soil nutrient management options using case studies from around the US. Emphasis is given to solutions that enhance soil-based ecosystem services such as carbon storage, water infiltration and retention, prevention of nutrient leaching and runoff, and support of soil food webs and biodiversity. This session highlights geographically and agronomically diverse systems, including fruit orchards in the West, grain crops in the Upper Midwest, and small vegetable farms in the South. Each presentation provides an illustrative example of how organic input decisions affect belowground ecosystem function. Presentations integrate technical findings (such as the relationship between crop diversity and belowground microbial diversity) with on-farm considerations (such as knowledge barriers and economic viability). Both certified organic and non-organic farmers may choose to use organic inputs, so both types of production are included in this session. Understanding how to best manage organic nutrient sources requires close collaboration between land users and researchers. The belowground processes that determine nutrient dynamics can be conceptually complex, impossible to see, and difficult to measure. However, regardless of how well-understood the dynamics are in theory, practical considerations dictate what management options are available (e.g., choice of cover crop species, frequency of manure application, or tillage depth of compost). The goal of this session is to provide an outline of current knowledge on organic input management while also highlighting ways that agroecologists and growers can continue working together for mutual benefit.

One-sentence Summary
Growers have many choices for organic soil nutrient inputs, including manure, compost, and cover crops. In this session, experts from around the US explore benefits and tradeoffs of organic soil management options, emphasizing solutions that enhance ecosystem services such as carbon storage.

Organizer
Amber Kerr – UC Berkeley, Energy and Resources Group

Co-organizer
Sarah Davis – Ohio University, Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs: Environmental Studies Program

Moderator
Sarah Davis – Ohio University, Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs: Environmental Studies Program

Speakers

• Using plant functional diversity to provide multiple belowground ecosystem services
  • Laurie E Drinkwater, School of Integrated Plant Science-Horticulture Section, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
• Forecasting and monitoring plant-available N supply in organic vegetable cropping systems
  • Dan M. Sullivan, Crop and Soil Science, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR and Nicholas Andrews, Horticulture, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR
• Seasonal soil N availability in organic grain and forage crop production in Wisconsin
  • Erin Silva, Department of Plant Pathology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, Matthew D. Ruark, Soil Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison and Kalyn Diederich, Department of Land, Air, and Water Resources, University of California-Davis
• Orchard floor management for improved tree growth and soil health in organic peach systems
  • Jennifer R. Reeve1, Catherine M. Culumber2, Diane G. Alston3, Corey V. Ransom3 and Brent L. Black3, (1)Plants, Soils, and Climate, Utah State University, Logan, UT, (2)University of California, (3)Utah State University
• Impacts of conservation management practices on plant nitrogen availability and greenhouse gas emissions for organic vegetables
  • Guihua Chen, Office of Environmental Farming and Innovation, California Department of Food and Agriculture, Sacramento, CA
• Participatory capacity building in organic farming systems
  • Jennifer E. Taylor, College of Agriculture and Food Sciences/Cooperative Extension, Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University, Tallahassee, FL

 

Organized Oral 21

Taking Stock of Trait-Based Community Ecology

Tuesday, August 3, 2021
1:30 PM-2:30 PM Pacific Time

Session Description
Trait-based ecology was proposed as a way to rebuild community ecology and to resolve much of the context dependency in our understanding of the processes that influence biodiversity patterns. While great advances have been made in the last decade, fulfilling the promise of trait-based ecology requires reflection on where progress has been made and where more progress is needed. The goal of this session is to “take stock” of recent advances in trait-based community ecology and highlight areas where more research efforts are needed to advance the field. We broadly focus on three areas: 1) trait-fitness linkages, 2) unresolved sources of context dependency, and 3) synthesis and scaling of functional diversity. First, we highlight the need for more research focused on the foundations of trait-based community ecology, specifically strengthening the linkages between functional traits and fitness or performance. Second, we highlight unresolved sources of context dependency in trait-based community ecology such as the role of intra- and interspecific trait variation and the impact of vertical species interactions such as small mammal herbivory and mutualisms in influencing pattern of functional diversity. Third, we highlight the need for greater synthesis in trait-based community ecology such as generalizing how functional diversity patterns change along environmental gradients and how to scale patterns of functional diversity from the local plant neighborhood to the continent. By addressing recent advances in these three areas, we will provide a path forward for the field of trait-based community ecology.

One-sentence Summary
The goal of this session is to “take stock” of advances in trait-based community ecology over the last decade and to highlight three areas where advances are needed: 1) trait-fitness linkages, 2) unresolved sources of context dependency, and 3) synthesis and scaling of functional diversity

Organizer
Marko Spasojevic – University of California Riverside, Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology

Moderator
Tesa Madsen-McQueen – University of California Riverside, Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology

Speakers

• How does functional diversity change along environmental gradients?
  • Marko Spasojevic, Michel Au, Jared D. Huxley, Tesa Madsen-McQueen, Erin McCann, Kristen Prattipati, Advyth Ramachandran, Sena Sadri and Melisa Salguero, Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, University of California Riverside, Riverside, CA
• Demographic trade-offs in comparative ecology
  • Daniel Laughlin, Botany Department, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY
• Revisiting the trait-based filtering framework: lessons from grassland restoration
  • Jennifer Funk, Plant Sciences, University of California Davis, CA
• Disentangling the effect of multiple ecological processes on recruitment in an invaded annual grassland using a trait based approach
  • Loralee Larios, Botany and Plant Sciences, University of California-Riverside, Riverside, CA, Lachlan Charles, University of California, Riverside and John L. Maron, Division of Biological Sciences, The University of Montana, Missoula, MT
• Linking plant-pollinator networks with traits to understand interaction variation
  • Laura Burkle, Department of Ecology, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, Evan Fricke, Rice University, Houston, TX and J. Simone Durney, Ecology, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT
• The functional paradox of dryland plant communities
  • Nicolas Gross, French National Research Institute for Agriculture, France

 

Organized Oral 22

Digging deeper: understanding the vital connections between microbial communities and global biogeochemistry through the whole soil profile

Tuesday, August 3, 2021
2:30 PM-3:30 PM Pacific Time

Session Description
Soil microbial communities control many of Earth’s biogeochemical cycles; however, much of what we know about microbial communities is confined to the upper soil layers. Subsoil microbial communities (> 20 cm in depth) present a vital knowledge gap in comprehensive understanding of soil health, biogeochemical cycling, and carbon storage in the face of ongoing global change stressors. Subsoil microbial communities are important because they remain understudied reservoirs of microbial activity. Emerging research shows that, when accounted for, their inclusion could significantly change estimates and models of biogeochemical cycling. Subsoil microbes are taxonomically and functionally distinct from their surface soil counterparts, with adaptations that allow them to survive in resource-limited conditions. We are yet to discover how subsoil microbial communities differ across large climate gradients and how this impacts Earth’s biogeochemical cycles. Furthermore, the responsiveness of subsoil microbial communities to experimental manipulations is undefined. As a variety of global change stressors (e.g., elevated temperatures, enhanced nitrogen deposition, increased wildfire activity) continue to escalate, understanding how the subsoil responds will become increasingly important. Recently, a critical mass of research on the subsoil microbial community has emerged allowing for a synthesis across ecosystems to determine the contribution of subsoil microbial communities to ecosystem functionality at multiple scales. This session aims to “lift up” subsoil microbes and present new opportunities and questions for future work in the subsoil. Given the interdisciplinary nature of this work, this session should be of interest to microbial ecologists, biogeochemists, ecosystem ecologists, and earth system modellers. We encourage participants to “think deeply” about soil microbial communities and join us in this session.

One-sentence Summary
This session encourages participants to “think deeply” about soil microbial communities as we discuss the vital connections between microbial community structure and biogeochemical processes throughout the soil profile with an emphasis on the understudied subsoils and across ecosystems.

Organizer
Neslihan Taş – Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Climate & Ecosystems Division

Co-organizer
Nicholas C. Dove – Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Biosciences

Moderator
Neslihan Taş – Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Climate & Ecosystems Division

Speakers

• Key drivers of uniformity or change with depth in soils across the US
  • Emma L. Aronson1, Keshav Arogyaswamy2, Jon K. Botthoff3, Tess Brewer4, Nicholas C. Dove5, Hannah Freund6 and Mia Maltz6, (1)University of California Riverside, (2)Genetics, Genomics, and Bioinformatics, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, (3)Center for Conservation Biology, UC Riverside, (4)University of Colorado, Boulder, (5)Biosciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, (6)University of California, Riverside
• Snowmelt and seasonality influence trade-offs of microbial functional traits in forest soils
  • Dawson Fairbanks1, Chance Muscarella1, Jon Chorover2, Virginia Rich3 and Rachel E. Gallery4, (1)University of Arizona, (2)Department of Soil, Water and Environmental Science, University of Arizona, (3)Microbiology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, (4)School of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
• Deep Peat Heat: Microbiome Dynamics Through Space and Time at the SPRUCE Warming Experiment
  • Christopher W. Schadt1,2,3, Eric R. Johnston1,4, Laurel A. Kluber1,5, J. Megan Steinweg1,6, Caitlin C. Petro7, Max Kolton7, Malak M. Tfaily8, Joel E. Kostka7, Rachel M. Wilson9, Jeffery P. Chanton9 and Paul J. Hanson2,10, (1)Biosciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, (2)Climate Change Sciences Institute, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, (3)Department of Microbiology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, (4)Schneider National, Green Bay, WI, (5)Novozymes BioAg, Salem, VA, (6)Biology, Roanoke College, Salem, VA, (7)School of Biology, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, (8)Soil, Water, and Environmental Science, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, (9)Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, (10)Climate Change Science Institute and Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN
• Decomposition and stabilization of organic carbon across soil horizons and parent materials of five sites under deciduous forest
  • Michael Kaiser1, Svendja Vormstein2, Hans-Peter Piepho3 and Bernard Ludwig2, (1)Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, (2)Department of Environmental Chemistry, University of Kassel, (3)Biostatistics Unit, University of Hohenheim
• Phyla-wide metabolic capabilities mute positive response to direct and indirect impacts of warming throughout the soil profile
  • Nicholas C. Dove, Biosciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Margaret Torn, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Stephen C. Hart, Sierra Nevada Research Institute, University of California, Merced, CA and Neslihan Taş, Climate & Ecosystems Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA
• Adaptation to redox conditions and substrate availability differentiate permafrost microbial communities from across the globe.
  • Rachel Mackelprang, Biology, California State University, Northridge, Northridge, CA, Neslihan Tas, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Mark P. Waldrop, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center, US Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA, Christopher Chabot, Biology, US Army Corps of Engineers, Los Angeles, CA, Susanne Liebner, Geomicrobiology, GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany and Mary-Catherine Leewis, US Geological Survey

 

Organized Oral 23

Socioecological Impacts of Oil Palm Agriculture

Tuesday, August 3, 2021
2:30 PM-3:30 PM Pacific Time

Session Description
Oil palm is a widely farmed tropical crop that is grown to produce palm oil: the most traded vegetable oil worldwide. The expansion of oil palm agriculture has caused substantial declines in biodiversity and shifts in ecosystem functioning across the tropics. Additionally, as its growth affects the jobs and income of millions of people, oil palm agriculture has important socioeconomic effects within producing regions. Assessing the impacts of oil palm agriculture on tropical systems, and advocating for a more sustainable global palm oil industry both ecologically and socially, requires an interdisciplinary socioecological approach. In this session, we share case studies of large-scale collaborative research that is occurring between international academics and the palm oil industry, in order to provide an overview of the socioecological impacts of oil palm agriculture and to identify possible strategies to increase sustainability of the palm oil industry. The session includes projects based in all three major regions of palm oil production: Southeast Asia, West/Central Africa, and Central/South America. Collectively, we recommend the establishment of further collaborations between academia and the palm oil industry to develop a more sustainable global palm oil industry, with implications for increasing global food security, economic livelihoods, and conservation of tropical ecosystems.

One-sentence Summary
This session features case studies that showcase the socioecological impacts of oil palm agriculture, and identifies oil palm management strategies and other interventions that can promote more sustainable development of the global palm oil industry.

Organizer
Michael Pashkevich – University of Cambridge, Department of Zoology

Co-organizer
Valentine Reiss-Woolever – University of Cambridge, Department of Zoology

Moderator
Valentine Reiss-Woolever – University of Cambridge, Department of Zoology

Speakers

• Ecological restoration with biodiversity enrichment in oil palm plantations
  • Delphine Clara Zemp1,2, Nathaly Guerrero-Ramirez3, Ingo Grass4, Isabelle U. W. Arimond5, Johannes Ballauff6, Hermann Behling7, Dirk Berkelmann8, Siria Biagioni9, Fabian Brambach3, Dylan James Craven10, Rolf Daniel11, Kevin Darras12, Florian Ellsäßer13, Rico Fardiansah14, Nina Hennings15, Bambang Irawan16, Watit Khokthong17, Alena Krause18, Valentyna Krashevska18, Johanna Kückes13, Kevin Li19, Hendrik Lorenz13, Mark Maraun20, Miryam Sarah Merk21, Anton Potapov18,22, Herni Dwinta Pebrianti23, Andrea Polle6, Di Ajeng Prameswari18, Alexander Röll13, Lena Sachsenmaier19, Stefan Scheu24, Dominik Schneider25, Fitta Setiajiati26, Christina Ani Setyaningsih27, Leti Sundawati26, Teja Tscharntke28, Meike Wollni29, Dirk Hölscher13 and Holger Kreft30, (1)Faculty of Forest Sciences and Forest Ecology, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany, (2)Institute of Biology – Faculty of Science, University of Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, Switzerland, (3)Biodiversity, Macroecology and Biogeography, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany, (4)Ecology of Tropical Agricultural Systems, University of Hohenheim, Hohenheim, Germany, (5)Functional Agrobiodiversity, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany, (6)Forest Botany and Tree Physiology, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany, (7)Albrecht-von-Haller Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany, (8)Department of Genomic and Applied Microbiology, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany, (9)Albrecht-von-Haller-Institute for Plant Sciences, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany, (10)Centre for Ecosystem Modeling and Monitoring, Universidad Mayor, Chile, (11)Genomic and Applied Microbiology, University Goettingen, Goettingen, Germany, (12)Crop Sciences, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany, (13)Tropical Silviculture and Forest Ecology, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany, (14)University of Jambi, Jambi, Indonesia, (15)Biogeochmistry of Agroecosystems, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany, (16)Faculty of Forestry, University of Jambi, Jambi, Germany, (17)Environmental Science Research Center, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand, (18)J.F. Blumenbach Institute of Zoology and Anthropology, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany, (19)University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany, (20)J.F. Blumenbach Institute of Zoology and Anthropology, Georg August University Goettingen, Goettingen, Germany, (21)Chairs of Statistics and Econometrics, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany, (22)Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russian Federation, (23)Faculty of Forestry, University of Jambi, Jambi, Indonesia, (24)JFB-Institute for Zoology and Anthropology, Georg-August University, Goettingen, Germany, (25)Department of Genomic and Applied Microbiology & Göttingen Genomics Laboratory, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany, (26)Department of Forest Management, IPB University, Bogor, Indonesia, (27)Department of Palynology and Climate Dynamics, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany, (28)Agroecology, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany, (29)Environmental and Resource Economics, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany, (30)Biodiversity, Macroecology & Biogeography, Georg-August University, Goettingen, Germany
• Oil palm cultivation impacts on biodiversity in Colombia
  • Natalia Ocampo-Peñuela, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA
• Testing the efficacy of riparian restoration strategies in oil palm
  • Michael Pashkevich1, Sarah Helen Luke1, Anak Agung Ketut Aryawan2, Andreas Dwi Advento2, Dwi Nugroho Adhy2, Adindha Surya Anugraha2, Jassica Prajna Dewi2, Julia Drewer3, Edi Edi2, Mohammad Naim2, Pujianto Pujianto2, Dedi Purnomo2, Syafrisar Putra2, Soeprapto Soeprapto2, Suhardi Suhardi2, David J. X. Tan4, Ribka Sionita Tarigan2, Resti Wahyuningsih2, Whendy Whendy2, Jean-Pierre Caliman2, William A. Foster1, Eleanor M Slade5 and Edgar Clive Turner1, (1)Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom, (2)Sinar Mas Agro Resources and Technology Research Institute, Pekanbaru, Indonesia, (3)UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, (4)Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, (5)Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore
• Smallholder perceptions of land restoration activities: rewetting tropical peatland oil palm areas in Sumatra, Indonesia
  • Caroline Ward, Leverhulme Centre for Anthropocene Biodiversity, University of York, York, United Kingdom
• Challenges of the Oil Palm Sector in Cameroon and Sustainable Production Options
  • Raymond Ndip Nkongho1, Elsa M. Ordway2, Rosamond L. Naylor3, Denis Sonwa4, Eric F. Lambin5, Fideline Mboringong6, Ludovic Miaro III6 and Patrice Levang7, (1)Faculty of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, University of Buea, Buea, Cameroon, (2)Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, (3)Department of Earth System Science and the Center on Food Security and the Environment, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, (4)CGIAR / CIFOR, Yaounde, Cameroon, (5)Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, (6)World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), Yaounde, Cameroon, (7)CGIAR

 

Organized Oral 24

Integrating spatial and social behaviour across ecological systems

Wednesday, August 4, 2021
8:30 AM-9:30 AM Pacific Time

Session Description
Spatial ecology is a mature field with a rich theoretical and methodological basis, which is currently being enriched by important advances in GPS tracking and biologging technology. Meanwhile, the much younger field of social network analysis has increased exponentially in popularity over the last decade, rapidly becoming the principal method for quantifying social behaviors in wild animals. In recent years, as social network theory and methodology have matured, researchers interested in social processes increasingly incorporate elements of spatial ecology as a means to study and explain the causes and consequences of sociality. The social systems of wild animals are heavily influenced by spatial processes, including individual movement behavior, population structure, and the landscape’s physical architecture. Social network studies in ecology therefore benefit from quantifying sociality in spatially explicit contexts, often by incorporating spatial behavior into network analyses. However, guidance for social network researchers interested in incorporating spatial ecology is lacking, theory from both fields has rarely been integrated, the analyses required to bridge these fields can be complex, and the spatial-social literature is limited to a handful of specific study systems. As such, the integration of spatial and social ecology remains in its infancy and is currently limited by a lack of clear integration across different studies. In this session, we will address this gap by featuring a series of talks at the intersection of spatial ecology and social network ecology. The session involves a handpicked selection of researchers working on elements of movement ecology, spatial ecology, animal behavior, and network science, all of whom have developed frameworks, study systems, or analytical methodologies that bridge spatial and social topics in ecological contexts. We will summarise the diversity of models and study systems available for spatial-social investigations in ecology and animal behavior, facilitating crosstalk among researchers working in different fields and at different scales, and considering the methodological advances and gaps associated with quantifying spatial-social covariance. Ultimately, the talks and researchers involved will help to develop an ongoing agenda to unify spatial and social theory, to collect and integrate data systems, and to draw general, cross-system conclusions about the causes and consequences of spatial and social behaviours in ecology.

One-sentence Summary
How do animals move, whom do they meet, and what are the ecological consequences? This session showcases a selection of researchers working at the intersection of spatial ecology and social network ecology, and will cover a range of topics concerning the analysis and interpretation of these complex behavioral processes.

Organizer
Greg Albery – Georgetown University, Postdoctoral researcher

Co-organizers
Quinn Webber – Memorial University of Newfoundland, Cognitive and Behavioural Ecology
Shweta Bansal – Georgetown University, Department of Biology
Josh Firth – University of Oxford

Moderator
Greg Albery – Georgetown University, Postdoctoral researcher

Speakers

• Moving together, foraging apart: effects of the social environment on movement-integrated habitat selection
  • Quinn Webber1,2, Christina M. Prokopenko3, Katrien Kingdon3, Julie Turner3 and Eric Vander Wal1,4, (1)Cognitive and Behavioural Ecology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, NF, Canada, (2)Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, (3)Biology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, NF, Canada, (4)Department of Biology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, NF, Canada
• Social stability, information use and shark sociality inferred from telemetry-derived movement data
  • David M.P. Jacoby, Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Yannis P. Papastamatiou, Department of Biological Sciences,, Florida International University, Thomas W. Bodey, Environment and Sustainability Institute, University of Exeter; School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Jennifer E Caselle, Marine Science Institute, University of CA Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, Darcy E. Bradley, Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, Robin Freeman, Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, United Kingdom and Alan M. Friedlander, University of Hawaii, Manoa, Honolulu, HI
• Spatial and social processes driving disease transmission: Understanding associations in small animals
  • Lucinda Kirkpatrick, Universiteit Antwerpen, Joachim Mariën, Universiteit Antwerpen, Antwerp, Belgium and Herwig Leirs, Evolutionary Ecology Group, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
• Unpacking the interplay between spatial and social drivers of movement in a large herbivore along a latitudinal and life-history cline.
  • Kezia Manlove, Department of Wildland Resources and Ecology Center, Utah State University, Logan, UT
• Spatial and ecological constraints affect animal movements and interactions
  • Noa Pinter-Wollman, UCLA
• Group-level repeatability of seasonal home ranges in a non-territorial bird
  • Mina Ogino1,2,3,4,5, Brendah Nyaguthii5,6, Danai Papageorgiou1,2,3,4,5, Wismer Cherono5, Lucy Aplin4,7 and Damien Farine2,3,4,6, (1)Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany, (2)Department of Collective Behavior, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Konstanz, Germany, (3)Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland, (4)Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany, (5)Mpala Research Centre, Nanuyki, Kenya, (6)Ornithology section, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya, (7)Cognitive and Cultural Ecology Research Group, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Radolfzell, Germany

 

Organized Oral 25

Using Machine Learning to Quantify and Improve Earth System Predictions

Wednesday, August 4, 2021
8:30 AM-9:30 AM Pacific Time

Session Description
Predictions of environmental change are influenced by global carbon, water, and nutrient cycles; climate interactions; and feedbacks to the Earth system. Relevant processes operate at a large range of spatial and temporal scales and vary across terrestrial, coastal, and marine ecosystems. Feedbacks to the Earth system are driven by natural and anthropogenic disturbance agents, acceleration of nutrient and hydrological cycles, eutrophication, acidification, changes in climate and weather extremes, land cover and land use change, and potential climate intervention strategies. At the same time, increased emphasis on environmental sustainability and infrastructure resilience have driven dramatic increases in observational data and large-scale monitoring networks, exploitation of rapidly advancing computational capacity, and advanced artificial intelligence and machine learning methods applied to improving Earth system predictions. This session focuses on characterizing and reducing uncertainties of ecological feedback mechanisms that improve Earth system understanding and predictive ability through the development and application of data-driven approaches, including data mining, machine learning, data assimilation, and hybrid machine learning-/process-based Earth system modeling. Our ability to acquire, process, and store observational data and generate simulation output greatly exceeds our capacity to intelligently assimilate and apply those data to improve our knowledge of the dynamic Earth system. New methods and approaches are required to disentangle complex ecological interactions that have emergent impacts on the larger Earth system.

One-sentence Summary
Presented in this oral session is a collection of related ecological studies that employ data-driven and machine learning approaches to quantify and improve predictions of the Earth system with implications for future environmental sustainability.

Organizer
Forrest Hoffman – Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Computational Earth Sciences Group, University of Tennessee, Civil & Environmental Engineering

Co-organizer
Yiqi Luo – Northern Arizona University, Department of Biological Sciences

Moderator
Forrest Hoffman – Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Computational Earth Sciences Group, University of Tennessee, Civil & Environmental Engineering

Speakers

• PROcess-guided deep learning and DAta-driven modelling (PRODA) to uncover key patterns and mechanisms in global soil carbon cycle
  • Feng Tao1, Yuanyuan Huang2, Bruce A. Hungate3, Xingjie Lu4, Toby D. Hocking5, Umakant Mishra6, Gustaf Hugelius7, Xiaomeng Huang1 and Yiqi Luo8, (1)Department of Earth System Science, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, (2)CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere, Aspendale, Australia, (3)Center for Ecosystem Science and Society, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, (4)Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, OK, China, (5)Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, (6)Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore, CA, (7)Department of Physical Geography and Quaternary Geology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden, (8)Center for Ecosystem Science and Society (ECOSS), Northern Arizona University, AZ
• Bayesian and hybrid machine learning modeling for improving predictability of streamflow in data-scarce watersheds
  • Dan Lu1, Goutam Konapala2, Scott Painter3, Shih-Chieh Kao4 and Sudershan Gangrade3, (1)Computational Sciences and Engineering Division and Climate Change Science Institute, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, (2)NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, (3)Oak Ridge National Laboratory, (4)Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN
• Combining remote sensing and machine learning to predict current and future vegetation community distributions on the Seward Peninsula, Alaska
  • Venkata Shashank Konduri1,2, Jitendra Kumar3, Forrest Hoffman2, Verity G. Salmon4, Colleen Iversen5, Amy L. Breen6, William W. Hargrove7 and Auroop R. Ganguly8, (1)Northeastern University, Boston, MA, (2)Computational Earth Sciences Group, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, (3)Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, (4)Environmental Sciences Division and Climate Change Science Institute, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, (5)Climate Change Science Institute and Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, (6)International Arctic Research Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks, (7)Eastern Forest Environmental Threat Assessment Center, US Forest Service, Asheville, NC, (8)Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northeastern University, Boston, MA
• Machine learning to investigate storage and dynamics of soil organic carbon
  • Umakant Mishra, Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore, CA, Kyongmin Yeo, IBM, Sagar Gautam, Sandia National Laboratory, Kamal Nyaupane, University of Texas Arlington and Kabindra Adhikari, USDA-ARS
• Machine learning to predict peatland greenhouse gas emissions
  • Yuanyuan Huang1, Philippe Ciais2, Yiqi Luo3, Dan Zhu4, Ying-Ping Wang5, Cunjing Qiu6, Daniel S. Goll7, Bertrand Guenet8, David Makowski9, Inge De Graaf10, Jens Leifeld11, Min Jung Kwon7, Jing Hu12 and Laiye QU13, (1)CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere, Aspendale, Australia, (2)CNRS, France, (3)Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, (4)Beijing University, China, (5)CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, Victoria 3195, Australia, (6)LSCE, (7)LSCE, France, (8)Bioemco, CNRS, Paris, France, (9)INRAE, AgroParisTech, University Paris‐Saclay, UMR MIA 518, 75231 Paris, France, (10)University of Freiburg, (11)Agroscope, Climate and Agriculture Group, Reckenholzstrasse 191, 8046, Zurich, Switzerland., (12)University of Florida, (13)State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Ecology, Research center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
• Quantifying the drivers and predictability of seasonal changes in African fire
  • Jiafu Mao1, Yan Yu2, Peter E. Thornton1, Michael Notaro3, Stan D. Wullschleger1, Xiaoying Shi1, Forrest Hoffman4 and Yaoping Wang5, (1)Environmental Sciences Division and Climate Change Science Institute, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, (2)Princeton University, (3)Center for Climatic Research, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, (4)Computational Earth Sciences Group, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, (5)University of Tennessee

 

Organized Oral 26

Estuaries as Sentinels for Climate Change

Wednesday, August 4, 2021
11:00 AM-12:00 PM Pacific Time

Session Description
Estuaries are highly productive ecosystems at the terrestrial-aquatic interface. They perform essential ecosystem services while also providing critical habitat for many aquatic species, particularly larval and juvenile fishes. Many estuaries are also heavily developed and densely populated. The fast-growing human population in coastal areas is expected to put additional strain on this critical nexus of water, food, and energy production. Against this backdrop, climate change in the Anthropocene increases stress on these already-taxed ecosystems. Many estuaries are threatened by new hydrologic extremes of both flood and drought, rising sea levels and saltwater intrusion, rising temperatures, invasive species, acidification, eutrophication, harmful algal blooms, and other calamities that threaten the health of human, fish, birds, and other organisms. To find sustainable solutions that address these challenges, scientists must work closely together with resource managers, politicians, and citizen stakeholders to develop solutions that address the many competing needs of these complex environments. While the need for science-based solutions is great, many gaps exist in our understanding of how to best predict, model, and monitor for how a warming climate will change estuarine ecosystems. Small modifications, such as the arrival of an invasive species, can often create complex, non-linear impacts across the entire ecosystem that are inherently difficult to predict. Many existing models were developed to predict one or a few variables, like flow and salinity, and are therefore of limited use for the type of broad-scale synthesis efforts that are necessary to both understand and manage ecosystems as complex as estuaries. Because of this complexity, dedicated long-term monitoring efforts are required to ground-truth these models, but even in the best-studied estuaries their predictions are often beset with considerable uncertainty. This highlights the need not just for increased monitoring and better models, but increased coordination not just within specific systems but across nations in a coordinated effort to build the vital connections needed to share knowledge and best practices to meet this unprecedented global challenge. We have organized this session to bring together a diverse group of thought leaders from different, globally-significant estuaries to share cutting-edge scientific developments on how climate change will continue to affect the physical, chemical, and biological condition of estuarine ecosystems, as well as how these impacts can best be managed and mitigated. In doing so, we will showcase the exciting work being done in this critical area of scientific research and management as well as foster new collaborations.

One-sentence Summary
Estuaries around the world are imperiled due to climate change. This session unites diverse global experts to discuss varied threats like acidification, extreme flooding, and rising temperatures and their implications for the scientific management of these essential habitats for birds, fish, humans, and other mammals.

Organizer
Theodore M. Flynn – Delta Stewardship Council, Delta Science Program

Co-organizers
Rosemary Hartman – California Department of Water Resources, Office of Water Quality and Estuarine

Louise Conrad – Delta Stewardship Council, Delta Science Program

Eva Bush – Delta Stewardship Council, Delta Science Program

Dylan Stern – Delta Stewardship Council, Delta Science Program

Moderator
Theodore M. Flynn – Delta Stewardship Council, Delta Science Program

Speakers

• Climate change and the environmental flow requirements of estuaries
  • Janine Barbara Adams, Coastal and Marine Research Institute, Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa
• Going far, together: Collaborative monitoring of estuaries in the face of climate change
  • Rosemary Hartman, Office of Water Quality and Estuarine Ecology, California Department of Water Resources, West Sacramento, CA and Louise Conrad, Delta Science Program, Delta Stewardship Council, Sacramento, CA
• Effects of projected climate change on flooding and water temperatures of Yolo Bypass: implications for fishes and ecosystem function
  • Larry R. Brown1, Marissa L. Wulff1, Brock M. Huntsman1, Ted Sommer2 and Wayne Wagner3, (1)California Water Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, (2)California Department of Water Resources, (3)University of New Orleans
• Setting the Delta thermostat: Temperature trends of yesterday, today, and tomorrow
  • Catarina Pien1, Rosemary Hartman1, Eva Bush2, J. Louise Conrad2, Peggy Lehman1, Michelle Nelson1 and Brittany E. Davis1, (1)Office of Water Quality and Estuarine Ecology, California Department of Water Resources, West Sacramento, CA, (2)Delta Science Program, Delta Stewardship Council, Sacramento, CA
• Climate change rapidly warms and acidifies Australian estuaries
  • Elliot Scanes, Climate Change Cluster, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW, Australia; School of Life and Environmental Science, University of Sydney, Darlington, Australia, Peter Scanes, NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, Sydney, NSW, Australia and Pauline Ross, School of Life and Environmental Science, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, Australia
• Living on the edge: The need for long-term management strategies to lessen the impact of climatic and anthropogenic changes on naturally stressed low inflow estuaries
  • Michael Wetz, Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies, Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi, TX

 

Organized Oral 27

Equity-Focused, Evidence-Based Approaches to Teaching and Assessing SciComm in Higher Education

Wednesday, August 4, 2021
11:00 AM-12:00 PM Pacific Time

Session Description
Ecologists face a moral imperative: share research effectively and inclusively, so it is incorporated into individual and society-level decisions. To inform public policy, we must reach, and resonate with, varied stakeholders (e.g. funders, practitioners, educators, policymakers, diverse public(s), media). This is a complex challenge. We’re faced with “alternative facts”, short attention spans, and information overload. Worse, a growing body of research shows people are not persuaded by data and do not distinguish scientific evidence from other views. Instead, decisions are informed by lived experiences, peer influences, and personal identities. Indeed, examples abound of policy decisions made contrary to scientific advice. Regrettably, research also documents that most scientists are still trained to remain neutral, avoid advocacy, and expect science will be transmitted by someone else. Further, too many ecologists are still trained to see social issues such as justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI) issues as distinct from science and science training. Thus, this organized oral session highlights three key themes: decolonizing STEM through scicomm, evidence-based teaching of scicomm, and assessment of scicomm teaching/training that is publication-quality. While we work to transform higher education through overhauling tenure and promotion processes and making training and scholarship more equitable and inclusive, we are currently faced with the publish-or-perish paradigm. So, speakers in this session will speak to ways that scicomm can be integrated throughout ecology training programs and be assessed in ways that lead to publications and grant funding. This OOS is an adapted approach to a short course that was accepted, then cancelled during the ESA 2020 annual meeting: Making Science Matter: Leveraging the Science of Science Communication to Address the Moral Imperative of Effectively Sharing Ecology. This OOS is also paired with a workshop proposal which will focus on hands-on approaches to applying the themes of the OOS in higher ed classrooms.

One-sentence Summary
Science communication is an essential, but oft-overlooked aspect of ecology training. We take a multidisciplinary approach to teaching science communication in higher ed, featuring scholarship and case studies on three themes: decolonizing STEM through scicomm, evidence-based teaching of scicomm, and publishable assessment of scicomm teaching/training.

Organizer
Bethann Merkle – University of Wyoming, Department of Zoology & Physiology, UWyo Biodiversity Institute, Ecological Society of America, Communication and Engagement Section past chairperson, Public Engagement at Annual Meetings subcommittee member

Co-organizers
Robert Newman – University of North Dakota, Biology
Madhusudan Katti – North Carolina State University, Forestry and Environmental Resources

Moderator
Bethann Merkle – University of Wyoming, Department of Zoology & Physiology, UWyo Biodiversity Institute, Ecological Society of America, Communication and Engagement Section past chairperson, Public Engagement at Annual Meetings subcommittee member

Speakers

• A framework to make science communication more inclusive
  • Mónica Feliú-Mójer, Diversity and Communication Training, iBiology; Communications and Science Outreach, Ciencia Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico
• Science Communication for All: Integrating Science Communication in Undergraduate Curricula
  • Sara Yeo, Department of Communication, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT
• Promoting Engagement and Inclusivity in Science Learning through Performing Arts Integration
  • Jamē McCray, National Wildlife Federation, Reston, VA
• Reclaiming SciComm: Inclusive Approaches to Grad Student Training
  • Evelyn Valdez-Ward, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Irvine, Nichole Bennett, University of Texas-Austin, Robert N. Ulrich, Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, Tamara Marcus, Department of Earth Sciences, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, Linh Anh Cat, Cabrillo National Monument, National Park Service, San Diego, CA and Kathleen K. Treseder, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA
• Breaking Through the Barriers of Academic Reward and Recognition Systems to Support Inclusive Scholarship, Teaching, and Engagement
  • Julie Risien, STEM Research Center, Oregon State University
• Reconnecting with our story-telling ancestors: Decolonizing STEM through SciComm training
  • Madhusudan Katti, Forestry and Environmental Resources, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC

 

Organized Oral 28

Fire-vegetation interactions and ecosystem resilience in a warmer world

Wednesday, August 4, 2021
11:00 AM-12:00 PM Pacific Time

Session Description
Wildfires are a common and natural disturbance occurring across almost every biome on Earth. Feedbacks between fire and vegetation are a fundamental ecosystem property of fire-adapted ecosystems. Fire-induced changes in vegetation can modify the patterns and severity of subsequent fires and it is these stabilizing feedbacks between vegetation and fire that act to promote ecosystem resilience. However, recent increases in temperature and drought occurrence have dramatically increased wildfire disturbance in many parts of the world and could disrupt these key stabilizing feedbacks. Currently, empirical data identifying fire-vegetation feedbacks is limited to a few ecosystems. This session will evaluate how these feedbacks can promote resilience or drive state change in the face of altered fire-regimes across a range of spatial and temporal scales and a diversity of ecosystems experiencing different fire regimes.

One-sentence Summary
Feedbacks between fire and vegetation are a fundamental property of fire-adapted ecosystems. Fire-induced changes in vegetation can modify subsequent fires and act to stabilize regional fire regimes and promote ecosystem resilience. This session will evaluate how these feedbacks promote resilience or drive state change in the face of altered fire-regimes.

Organizer
Xanthe J. Walker – Northern Arizona University, Center for Ecosystem Science and Society

Co-organizer
Michelle Mack – Northern Arizona University, Department of Biological Sciences

Moderator
Xanthe J. Walker – Northern Arizona University, Center for Ecosystem Science and Society

Speakers

• Rocky Mountain subalpine forests now burning more than any time in recent millennia
  • Philip Higuera, Ecosystem and Conservation Sciences, University of Montana, Missoula, MT, Bryan N. Shuman, Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY and Kyra Wolf, Systems Ecology Graduate Program, University of Montana, Missoula, MT
• Factors controlling tree establishment following a fire-induced state change from forest to non-forest
  • Matthew Hurteau, Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM
• Vulnerability of soil carbon to changing fire regimes increases with aridity
  • Adam F. A. Pellegrini, Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
• Wildfire-catalyzed forest conversion and metrics of regeneration failure
  • Camille Stevens-Rumann, Department of Forest, Rangeland, and Fire Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, Jonathan Coop, Western Colorado University, Gunnison, CO, Sean Parks, Rocky Mountain Research Station, US Forest Service, Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute, Missoula, MT and Susan Prichard, University of Washington
• A new dynamic fire and forest model for diagnosing the causes and consequences of increased burning in the western United States
  • Winslow D. Hansen, Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, NY, Meg A. Krawchuk, Forest Ecosystems and Society, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR and A. Park Williams, Department of Geography, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
• The magnitude, direction and tempo of forest change in Greater Yellowstone in a warmer world with more fire
  • Monica G. Turner1, Kristin H. Braziunas1, Winslow D. Hansen2, Tyler J. Hoecker1, Werner Rammer3, Zak Ratajczak4, A. Leroy Westerling5 and Rupert Seidl3, (1)Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, (2)Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, NY, (3)School of Life Sciences, Technical University of Munich, Freising, Germany, (4)Division of Biology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, (5)Sierra Nevada Research Institute, University of California, Merced, Merced, CA

 

Organized Oral 29

Land-use and climate interactions: the reshaping of communities and ecosystems

Wednesday, August 4, 2021
11:00 AM-12:00 PM Pacific Time

Session Description
Human activities are restructuring Earth’s biota, straining the vital connections between anthropogenic and natural systems. Land-use and climate change are the primary anthropogenic forces transforming terrestrial biological populations, communities, and ecosystems. Regionally, changing climatic conditions have altered species distributions. At local and landscape scales, habitat conversion and fragmentation are causing population declines and extirpations of some species, as well as expansions of other species. While many studies explore either land-use or climate change effects in isolation, their combined, interactive impacts remain a largely unexplored research frontier. Understanding how land-use X climate interactions affect biodiversity is crucial for characterizing, forecasting, and ultimately managing biotic communities in the Anthropocene. For example, the effects of land-use change on biodiversity may massively deviate from our expectations in specific climate zones, or under specific trajectories of climate change, leaving us ill-prepared to preserve the ecosystems of the future. The past few years have seen a marked increase in studies exploring interactive effects of these global change drivers. Such studies leverage both carefully designed natural experiments along environmental gradients as well as a proliferation of massive, global datasets including data deriving from citizen science efforts, remote sensing, and quantitative syntheses. This Organized Oral Session endeavors to move towards developing new frameworks for integrating natural experiments with each of these opportunistic, ‘big data’ sources to predict how climate and land-use change are interactively restructuring biological communities. Our session will investigate how land-use X climate interactions are reshaping biodiversity patterns by shifting (1) organismal movements, population sizes and trajectories, (2) community composition and spatial-organization, and (3) species’ ranges across latitudes and elevations. For example, habitat loss may preclude species from shifting their ranges with climate change, climate change may promote habitat loss by expanding agricultural growing regions into new locations, and both pressures may favor and threaten similar species, homogenizing biodiversity at broad spatial scales. More specifically, we aim to address three core questions. First, how common are land-use X climate interactions in shaping community structure, and do these interactions typically exacerbate or ameliorate the consequences of global change? Second, in which climate zones are the effects of human land-use most detrimental to biodiversity, and (correspondingly) which land-use types are most likely to lose biodiversity as a result of ongoing climate change? Third, how and for which types of species will land-use change curtail or facilitate needed range shifts in the face of changing climates?

One-sentence Summary
This session explores how climate and land-use change are interactively reshaping biodiversity patterns by shifting (1) organismal movements, population sizes and trajectories, (2) community composition and spatial-organization, and (3) species’ ranges across latitudes and elevations.

Organizer
Luke Frishkoff – University of Texas at Arlington, Department of Biology

Co-organizer
Daniel Karp – University of California, Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology

Moderator
Alison Ke – University of California, Davis, Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology

Speakers

• Climate dictates community-level outcomes to habitat loss.
  • Luke Frishkoff, Department of Biology, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX
• Climate-driven species redistribution in changing forests: butterfly examples from the African and Asian tropics
  • Timothy C. Bonebrake1, Tsun Fung Au2 and Michel Dongmo1, (1)School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong, (2)Department of Geography, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
• Connectivity under climate change in tropical forests.
  • Rebecca A. Senior1,2, Jane K. Hill3 and David P. Edwards1, (1)Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom, (2)Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, (3)Department of Biology, University of York, York, United Kingdom
• Synergistic effect of climate and land-cover change on birds of the Pacific Northwest.
  • Matthew G. Betts, Forest Ecosystems and Society, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, Chris Thomas, Department of Biology, University of York, Zhiqiang Yang, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR and Javier Gutierrez Illan, Biology, Washington State University, Pulman, WA
• Land use and climate change interact to drive steep insect declines
  • Tim Newbold1, Charlie Outhwaite1, Peter McCann1, Jessica Williams1, Peter Soroye2 and Jeremy Kerr2, (1)Centre for Biodiversity and Environment Research, University College London, United Kingdom, (2)Biology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada
• Land cover and climate change synergize to shape avian functional diversity.
  • Marta A. Jarzyna, Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH

 

Organized Oral 30

Expanding the Field in Fieldwork: Connecting the Practice of Fieldwork with the Human Dimensions of the 4DEE Framework

Wednesday, August 4, 2021
1:30 PM-2:30 PM Pacific Time

Session Description
Field work, historically conceptualized in and for remote and pristine natural environments, is most often taught in contextually-similar spaces. However, in response to covid-19 and shifts to non-traditional ecological studies, this OOS asks for a re-imagination of the contexts and platforms of both the field and field work. Talks will focus on how the space in which field work takes place can be redefined, how these approaches might serve to encourage participation by diverse groups of students and how such changes might fit into the Four Dimensional Ecology Education (4DEE) framework. Discussion will consider: 1) how to make one’s home and local environment into the field, 2) how redefining the field increases student access to address economic, physical and social barriers, 3) how to include the human community as part of the field to address issues of environmental justice, 4) how sense of place links with the field, and 5) what it means to make the field virtual. In reimagining and implementing new concepts and approaches to teaching field studies, it’s critical to ensure how to connect and integrate across dimensions, a key feature of the 4DEE framework. This OOS will illustrate how to integrate field work with various components of the human-environment dimension by considering how to connect field work with issues of ethics, justice and sustainability and how to use the field experience to examine human impacts on the environment. Speakers will present examples from a range of institutional contexts including virtual teaching modules, ecology courses, REU sites, and citizen-science in research projects.

One-sentence Summary
This session will provide diverse examples for combining the practice of fieldwork with the human dimension of ESA’s 4DEE framework to extend our definition of fieldwork, to expand the locations in which fieldwork is taught, and to broaden participation in ecology.

Organizer
Luanna Prevost – University of South Florida, Dept. of Integrative Biology

Co-organizers
Alan Berkowitz – Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies

George Middendorf – Howard University, Biology

Kari O’Connell – Oregon State University, STEM Research Center

Moderator
Charles Nilon – University of Missouri, School of Natural Resources

Speakers

• Reimagining the Field to Connect Across Barriers
  • Alan Berkowitz, Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, NY, George Middendorf, Biology, Howard University, Washington, DC, Kari O’Connell, STEM Research Center, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR and Luanna Prevost, Dept. of Integrative Biology, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
• Bringing Ecology Home: Using the Amazing Biodiversity of Backyard Pollinators and Nocturnal Lepidoptera to Teach Ecological and Data Science Literacy
  • Gretchen LeBuhn, Biology, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA and Bruce Grant, Biology, Widener University, Chester, PA
• From Street Space to Virtual Space: Updating the Crosstown Walk
  • George Middendorf, Biology, Howard University, Washington, DC and Charles Nilon, School of Natural Resources, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO
• Incorporating Identity, Place, and Culture into a Virtual REU Experience: The Research Experience for Undergraduates on Sustainable Land and Water Resources in Summer 2020 during the Covid19 Pandemic.
  • Diana Dalbotten, St. Anthony Falls Laboratory, University of Minnesota, MN, Emily Geraghty Ward, Rocky Mountain College, MT, Nievita Bueno Watts, Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA and Antony Berthelote, Salish Kootenai College, MT
• Blending Real and Virtual Experiences to Support Understanding of Science Practices in the Field
  • Amy Kamarainen, Salmon Coast Field Station, BC, Canada
• A 4DEE Approach to Evaluating Ecological Literacy in an Environmental Science Course using Citizen Science Projects
  • Zakiya H. Leggett, Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, Luanna B. Prevost, Dept. of Integrative Biology, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, Porche L. Spence, Natural Resources & Environ Design, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Greensboro, NC and Natasha N. Woods, Department of Biological Sciences, Moravian College, Bethlehem, PA

 

Organized Oral 31

How phytochemical variation enhances our understanding of patterns and processes from the leaf to the ecosystem

Wednesday, August 4, 2021
1:30 PM-2:30 PM Pacific Time

Session Description
Plants produce an incredible array of compounds. They use these chemicals to mediate numerous biological interactions between the plants that make them and other organisms, such as pollinators, herbivores, and even other plants. Particular taxa of plants are often associated with specific classes of compounds and enormous variability exists among and within species and even within individual plants. This variation occurs both spatially and temporally and can be highly sensitive to abiotic and biotic factors. Resulting selection can have cascading effects on ecosystem structure and function. It is imperative to better understand the ecology and co-evolutionary drivers that are shaping the chemical landscape to gain critical insights into how systems are responding and adapting to a changing climate. While this multi-scale variation of plant chemistry has long been the focus of ecological research, recent advances in fields such as analytical chemistry, genomics, and molecular biology have led to greater understanding of the biosynthesis, mode of action, and evolution of plant chemistry. The overarching goal of the session is to highlight the latest advances in assessing plant chemical diversity and how those data can be used to unravel complex connections between organisms and across spatial and temporal scales. To this end we have invited a group of individuals at the forefront of this area of research, who work across different study systems, disciplines, and levels of biological organization with a common goal of providing contemporary insights into the mechanisms involved in these ecological interactions. Participants will present novel work at the intersection of chemical ecology, molecular biology, and ecoinformatics to highlight the need for collaborations and outline key research gaps and challenges that the community should address as we unravel these complex interactions.

One-sentence Summary
This session highlights how research can leverage phytochemical diversity across landscapes to better understand species interactions and ecosystem function.

Organizer
Ken Keefover-Ring – University of Wisconsin, Madison, Depts. Of Botany and Geography

Co-organizer
Amy Trowbridge – University of Wisconsin, Madison, Entomology

Moderator
Ken Keefover-Ring – University of Wisconsin, Madison, Depts. Of Botany and Geography

Speakers

• Exploring secondary metabolite variation on an ancient plant clade across large environmental gradients
  • Diego Salazar Amoretti, Biological Sciences, Florida International University, Miami, FL and Christopher Sorich, Biological Sciences, Florida International Univesity, Miami, FL
• Intraspecific phytochemical variation in Ceanothus velutinus along an elevational gradient and the associated herbivores
  • Lora A. Richards1, Matthew Paulsen2 and Casey S Philbin1, (1)Hitchcock Center for Chemical Ecology, University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, NV, (2)Biology, University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, NV
• Phenotypic variation in a Populus model system: implications for ecological interactions across scales of age, space and time
  • Richard L. Lindroth1, Olivia L. Cope2, Christopher Cole1, Kennedy Rubert-Nason3, Michael Eisenring1,4, Ken Keefover-Ring5, Jennifer F. Riehl1, Clay Morrow6 and Eric L. Kruger7, (1)Dept. of Entomology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, (2)Dept. of Entomology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, (3)Natural and Behavioral Sciences, University of Maine Fort Kent – Madison, Fort Kent, ME, (4)Forest Entomology, Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland, (5)Depts. of Botany and Geography, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, (6)Dept. of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison-Madison, Madison, WI, (7)Dept. of Forest & Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI
• Heritability and Ontogeny of Phytochemical Traits in Piper sancti-felicis
  • Casey S Philbin1, Heather L. Slinn2, Trevor M. Faske3, Lee A. Dyer1, Christopher S. Jeffrey1 and Lora A. Richards1, (1)Hitchcock Center for Chemical Ecology, University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, NV, (2)Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada, (3)EECB, University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, NV
• Herbivory defense across the landscape in monkeyflowers.
  • Liza M. Holeski, Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ

 

Organized Oral 32

The Consequences of Climate Change for Dryland Biogeochemistry

Wednesday, August 4, 2021
1:30 PM-2:30 PM Pacific Time

Session Description
Drylands represent our planet’s largest biome, making up more than 40% of Earth’s land surface and supporting roughly 35% of the world’s population, many of whom rely directly on the land for their livelihoods. Drylands provide vital regional services for inhabitants and are increasingly recognized as playing a dominant role in global biogeochemical cycling, including interannual variability in the terrestrial carbon sink. At the same time, drylands are experiencing multiple climate change pressures, including warming temperatures and increasing drought frequency and severity. High levels of human activity, low water and resource availability, and pulsed, dynamic environmental conditions increase the sensitivity of dryland ecosystems to these pressures and drylands are currently considered to be among the most vulnerable systems to climatic change. The expansive nature of drylands and the creation of “fertile islands” beneath shrub canopies support high levels of biogeochemical heterogeneity at both local and regional scales, further complicating the influence of climate change on carbon and nutrient cycling. Despite the vulnerability and critical importance of these vast ecosystems, our understanding of how dryland biogeochemistry will respond to climate change pressures and how we may be able to restore key ecosystem functions is extremely limited. Addressing these questions, which are large in scope and multidisciplinary in nature, will require a diversity of perspectives. The purpose of this session is to bring together some experts and emerging leaders focused on better understanding how key biogeochemical processes are responding to climate change in dryland ecosystems and how best to mitigate those effects.

One-sentence Summary
This session will explore how climate change pressures impact coupled biogeochemical cycling in dryland ecosystems and how ecosystem function may be restored in the future.

Organizer
Brooke B. Osborne – U.S. Geological Survey, Southwest Biological Science Center

Moderator
Tara B.B. Bishop – U.S. Geological Survey, Southwest Biological Science Center

Speakers

• An extreme precipitation event, abrupt grass recovery, and soil processes in the Chihuahuan Desert
  • Brandon T. Bestelmeyer, USDA ARS Jornada Experimental Range, Las Cruces, NM, Matthew Levi, Crop and Soil Sciences, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, Neeshia Macanowicz, USDA-ARS Jornada Experimental Range, Las Cruces, NM, Heather L. Throop, School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ; School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ and Nicholas Webb, USDA ARS Jornada Experimental Range/New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM
• A temporal perspective of nitrogen cycling in a semiarid grassland under extreme rainfall conditions
  • Courtney M. Currier, School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ and Osvaldo E. Sala, School of Life Sciences, School of Sustainability, and Global Drylands Center, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ
• Effects of altered seasonal precipitation on soil N dynamics
  • Peter Homyak, Environmental Sciences, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA
• Climate impacts on carbon cycling in drylands: what we know and what we don’t
  • Sasha Reed1, Joel A. Biederman2, Ryan T. Choi3, Armin Howell1, Cara Lauria1, Natasha MacBean4, Brooke B. Osborne5, Michala Phillips6, Benjamin Poulter7, Robin Reibold1, William Smith8, Colin Tucker9 and Daniel E. Winkler10, (1)Southwest Biological Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Moab, UT, (2)Southwest Watershed Research Center, USDA-ARS, Tucson, AZ, (3)Department of Wildland Resources and the Ecology Center, Utah State University, Logan, UT, (4)Geography, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, (5)US Geological Survey, Moab, UT, (6)Botany and Plant Sciences, University of California Riverside, Riverside, CA, (7)Biospheric Sciences Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, (8)School of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, (9)Northern Research Station, US Forest Service, Madison, WI, (10)Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA
• Projecting future climate impacts on soil biogeochemical processes in spatially heterogeneous drylands
  • Heather L. Throop, School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ; School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ; Faculty of Natural Resources and Spatial Sciences, Namibia University of Science and Technology, Windhoek, Namibia, Vimbai Marufu, Natural Resources Management, Namibia University of Science and Techology, Windhoek, Namibia and Mary K. Seely, Desert Research Foundation of Namibia, Windhoek, Namibia
• Using biogeochemical insights to restore drylands now and into the future
  • Kristina E. Young1, Sasha Reed2, Scott Ferrenberg3, Akasha Faist4, Daniel E. Winkler2, Catherine Cort1 and Anthony Darrouzet-Nardi1, (1)Biological Sciences, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX, (2)Southwest Biological Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Moab, UT, (3)Department of Biology, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, (4)Department of Animal and Range Sciences, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM

 

Organized Oral 33

Energizing Ecology Faculty Mentoring Networks with ESA’s Four-dimensional Ecology Education Curricular Framework

Wednesday, August 4, 2021
2:30 PM-3:30 PM Pacific Time

Session Description
Ecologists have been hard at work developing a framework to provide ecological literacy for all. Since the Ecological Society of America endorsed the Four-dimensional Ecology Education (4DEE) curricular framework in 2018, the ESA 4DEE Task Force has been spreading the word about this multidimensional undergraduate curricular approach that elevates the human dimension in the teaching of a hierarchy of ecology topics, while stressing development of ecological field and technology skills that prepare students for today’s environmental workforce.The 4DEE Task Force has been following the goals of the AAAS 2011 Vision and Change initiative for enhancing undergraduate education in the life sciences and guiding the ESA membership to connect their mentoring efforts to improve ecological literacy on a society-wide basis. The 2021 ESA annual meeting theme focuses on making vital connections with groups of like-minded faculty who are engaged in similar efforts to improve ecology research and teaching. In this session we propose to connect to ESA populated faculty mentoring networks with the efforts to strategically improve the career development process for training of competitive environmental professionals. We have engaged six ESA members involved in faculty mentoring networks that showcase various ways to improve ecology teaching across scales, habitats, from introductory to upper level undergraduate courses and integrating innovative technology and large scale ecological databases in undergraduate lab experiences. These networks are currently connecting faculty with similar research and teaching interests in creating whole courses, learning modules, restructuring biology major programs, and developing best pedagogical practices for diverse students. Their efforts in these environmental professional networks provide: state-of-the-art field experiences, a broad range of science skills, elevate the human dimension in ecology education outreach, grounded in validated cross-cutting biological themes. We will be asking the speakers to address how they perceive the ESA 4DEE curricular framework can be used to reflect and collectively provide an action plan for expanding the ESA outreach of 4DEE enhancement of the ecological career development of today’s rising environmental professional. Here are the questions we will have our speakers address in their presentation: How can your faculty mentoring network benefit from and help expand alignment of undergraduate curricula to ESA 4DEE guidelines? What can ecologists in ESA learn from the efforts of your group of colleagues who focus on innovating and implementing best practices in ecology education? What barriers does your network see as deterring integration of 4DEE in undergraduate ecology teaching?

One-sentence Summary
The ESA Four-dimensional Ecology Education Task Force proposes to strategically connect existing faculty mentoring networks of a nationally diverse group of ESA members focused on innovating undergraduate ecology education, to enhance ecological literacy and promote the effective training of today’s sustainability-centered environmental workforce

Organizer
Carmen R. Cid – Eastern Connecticut State University, Biology

Co-organizers
Jennifer Doherty – University of Washington, Department of Biology

Alan Berkowitz – Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies
Kenneth Klemow – Wilkes University
George Middendorf – Howard University
Luanna Prevost – University of South Florida
Vikki Rodgers – Babson College, Math and Science Division
Amanda Sorensen – Michigan State University, Community Sustainability

Moderator
Luanna Prevost – University of South Florida, Dept. Of Integrative Biology

Speakers

• Incorporating ESA 4DEE in the development of EREN flexible learning projects using NEON databases
  • Mary Beth Kolozsvary, Environmental Studies and Sciences, Siena College, Loudonville, NY, Laurel J. Anderson, Department of Botany and Microbiology, Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, OH, Sandra Cooke, Natural Sciences, Greensboro College, Greensboro, NC, Alycia Crall, NEON Project, Battelle, Boulder, CO, Danielle E. Garneau, Center for Earth and Environmental Science, SUNY Plattsburgh, Plattsburgh, NY, Matthew J. Heard, Biology, Belmont University, Nashville, TN, Alisa A. Hove, Biology, Warren Wilson College, Asheville, NC, Jason Kilgore, Biology Department, Washington & Jefferson College, Washington, PA, Karen Kuers, Sewanee: The University of the South, Timothy S. McCay, Biology and Environmental Studies, Colgate University, Hamilton, NY, Allison Parker, Biological Sciences, Northern Kentucky University, Highland Heights, KY, Jennifer Rhode Ward, University of North Carolina at Asheville and Kaitlin Stack Whitney, Science, Technology, and Society, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY
• Involving university students in collecting long term urban wildlife data using a 4DEE course-based undergraduate research experience
  • Laurel Hartley, Department of Integrative Biology, University of Colorado Denver, Denver, CO and St. Onge Sarah, Integrative Biology, University of Colorado Denver, Denver, CO
• Using 4DEE and project-based learning to build a microbial ecology perspective into undergraduate microbiology courses
  • Naupaka Zimmerman, Biology, University of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
• Biodiversity Literacy in Undergraduate Education (BLUE): Integrating the ESA 4DEE Curricular Approach within the Biodiversity Sciences
  • Anna K. Monfils, Department of Biology and Institute for Great Lakes Research, Central Michigan University, Mt. Pleasant, MI, Debra Linton, Central Michigan University, Lisa White, UC Museum of Paleontology, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA and Elizabeth R. Ellwood, La Brea Tar Pits & Museum, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
• Developing a multi-section introductory ecology course aligned with the 4DEE framework
  • Shelly L. Thomas1, Patrick W. Crumrine2, Michael W. Grove1, Jennifer A. Oberle1,3, Courtney E. Richmond1, Nathan A. Ruhl1 and Sara J. Wright1, (1)Department of Biological Sciences, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ, (2)Department of Biological Sciences & Department of Geography and Environment, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ, (3)Department of Biology, Rutgers University, Camden, NJ
• Enhancing 4DEE ecology education through the development and implementation of human-centered, place-based pedagogy to broaden the diversity of ecologists
  • Carmen R. Cid, Biology, Eastern Connecticut State University, Willimantic, CT and Maria N. Miriti, Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH

 

Organized Oral 34

Nutrient acquisition strategies and ecosystem consequences in tropical forests

Wednesday, August 4, 2021
2:30 PM-3:30 PM Pacific Time

Session Description
Tropical forests are highly diverse and productive ecosystems that sequester large amounts of carbon despite often growing on nutrient-poor soils. Empirical evidence and earth system models that include cycling of the key nutrients, nitrogen and phosphorus, indicate that the carbon sink is sensitive to nutrient limitation. However, the degree to which plants can overcome nutrient constraints and support a carbon sink with nutrient acquisition strategies remains unclear. Plants can use several strategies to conserve and increase access to nutrients, such as producing root acids, enzymes, and fine roots, and forming symbioses with nitrogen-fixing bacteria and mycorrhizal fungi. Modeling projections reveal that the degree to which plants can use and adjust these nutrient acquisition strategies remains key to our ability to predict the function of future forests. Thus it is critical to understand how plants regulate nutrient acquisition strategies and their associated tradeoffs in order to evaluate how nutrient limitation will affect the tropical carbon sink. This session benefits from recent advances in modeling efforts to represent plant nutrient strategies and emerging data from large-scale experiments in tropical forests. Despite the important role of tropical forests in the global carbon cycle, our knowledge of plant responses to nutrient limitation is lagging behind other ecosystems. Much of what we know about the plasticity of nutrient acquisition comes from temperate and agricultural ecosystems, with limited evidence from pot studies conducted on tropical plants. To address these challenges, we bring empiricists working across scales and study sites together with modelers to identify the knowledge gaps in guiding modeling and field efforts. We aim to examine key processes, synthesize commonalities in plant responses to nutrient limitation and disturbance, and identify opportunities for future data collection and model development. This session will be of broad relevance to ecologists interested in plant ecology, biogeochemistry, and climate change.

One-sentence Summary
This session will include talks on plant nutrient acquisition strategies and their consequences for nutrient limitation of the tropical forest carbon sink, including empirical and modeling studies of symbiotic nitrogen fixation, mycorrhizal fungi, fine roots, root acids, and/or phosphatase enzymes.

Organizer
Michelle Wong – Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies

Co-organizer
Sarah A. Batterman – Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, University of Leeds, School of Geography

Moderator
Michelle Wong – Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies

Speakers

• Litterfall as a key source of nutrients for trees in tropical forests – insights from 15 years of experimental litter manipulation
  • Emma J. Sayer, Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster, United Kingdom; Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama, Panama, S. Joseph Wright, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama and E.V.J. Tanner, Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
• Tropical fine-root trait strategies for phosphorus acquisition and their response to hurricane disturbance in a wet tropical forest of Puerto Rico
  • Daniela Yaffar1,2, Kristine Grace Cabugao1,3, Richard Norby1,2, Camille E. Defrenne1 and Joanne Childs1, (1)Environmental Sciences Division and Climate Change Science Institute, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, (2)Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee Knoxville, Knoxville, TN, (3)Climate and Ecosystem Sciences, Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory, Berkley, CA
• Plant phosphorus acquisition mechanisms in the Amazon rainforest: from model projections to field measurements.
  • Katrin Fleischer1,2, Tatiana Reichert2, Lucia Fuchslueger3, Laynara F. Lugli4, Carlos Alberto Quesada4, Anja Rammig2, Lin Yu1,5 and Sönke Zaehle1, (1)Department Biogeochemical Signals, Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Jena, Germany, (2)Land Surface-Atmosphere Interactions, Technical University of Munich, Freising, Germany, (3)Department of Microbiology & Ecosystem Science, University of Vienna, Austria, (4)Coordination of Environmental Dynamics, National Institute of Amazonian Research (INPA), Manaus, Brazil, (5)Centre for Environmental and Climate Research, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
• The role of root foraging and mining strategies in response to nutrient manipulation in Amazon forests
  • Laynara F. Lugli1, Jessica Schmeisk Rosa2, Kelly M. Andersen3, Raffaello Di Ponzio2, Renata Vilar de Almeida2, Amanda Cordeiro4, Maria Pires2, Hellen Fernanda Viana Cunha2, Nathielly Martins2, Rafael Leandro de Assis5, Anna C. M. Moraes2, Sheila T. Souza2, Luiz Aragao6, José Luís C. Camargo2, Bruno T. Portela2, Lucia Fuchslueger7, Karst J. Schaap2, Oscar J. Valverde-Barrantes8, Patrick Meir9, Carlos Alberto Quesada1, Lina Mercado10 and Iain Hartley10, (1)Coordination of Environmental Dynamics, National Institute of Amazonian Research (INPA), Manaus, Brazil, (2)National Institute of Amazonian Research, Manaus, Brazil, (3)Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore, (4)Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, (5)University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway, (6)Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais, Brazil, (7)Department of Microbiology & Ecosystem Science, University of Vienna, Austria, (8)Department of Biological Sciences, Kent State University, Kent, OH, (9)Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia, (10)College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom
• Nutrient acquisition strategies of coexisting tree species in old-growth and secondary forests of Singapore
  • Ming Yang Lee, Qian Yi Ho and Kelly M Andersen, Asian School of the Environment, Nanyang Techological University, Singapore, Singapore
• Modeling the carbon costs of plant nutrient uptake: opportunities and challenges
  • Kara E. Allen1, Renato K. Braghiere2,3, Joshua B. Fisher2,3, Richard P. Phillips4, Jennifer S. Powers5,6, Christopher A. Walter7 and Edward R. Brzostek7, (1)Manaaki Whenua–Landcare Research, Lincoln, New Zealand, (2)NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, (3)Joint Institute for Regional Earth System Science and Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, (4)Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, (5)Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, (6)Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University Of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, (7)Department of Biology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV

 

Organized Oral 35

Over a century of developments in population ecology: historical overview, status quo, and arising challenges

Wednesday, August 4, 2021
2:30 PM-3:30 PM Pacific Time

Session Description
The last decades have witnessed a substantial degree of maturation in demography and its applications to ecology, evolution, and conservation biology. This maturation, we argue, has been largely catapulted by quantitative progress on classical demographic methods (individual-based models, life tables, survival analyses, matrix population models) and the emergence of new ones (e.g. integrated population models, integral projection models). In this session, each speaker, leader in the development and the use of demographic tools widely applicable across the Tree of Life, will provide a historical perspective regarding the origins, progress to date, and future directions of these tools and the wide range of questions they allow to tackle, as it pertains to its ecological and evolutionary applications. Each speaker will conclude by providing an outline of the top five challenges of those demographic tools, and suggestions as to how to overcome them.

One-sentence Summary
This session provides a historical perspective to six major analytical approaches widely applicable in population ecology across the Tree of Life, as well as their future utilisation.

Organizer
Roberto Salguero-Gomez – Oxford University, Zoology

Co-organizers
Marlene Gamelon – NTNU

Emily Simmonds – NTNU

Moderator
Emily Simmonds – NTNU

Speakers

• Individual-based models: past, present and future
  • Viktoriia Radchuk1, Stephanie Kramer-Schadt1, Uta Berger2, Cédric Scherer1, Pia Backmann2 and Volker Grimm3, (1)Department of Ecological Dynamics, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW), Berlin, Germany, (2)Institute of Forest Growth and Computer Sciences, TU Dresden, Tharandt, Germany, (3)Department of Ecological Modeling, Helmholtz Centre for Ecological Research – UFZ, Leipzig, Germany
• Survival analyses: past, present and future
  • Sarah Cubaynes1, Simon Galas2, Myriam Richaud2, Ana Sanz-Aguilar3, Roger Pradel4, Giacomo Tavecchia5, Fernando Colchero6, Sebastien Roques4, Richard Shefferson7 and Carlo Giovanni Camarda8, (1)CEFE, Univ Montpellier, CNRS, EPHE-PSL University, IRD, Univ Paul Valéry Montpellier 3, Montpellier, France, (2)IBMM – University of Montpellier – CNRS – ENSCM, Montpellier, France, (3)University of the Balearic Islands and Animal Demography and Ecology Unit (GEDA), IMEDEA, CSIC-UIB, Spain, (4)CEFE, Univ Montpellier, CNRS, EPHE, IRD, Univ Paul Valéry Montpellier 3, Montpellier, France, (5)Animal Demography and Ecology Unit (GEDA), IMEDEA, CSIC-UIB, Spain, (6)Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark, (7)Environmental Sciences, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan, (8)Institut national d’études démographiques, France
• Life tables: past, present and future
  • Owen Jones, Interdisciplinary Center on Population Dynamics, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark; Department of Biology, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark and Fernando Colchero, Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
• Matrix population models: past, present and future
  • Christie Le Coeur1, Hal Caswell2 and Yngvild Vindenes1, (1)Department of Biosciences, Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway, (2)Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
• Integral Projection Models: past, present and future
  • Roberto Salguero-Gomez, Zoology, Oxford University, Sam C Levin, Biology, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany, Aldo Compagnoni, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research–UFZ, Leipzig, Germany, Sanne Evers, Spatial Interaction Ecology, German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity, Leipzig, Germany, Emily Simmonds, NTNU, Norway, Tiffany Knight, German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany, Dylan Z. Childs, Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom and Marlène Gamelon, NTNU, Trondheim, Norway
• Integrated population models: past, present and future
  • Marlène Gamelon1,2, Chloé R. Nater2 and Roberto Salguero-Gomez3, (1)Biometry and Evolutionary Biology Laboratory, CNRS, Lyon, France, (2)NTNU, Trondheim, Norway, (3)Zoology, Oxford University

 

Organized Oral 36

The Consequences of Stochasticity for Communities: Linking Theory and Experiments

Thursday, August 5, 2021
7:00 AM-8:00 AM Pacific Time

Session Description
Predicting the consequences of environmental change, species invasions, and restoration actions for biodiversity requires understanding the processes that assemble communities. Stochasticity – chance environmental and demographic events – is a fundamental processes of community assembly, yet we know relatively little about the role it plays in natural communities structured by resource gradients, density-dependent species interactions, or variable dispersal. Our understanding of stochasticity in community ecology remains limited because its role is typically inferred from observed patterns rather than studied directly. Tests of specific stochastic drivers and their importance for community assembly outcomes are exceptionally rare. This session features experiments that manipulate key drivers of stochasticity to understand how environmental and demographic stochasticity influences community dynamics and evolution. The talks in this session offer broad insights into how processes occurring at different scales can alter the role of stochasticity; for example, by increasing dispersal limitation, reducing community size, and altering the functional diversity of species pools. These talks will investigate the consequences of stochasticity for a diverse range of community outcomes, including extinction rates, coexistence, species and trait sorting along environmental gradients, pollination, and adaptation. By explicitly linking recent theoretical advances with experiments, this session provides general insights into how stochastic processes mediate community assembly, consequences for the stability of biological diversity and ecosystem functions, and guidance for improving successful restoration outcomes.

One-sentence Summary
This session features novel experiments that manipulate key drivers of stochasticity to understand how stochastic processes influence community dynamics, evolution, and ecosystem properties.

Organizer
Christopher P. Catano – Michigan State University, Department of Plant Biology

Co-organizer
Lars Brudvig – Michigan State University, Plant Biology

Moderator
Lars Brudvig – Michigan State University, Plant Biology

Speakers

• Variation in grassland restoration outcomes: Species pools and dispersal mediate local stochasticity
  • Christopher P. Catano, Department of Plant Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI and Lars Brudvig, Program in Ecology, Evolutionary Biology and Behavior, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI; Plant Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
• Demographic fates of individuals and their upscaling to populations
  • Rachel Germain, Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
• Species pool influences on the stochasticity of local community assembly: an experimental test with nectar microbes
  • Leslie E. Decker1, Megan M. Morris2 and Tadashi Fukami1, (1)Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, (2)Physical and Life Sciences Directorate, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA
• The combined effects of demographic and environmental stochasticity yield predictable transient and long-term extinction effects in grasslands
  • Lauren Shoemaker, Department of Botany, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, Lauren L. Sullivan, Division of Biological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, Katharine N. Suding, Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO and Brett Melbourne, Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO
• The Consequences of Demographic Stochasticity for Communities: Linking Theory and Experiments
  • Benjamin Gilbert, Leila Z Forsyth and Denon Start, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
• Species-pool functional diversity as a driver of community assembly
  • Jonathan A. Myers1,2, Marko J. Spasojevic3, Joseph A. LaManna2,4, Christopher P. Catano2,5, Maya D. Samuels-Fair1,2, Benjamin C. Chase1,2 and Erin O’Connell1,2, (1)Tyson Research Center, Washington University in St. Louis, Eureka, MO, (2)Department of Biology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, (3)Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, University of California Riverside, Riverside, CA, (4)Department of Biological Sciences, Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI, (5)Department of Plant Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI

 

Organized Oral 37

Leveraging Data-driven Approaches to Identify Vital Connections in Sustainable Agricultural Ecosystems

Thursday, August 5, 2021
7:00 AM-8:00 AM Pacific Time

Session Description
Agriculture covers nearly 40% of ice-free land, and as such, has an enormous influence on ecological systems worldwide. The intensification and spread of agricultural lands have driven changes in land cover composition and configuration, with consequences for habitat availability, quality and connectivity, as well as ecosystem service provision including pest control, pollination, and air and water quality. While the challenges to increasing the sustainability of agriculture with a larger population and a more variable climate are undoubtedly considerable, the availability of new data and informatics approaches provide exciting ways to reconcile human and natural system needs at spatial and temporal scales otherwise infeasible. The goal of this session is to elucidate how innovative data-driven approaches can enhance understanding of the vital connections critical to productive and ecologically functioning agricultural ecosystems. Speakers with a diversity of topical and technical expertise will provide an overview of how increasingly available satellite and survey data can revolutionize both ecological understanding and on-the-ground management. We will cover a wide-range of topics at the intersection of spatial ecology and sustainable agriculture with a thematic focus on understanding how land use and climate change affect agricultural production (yields, input use, pests) and where opportunities exist for win-wins for agriculture and conservation. Together, the series of talks in this session will illustrate the potential of data-driven techniques to complement and extend traditional ecological approaches in hopes of ensuring the vital connections that underly ecological function in agricultural ecosystems.

One-sentence Summary
This session explores how data-driven approaches can inform persistent challenges in sustainable agriculture including climate change, land conversion, and connections between such processes and agricultural yields, biodiversity, agricultural pests and associated pollution.

Organizer
Ashley E. Larsen – University of California Santa Barbara, Bren School of Environmental Science and Management

Co-organizer
Nathaniel D. Mueller – Colorado State University, Ecosystem Science and Sustainability, Soil and Crop Sciences

Moderator
NākoaFarrant – University of California Santa Barbara, Bren School of Environmental Science and Management

Speakers

• The contribution of corporate protected areas to biodiversity conservation in tropical commodity crop landscapes
  • Kimberly M. Carlson, New York University, Michael Eggen, Science for Nature and People Partnership, John Garcia-Ulloa, ETH Zürich, Hedley Grantham, Wildlife Conservation Society, Robert Heilmayr, Environmental Studies Program, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, Jane K. Hill, Department of Biology, University of York, York, United Kingdom, Clinton N. Jenkins, Department of Earth and Environment, Florida International University, FL, Matthew S. Luskin, University of Queensland, Grant Rosoman, Greenpeace International, Olivia Scholtz, HCV Resource Network, Sarah A. Scriven, University of York and Charlotte Z. Smith, University of Hawai‘i, Mānoa
• Landscape complexity and the level and stability of pest control.
  • Ashley E. Larsen, Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA and Frederik Noack, Land and Food Systems, UBC
• Adapting agroecosystems to climate change
  • Nathaniel D. Mueller, Lindsey L. Sloat and Maria Gisbert-Queral, Ecosystem Science and Sustainability; Soil and Crop Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
• Spatial connectivity and revegetation dynamics in fallowed agricultural land
  • Daniel Sousa, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
• Air quality-related human health effects of U.S. agriculture
  • Jason Hill, Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN
• Large-scale land investments and their socio-environmental effects
  • Kyle Frankel Davis1, Saleem H. Ali1, Jacopo Baggio2, Paolo D’Odorico3, Jampel Dell’Angelo4, Sandra Eckert5, Lyndon Estes6, Suhyun Jung7, Laura Kehoe8, Milad Kharratzadeh9, Heejin Irene Koo9, Tobias Kuemmerle10, Domingos Machava11, Marc Muller12, Aurélio de Jesus Rodrigues Pais13, Natasha S. Ribeiro14, Maria Cristina Rulli15 and Mokganedi Tatlhego16, (1)University of Delaware, (2)School of Politics, Security, and Internaional Affairs, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, (3)Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, (4)VU University Amsterdam, (5)University of Bern, (6)Graduate School of Geography, Clark University, Worcester, MA, (7)West Virginia University, (8)Oxford University, (9)Columbia University, (10)Humboldt University Berlin, Berlin, Germany, (11)Universidade Eduardo Mundlane, (12)University of Notre Dame, (13)Universidade Zambeze, (14)Forest Engineering, Eduardo Mondlane University, Maputo, Mozambique, (15)Politecnico di Milano, (16)University of California Berkeley

 

Organized Oral 38

Causal inference in global change studies: new approaches and emerging opportunities

Thursday, August 5, 2021
11:00 AM-12:00 PM Pacific Time

Session Description
The increasing demand for ecologists to describe and understand the unprecedented global changes transpiring in our study systems has highlighted the limits of our current experimental and analytical approaches. Often the scale at which these events are occurring are beyond the scope of field and lab experiments, and it is difficult to parse the relative importance of one driver over another using widely applied statistical approaches. With rapidly advancing remotely sensed data and increasingly available long-term ecological data, new opportunities are emerging for ecologist to measure local and landscape-scale drivers of global change. Harnessing these data and developing rigorous analyses that enable a greater causal understanding of ecological change, however, remains and outstanding challenge. In this session, we will highlight cutting-edge approaches that leverage observational, timeseries data to infer casual links between outcomes and drivers of global change. Specifically, we will present six studies spanning multiple systems, including forests, grasslands, wildfire, and infectious disease; these studies also span a variety of spatial scales—from field experiments to global observational studies. Each presentation will highlight specific methods that can help overcome bias, which often precludes causal inference in ecological analysis. These methods include difference-in-difference, within-estimator panel data models, instrumental variables, and propensity score matching. Ultimately, we aim to provide accessible examples of causal inference approaches from other disciplines, like economics and public health, that can be applied to a diversity of ecological systems and hypothesis testing. These approaches greatly enhance our abilities as ecologists to harness the data revolution.

One-sentence Summary
Long-term ecological and satellite data provide new opportunities to understand rapidly changing ecosystems. We highlight a diversity of causal inference approaches from a variety of ecological systems that can help ecologists leverage their observational data to draw new insights into drivers of change.

Organizer
Joan Dudney – University of California, Davis, Department of Plant Sciences

Co-organizer
Laura Dee – University of Colorado-Boulder

Moderator
Jarrett E. K. Byrnes – University of Massachusetts Boston, Department of Biology

Speakers

• Prediction and Causal Inference in Ecology
  • Paul Ferraro, Carey Business School and Department of Environmental Health and Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
• Quantifying drivers of change in social-ecological systems: land management impacts wildfire probability in the western US
  • Katherine J. Siegel, Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, Laurel L. Larsen, Geography, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, Connor Stephens, Department of Forest & Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, Bill Stewart, Department of Environmental Science, Policy, & Management, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA and Van A. Butsic, Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA
• Cutting to the core: measuring variable drought sensitivity in tree species across their climatic niches
  • Robert Heilmayr, Environmental Studies Program, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, Joan Dudney, Department of Plant Sciences, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA and Fran Moore, Environmental Science and Policy, University of California at Davis, Davis, CA
• Causal inference in ecological experiments
  • Kaitlin Kimmel, Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences, Johns Hopkins Univeristy, Baltimore, MD, Meghan Avolio, Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, Laura Dee, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado-Boulder, Boulder, CO and Paul Ferraro, Carey Business School and Department of Environmental Health and Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
• Uncovering how and why causal relationships vary in ecology: A case study with biodiversity-ecosystem functioning
  • Laura Dee, University of Colorado-Boulder, Boulder, CO and Paul Ferraro, Carey Business School and Department of Environmental Health and Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
• Using causal inference to detect a climate change signal on infectious tree disease
  • Andrew M. Latimer, Plant Sciences, University of California Davis, Davis, CA and Joan Dudney, Department of Plant Sciences, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA

 

Organized Oral 39

Community Science in Southeastern Ecosystems

Thursday, August 5, 2021
11:00 AM-12:00 PM Pacific Time

Session Description
Community science has gained popularity in recent years, involving the general public and others in the scientific process, and creating new opportunities for ecological research. It involves open collaboration between individuals and organizations with projects enabling researchers to track ecological trends over larger spatial and temporal scales. At the same time the community becomes more deeply involved in environmental stewardship and understanding of the scientific process. Community scientists participate in a range of projects from climate change, invasive species, conservation biology, restoration, water quality, and monitoring of many kinds. It has been instituted in traditional academic settings, government organizations, non-profits, and also in the classroom. Additionally, apps and social media are often used to reach and engage a larger audience. These presentations will focus on the diversity of community science in the southeast United States to enrich collaboration among research scientists/academics, students, and citizens. From this we aim to enhance collaboration between students and the greater community.

One-sentence Summary
Community science creates new opportunities for ecological research involving open collaboration between individuals and organizations enabling researchers to track ecological trends over larger spatial and temporal scales while at the same time expanding the awareness of stewardship and understanding the scientific process.

Organizer
Susan Blas – Augusta University

Co-organizer
Julie Zinnert – Virginia Commonwealth University

Moderator
Susan Blas – Augusta University

Speakers

• Predicting the effect of climate change on a scavenging community using community science data
  • Courtney Marneweck1, Todd E. Katzner2 and David S. Jachowski1, (1)Forestry and Environmental Conservation, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, (2)Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Boise, ID
• Monitoring Harmful Algal Blooms: A 20 Year NOAA Perspective
  • Steve Morton, Harmful Algal Bloom Monitoring and Reference Branch, NOAA/National Ocean Service, Charleston, SC
• SC Bat Watch!
  • Jennifer Kindel, SC Dept of Natural Resources, Greenville, SC
• Engaging Citizens in Butterfly Science in Tennessee
  • Steve McGaffin, Education Department, Zoo Knoxville, Knoxville, TN
• Ghosts of the Coast – Engaging citizen scientists to help document the formation of ghost forests
  • Sarah Noyes, The George Washington University, Keryn Gedan, Biological Sciences, George Washington University, Washington, DC and Cora Johnston Baird, VCR-LTER, UVA Coastal Research Center, University of Virginia, Cape Charles, VA
• Can photosurveys track bee diversity? The successes and challenges of an urban community science program: Shutterbee
  • Nina S. Fogel, Department of Biology, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO, Gerardo R. Camilo, Saint Louis Zoo, St. Louis, MO and Nicole Miller-Struttmann, Biological Sciences, Webster University, St. Louis, MO

 

Organized Oral 40

Mycorrhizal symbiosis and ecosystem process – breakthroughs across scales

Thursday, August 5, 2021
11:00 AM-12:00 PM Pacific Time

Session Description
Most plants on Earth form a symbiosis with mycorrhizal fungi. This vital connection between plants and fungi stretches back over 400 million years, and continues to shape plant species interactions and ecosystem processes. In many ways, the mycorrhizal symbiosis has become a model for understanding how microbial life shapes the macro-biological world. In this session mycorrhizal ecologists will present research that is truly pushing the boundaries of our understanding of mycorrhizal symbiosis, and its consequences for plant and fungal biogeography and ecosystem function. Several scientists are taking advantage of new molecular approaches to shed light on previously untestable hypotheses. Others are making new connections across scales, highlighting how molecular interactions among plants and mycorrhizal fungi have ecosystem consequences that ripple out across the landscape. By bringing these diverse approaches together, we hope to inspire our audience to draw new connections between plants, fungi and the Earth.

One-sentence Summary
New research pushing the boundaries of mycorrhizal ecology shows how this vital connection between plants and fungi can serve as a model for understanding how microbial life shapes the macro-biological world.

Organizer
Colin Averill – ETH Zürich – Department of Environmental Systems Sciences

Co-organizers
Stephanie Kivlin – University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Jennifer M. Bhatnagar – Boston University, Department of Biology

Moderator
Colin Averill – ETH Zürich – Department of Environmental Systems Sciences

Speakers

• Are interactions between ectomycorrhizal fungi and saprotrophic fungi driven by soil pH constraints on enzyme function?
  • Christopher Fernandez, Plant & Microbial Biology, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN and Craig R. See, Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota, St Paul, MN
• Mycorrhizal traits inform dispersal and symbiotic function across scales
  • Bala Chaudhary, Department of Environmental Science and Studies, DePaul University, Chicago, IL, Carlos Aguilar-Trigueros, Freie Universität, Berlin, Germany and Matthias C. Rillig, Plant Ecology, Freie Universitaet Berlin, Berlin, Germany
• Stem radial growth of host trees is not sustained after thirteen years of nitrogen addition but the abundance of high-biomass ectomycorrhizal fungi doubles
  • Justine Karst1, Joshua Wasyliw1, Joseph D. Birch2, James Franklin1, Scott X. Chang1 and Nadir Erbilgin1, (1)Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada, (2)Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
• Relationship between forest mycorrhizal type and nitrogen-cycling functions of soil microbial communities: Implications from the rhizosphere scale to the ecosystem scale
  • Chikae Tatsumi1, Takeshi Taniguchi2, Sheng Du3, Norikazu Yamanaka2 and Ryunosuke Tateno4, (1)Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan, (2)Arid Land Research Center, Tottori University, Tottori, Japan, (3)Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Chinese Academy of Science, Shaanxi, China, (4)Field Science Education and Research Center, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
• Pine invasions linked to the invasiveness of their ectomycorrhizal fungal symbionts
  • Nahuel Policelli1, Jason D. Hoeksema2, Jaime Moyano3, Rytas Vilgalys4, Sasha Vivelo5 and Jennifer M. Bhatnagar1, (1)Department of Biology, Boston University, Boston, MA, (2)Department of Biology, University of Mississippi, University, MS, (3)Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas – Universidad Nacional del Comahue, Grupo de Ecología de Invasiones, San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina, (4)Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC, (5)Biology, Boston University, Boston, MA
• Ectomycorrhizal fungal communities and functional genes drive forest productivity
  • Mark A. Anthony1, Thomas W. Crowther1, Sietse van der Linde2, Laura Martinez-Suz3, Martin Bidartondo4, Filipa Cox5, Marcus Schaub6, Pasi Rautio7, Marco Ferretti8, Lars Vesterdal9, Bruno De Vos10, Mike Dettwiler1, Nadine Eickenscheidt11, Andreas Schmitz11, Henning Meesenburg12, Henning Andreae13, Frank Jacob14, Hans-Peter Dietrich15, Peter Waldner8, Arthur Gessler16, Beat Frey8, Oliver Schramm8, Pim van den Bulk17, Arjan Hensen17 and Colin Averill18, (1)Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland, (2)Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority, Wageningen, Netherlands, (3)Comparative Plant and Fungal Biology, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, United Kingdom, (4)Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College, London, United Kingdom, (5)Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom, (6)Forest Dynamics, Swiss Federal Research Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), Birmensdorf, Switzerland, (7)Natural Resources Institute Finland, Rovaniemi, Finland, (8)Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland, (9)Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark, (10)Research Institute for Nature and Forest, Environment & Climate Unit, Geraardsbergen, Belgium, (11)State Agency for Nature, Environment and Consumer Protection of North Rhine-Westphalia, Recklinghausen, Germany, (12)Northwest German Forest Research Station, Göttingen, Germany, (13)Sachsenforst State Forest, Graupa, Germany, (14)Sachenforst State Forest, Graupa, Germany, (15)Bavarian State Institute of Forestry, Freising, Germany, (16)Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich ETH, Zürich, Switzerland, (17)The Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research at Petten, Petten, Netherlands, (18)Department of Environmental Systems Sciences, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland

 

Organized Oral 41

Plant water relations under increasing VPD – linkages and gaps from soil to atmosphere

Thursday, August 5, 2021
11:00 AM-12:00 PM Pacific Time

Session Description
As the climate continues to warm there is an increasing atmospheric demand for water, which is mediated through surface evaporation and plant transpiration. This increased atmospheric demand, measured by vapor pressure deficit (VPD) can lead to plant water stress and thus has profound implications for plant water use, hydraulic strategies, morphology and net carbon uptake. Above and belowground hydraulic tradeoffs may mitigate against the increased stress, although functional plasticity may be limited for specific species leading to altered ecosystem composition and function. This session will span across scales, from mechanistic processes related to water extraction, plant hydraulics, ecohydrology, landscape level modeling and linkages to management decisions.

One-sentence Summary
Rising vapor pressure deficit will expose ecosystems to novel hydraulic stress that can manifest in altered patterns of water flux through the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum, causing reductions in net ecosystem productivity and changes in overall ecosystem function and structure.

Organizer
Jeffrey M. Warren – Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Environmental Sciences Division and Climate Change Science Institute

Co-organizers
Elizabeth Agee – Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Environmental Sciences Division
Jennifer M. R. Peters – Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Environmental Sciences Division and Climate Change
Cynthia L. Wright – Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Environmental Sciences Division

Moderator
Jennifer M. R. Peters – Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Environmental Sciences Division and Climate Change Science Institute

Speakers

• Dynamic responses of ecosystem hydraulics and gas exchange to water supply and demand
  • Jeffrey D. Wood, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, Lianhong Gu, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN and Lawren Sack, Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
• The role of sapwood versus heartwood in water storage and maintenance of hydraulic conductivity during drought
  • Daniel M. Johnson1, Justine Valadez2, Kathryn V. Baker3, David Love3, Jean-Christophe Domec4, Ryan E. Emanuel5 and Keith Reinhardt6, (1)Warnell School of Forestry, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, (2)Department of Plant Biology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, (3)Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, (4)Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, NC, (5)Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, (6)Biological Sciences, Idaho State University, Pocatello, ID
• Temporal variation of stomatal sensitivity to VPD in western riparian trees
  • Jessica S. Guo, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, Susan Bush, Biology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT and Kevin R. Hultine, Research, Conservation and Collections, Desert Botanical Garden, Phoenix, AZ
• Disentangling the impacts of rising temperature and vapor pressure deficit on tree hydraulic functions and carbon dynamics
  • Leonie Schönbeck1,2, Philipp Schuler3, Marco M. Lehmann3 and Charlotte Grossiord1,2, (1)School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering ENAC, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland, (2)Community Ecology, Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, Lausanne, Switzerland, (3)Forest Dynamics, Swiss Federal Institute for Forest Snow and Landscape Research WSL, Birmensdorf, Zürich, Switzerland
• Plant response to VPD as a key trait for urban microclimate regulation
  • Simone Fatichi and Naika Meili, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
• Systemic effects of elevated VPD on plants: implications for predicting plant adaptation to climate change
  • José López1, Danielle A. Way2 and Walid Sadok1, (1)Department of Agronomy and Plant Genetics, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, (2)Department of Biology, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada

 

Organized Oral 42

Climate Intervention: Risks, Effects and Predicted Impacts for Biodiversity and Ecological Systems

Thursday, August 5, 2021
1:30 PM-2:30 PM Pacific Time

Session Description
Climate intervention (geoengineering) is a set of proposed activities designed to intentionally modify global climate to reduce anthropogenic global warming. The goal of one approach, solar radiation management (SRM), is deliberately reducing or stabilizing global surface temperatures by reflecting incoming solar radiation to increase Earth’s albedo. Considerable research has gone into understanding climate projections for different scenarios of stratospheric atmosphere intervention (SAI), a proposed approach to SRM in which particles would be injected into the stratosphere, mimicking volcanic eruptions. However, almost nothing is known about predicted ecological impacts of SAI. More fundamentally, ecologists have not addressed the real possibility that climate intervention could take place, and awareness of the extent of work on SRM and SAI modeling is essentially nonexistent within this community. Climate scientists, likewise, have largely not considered the potential impacts of SAI strategies on ecological systems. While ecologists might assume that SAI and SRM in general are hokey, pie-in-the-sky propositions, as anthropogenic climate change continues to wreak disastrous consequences on human and natural systems, we may be passing the point of no return. When, to what degree, and even if carbon emissions are limited is a big political question. Climate scientists agree essentially without exception that carbon emissions must be reduced and ultimately stopped, but even if this happens, many changes in climate will become inevitable. A major goal of this session is to raise the awareness of ecologists about what a range of different SAI scenarios might entail, and how they might affect natural systems in comparison with anthropogenic climate change scenarios. SAI cannot be evaluated in comparison with nothing; its risks and impacts must be better understood if it were to be implemented in concert with reduced carbon emissions, unabated carbon emissions, and compared with carbon emission scenarios without SAI. Anthropogenic climate change has enormous consequences for humans and nature. If it was possible to use SAI to stabilize temperatures while also working to minimize GHG emissions, is this worth the risks and uncertainties, relative to ongoing anthropogenic climate change? Are risks of climate intervention for humans and ecological systems more uncertain than the risks of anthropogenic climate change scenarios? What ecological systems, taxa and regions would be most helped, and which ones would face greater risks should SAI be developed and implemented? The answers critically require the input of ecologists to inform future decisions about potential implementation.

One-sentence Summary
We will introduce current research on how deliberate climate intervention to counteract anthropogenic climate change might affect ecological systems, and consider how ecologists can contribute to a better understanding of the risks and impacts of such intervention should it be implemented.

Organizer
Jessica Gurevitch – Stony Brook University

Moderator
Phoebe Zarnetske – Michigan State University, Department of Integrative Biology

Speakers

• Beyond impact: ecology helping to guide scenarios of climate intervention
  • Jessica Hellmann1,2, Janet Franklin3, Jessica Gurevitch4, Cheryl Harrison5, Jonathan Knott6,7, Alan Robock8, Simone Tilmes9, Daniele Visioni10, Lili Xia8 and Phoebe L. Zarnetske6,7, (1)Institute on the Environment, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, (2)Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, (3)Department of Botany and Plant Sciences, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, (4)Stony Brook University, (5)Port Isabel Lab, University of Texas Rio Grand Valley, TX, (6)Department of Integrative Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, (7)Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior Program, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, (8)Department of Environmental Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, (9)Atmospheric Chemistry Division, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO, (10)Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
• Effects of geoengineering on ecosystem processes
  • Peter M. Groffman, CUNY Advanced Science Research Center at the Graduate Center, New York, NY; Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, NY
• The influence of geoengineering on evolving fire activities under climate change
  • Cheng-En Yang1, Forrest Hoffman2 and Joshua Fu1, (1)Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, (2)Computational Earth Sciences Group, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN
• What goes up must come down: surface impacts of deposition in a sulfate geoengineering scenario
  • Daniele Visioni, Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
• Global modeling of impact relevant stratospheric aerosol climate intervention scenarios
  • Simone Tilmes1, Douglas E. MacMartin2, Jan T. M. Lenaerts3, Leo van Kampenhout4, Laura Muntjewerf5, Lili Xia6, Cheryl Harrison7, Kristen M. Krumhardt8, Michael J. Mills8, Ben Kravitz9 and Alan Robock6, (1)Atmospheric Chemistry Division, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO, (2)Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Cornell University, (3)University of Colorado Boulder, (4)Utrecht University, (5)Delft University of Technology, (6)Department of Environmental Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, (7)Port Isabel Lab, University of Texas Rio Grand Valley, TX, (8)National Center for Atmospheric Research, (9)Indiana University
• SRM research in Africa: Past, Present, and Future
  • Romaric C. Odoulami1, Izidine Pinto2, Christopher Lennard2 and Mark New1, (1)African Climate and Development Initiative, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa, (2)Climate System Analysis Group, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa

 

Organized Oral 43

The Role of Mycorrhizae in Shaping Species Interactions, Plant Community Dynamics, and Ecosystem Function

Thursday, August 5, 2021
1:30 PM-2:30 PM Pacific Time

Session Description
The symbiosis between mycorrhizal fungi and terrestrial plants plays a well-known role in determining the water and nutritional status of host plants, impacting aboveground community and ecosystem dynamics. This belowground partnership has cascading effects, including enhanced plant resistance to biotic agents via changes in plant physiology and secondary chemistry with effects on higher trophic levels. Insect and pathogen population dynamics are sensitive to mycorrhizal-induce shifts in phytochemistry and these interactions can affect nutrient cycling, plant competition, and community structure and function. Furthermore, insects and pathogens, as well as shifting environmental conditions, can affect mycorrhizal abundance, thus creating ecosystem-level feedbacks. While an increasing number of studies have demonstrated the importance of mycorrhizal fungi in mediating species interactions, the nature of these relationships can which vary across environmental gradients, temporally, and with land use change. Because mycorrhizal-plant dynamics are critical components of natural and managed ecosystems, a better understanding of their role in in these ecosystems will inform ecological and evolutionary theory, ecosystem models, and land management. The goal of the proposed session is to bring together ecologists working in diverse systems to offer contemporary perspectives on the causes and consequences of variation in plant-microbe interactions. The work presented in the session spans multiple levels of biological organization and exemplifies how innovative chemical, molecular, and ecological methods can help unravel some of the complex interactions driven by mycorrhizae-induced plant responses. In the spirit of this year’s meeting theme, “Vital Connections in Ecology,” it is fitting that the topic of this symposium seeks to highlight the central role soil microbes play in connecting species at higher trophic levels, links that are critical to both species survival and ecosystem function. Participants in this session will present original work within theoretical ecological frameworks to highlight recent advances in plant-microbe interactions and the cascading effects on species interactions across time and space.

One-sentence Summary
This session focuses on providing critical insights into how mycorrhizal fungi impact species interactions, community dynamics, and ecosystem function.

Organizer
Amy Trowbridge – University of Wisconsin, Madison, Entomology

Co-organizer
Mary A. Jamieson – Oakland University, Biological Sciences

Moderator
Amy Trowbridge – University of Wisconsin, Madison, Entomology

Speakers

• Context dependency of plant-soil feedback – How environmental conditions influence the relative abundance of mycorrhizal and pathogenic fungi
  • Ylva Lekberg, Department of Ecosystem and Conservation Sciences, University of Montana and MPG Ranch, Missoula, MT
• Genotype, herbivory, and mycorrhizae interact to shape plant functional traits
  • Robert L. Whyle and Mary A. Jamieson, Biological Sciences, Oakland University, Rochester, MI
• Does resource transfer through mycorrhizal networks mediate plant-plant interactions?
  • Ian R. Mounts, Biology, University of Mississippi, University, MS and Jason D. Hoeksema, Department of Biology, University of Mississippi, University, MS
• Restoring legumes and their mycorrhizal and rhizobia symbioses
  • Jonathan Bauer, Miami University, Oxford, OH, Paul A. Price, Biology, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI and Emily Grman, Biology Department, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI
• Improving predictability of AM fungal-plant-herbivore interactions
  • Alison Bennett, Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
• Mycorrhizal fungi have variable effects on predator-prey dynamics under field conditions
  • Amanda R. Meier, Entomology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA and Mark D. Hunter, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

 

Organized Oral 44

Developing Indicators and Policies for Managing the Global Nitrogen Challenge

Thursday, August 5, 2021
2:30 PM-3:30 PM Pacific Time

Session Description
Few elements are as well studied by ecologists and biogeochemists as nitrogen as it cycles through living things and the Earth system. Due to the intentional and unintentional manufacture of reactive nitrogen (Nr) beginning with and continuing through industrial and agricultural revolutions, Nr is now abundant throughout the biosphere. It is a boon to human well-being and bane to the environment. Across the world there are entire regions that have been characterized as having either too much or too little N. The meanings behind this phrase differ depending on the region. In areas, such as North America where there is “too much N,” loss to the environment damages water quality, reduces biodiversity, creates ozone, regional haze, and promotes human respiratory diseases. However, these ailments are also prevalent in world regions with “too little N” with reduced food security where over-application of synthetic N fertilizers, uncontrolled sewage, and nitrogen oxide emissions create the worst of conditions for communities that are both food insecure and suffer pollution. A challenge for those attempting to craft meaningful Nr management policy is to promote policies and practices for best Nr management that can be adopted in both N-abundant and N-insufficient regions to increase equitable access to food and goods while protecting or restoring the clean air, clean water, and biodiversity benefits that are directly harmed from Nr leakage. The many pathways to impacts pass through the atmosphere, biosphere, and hydrosphere to cause a host of impacts influencing greenhouse gases, human health, terrestrial ecosystems, aquatic ecosystems, societal values, agricultural and non-agricultural products. These many pathways and impacts can be daunting to policy makers, and some countries, like the US, have adopted isolated cause-effect regulatory approaches one pathway at a time. But, like a game of whack-a-mole, Nr reduction in one sector may show up elsewhere. Far more sensible is to take an integrated approach toward Nr management and policy. To do that requires new ways of identifying pressure-impact relationships. Our session, linked to a large international program on nitrogen management, presents efforts being made to develop metrics and an epistemology for quantifying, communication, and managing, the impacts of N across sectors, societies, and international borders.

One-sentence Summary
Our session, linked to a large international program on nitrogen management, presents efforts being made to develop metrics and an epistemology for quantifying, and governing, the impacts of N across sectors, societies, and international borders.

Organizer
Jill Baron – US Geological Survey

Moderator
Jana Compton – US EPA, Office of Research and Development, Center for Public Health and Environmental

Speakers

• Establishing a new intergovernmental process to address global nitrogen challenge: towards the Inter-convention Nitrogen Coordination Mechanism (INCOM).
  • Mark Sutton1, Clare Howard1, Tapan K. Adhya2,3, Jill Baron4, Wim de Vries5, Josette Garnier6, Kentaro Hayashi7, David Hooper8, David R. Kanter9, Cargele Masso10, Sergiy Medinets11, Hailemariam Giweta Mekonnen10, Lidiya Moklyachuk12, Jean P.H.B. Ometto13, Mahesh Pradhan14, Ramesh Ramachandran15, Nicole Read1, Alberto Sanz Cobeña16, Martha Schlegel1, Hans van Grinsven17, Xiaoyuan Yan18 and Isabelle Van der Beck19, (1)UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, (2)South Asia Nitrogen Centre, New Delhi, India, (3)School of Biotechnology, Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (Deemed University), Bhubaneswar, India, (4)US Geological Survey, Fort Collins, CO, (5)Wageningen University and Research (WUR), Wageningen, Netherlands, (6)Sorbonne Université, CNRS, EPHE, UMR, Paris, France, (7)Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO), Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan, (8)Department of Biology, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA, (9)Department of Environmental Studies, New York University, New York, NY, (10)International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Yaoundé, Cameroon, (11)Regional Centre for Integrated Environmental Monitoring (RCIEM), Odesa National I. I. Mechnikov University (ONU), Odesa, Ukraine, (12)Institute of Agroecology and Environmental Management (IAEM), National Academy of Agrarian Sciences of Ukraine (NAAS), Kyiv, Ukraine, (13)Earth System Science Center (CCST), National Institute for Space Research (INPE), São José dos Campos, Brazil, (14)United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Nairobi, Kenya, (15)National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management, Ministry of Environment Forest & Climate Change, Government of India, Chennai, India, (16)Universidad Politecnica de Madrid (UPM), Madrid, Spain, (17)PBL Netherlands Environment Agency, The Hague, Netherlands, (18)State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China, (19)Ecosystems Division (International Waters), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Washington D.C., WA
• Approaches to assess nitrogen impacts on ecosystems and environments – Challenges of Towards International Nitrogen Management System (INMS) project
  • Hideaki Shibata1,2, Jill Baron3,4, Azusa Oita5, Allison M. Leach6, Timothy Weinmann3 and Daniel Liptzin7, (1)Field Science Center for Northern Biosphere, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan, (2)International Long-Term Ecological Research Network, (3)US Geological Survey, Fort Collins, CO, (4)Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, (5)Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences, NARO, Tsukuba, Japan, (6)Natural Resource and Earth Systems Science and The Sustainability Institute, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, (7)Soil Health Institute
• Using response categories to classify the impacts of reactive nitrogen
  • Jill Baron1,2, Hideaki Shibata3,4, Daniel Liptzin5, Hans van Grinsven6, Wim de Vries7, Jana Compton8, Timothy Weinmann1, Azusa Oita9 and Allison M. Leach10, (1)US Geological Survey, Fort Collins, CO, (2)Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University, (3)Field Science Center for Northern Biosphere, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan, (4)International Long-Term Ecological Research Network, (5)Soil Health Institute, (6)PBL Netherlands Environment Agency, The Hague, Netherlands, (7)Wageningen University and Research (WUR), Wageningen, Netherlands, (8)Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment, US EPA, Office of Research and Development, Corvallis, OR, (9)Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences, NARO, Tsukuba, Japan, (10)Natural Resource and Earth Systems Science and The Sustainability Institute, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH
• Linking system-level indicators of performance, pressures and impacts to better manage nitrogen
  • Jana Compton, Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment, US EPA, Office of Research and Development, Corvallis, OR, Holly Campbell, Oregon State University, Robert D. Sabo, Office of Research and Development, United States Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, Allison M. Leach, Natural Resource and Earth Systems Science and The Sustainability Institute, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH and Wilfried Winiwarter, IIASA, Austria
• Global variation and similarities in nitrogen benefits and impacts
  • David U. Hooper, Dept. of Biology, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA, Cargele Masso, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Yaoundé, Cameroon, Luis Lassaletta, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Madrid, Spain, Miguel Quemada, School of Agricultural Engineering, Technical University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain, Mekonnen Giweta, International Institute for Tropical Agriculture, Yaoundé, Cameroon and INMS Component 3 Regional Demonstration Projects, UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
• Governing Nutrient Pollution Beyond Farmers
  • David R. Kanter, Department of Environmental Studies, New York University, New York, NY

 

Organized Oral 45

Microbial Connectivity across Ecotones

Thursday, August 5, 2021
2:30 PM-3:30 PM Pacific Time

Session Description
Global change factors can alter the direction and strength of organism movement across ecosystems and biome types. Although largely unseen, microorganisms are likely common immigrants across these ecotones. However, we lack a basic understanding of microbial community mixing across many key ecosystem boundaries on Earth, including land and water, groundwater and surface water, freshwater and saltwater. Recent research has highlighted the importance of cell movement between terrestrial and aquatic habitats. The variable strength of this connectivity, its contribution to community dynamics, and potential impact on ecosystem functions, however, are still largely undefined. By focusing on microbial dynamics at habitat interfaces, we may derive useful generalizable predictions for the impact of microbial connectivity. For example, invasion and metacommunity models recognize the importance of propagule pressure and dispersal to establishment and community structure. For microorganisms able to live in both environments, connectivity may be the most effective direct control on their importance in both ecosystems. Microbial community structure is increasingly recognized as critical to the provision of resilient ecosystem services in a changing world, including biodiversity maintenance, agricultural productivity, and water quality. The development of methods used to detect microbes in both systems, combined with microorganisms’ multiple life stages and penchant for extended dormancy add ongoing challenges to understand the impact of microbial community connectivity across ecotone boundaries. This session will pull together a variety of perspectives on the topic with the goal of identifying commonalities and new opportunities for synthesis. Specifically, we bring together researchers representing perspectives in microbial metacommunities, hydrological connectivity, and shifting ecosystem boundaries in multiple contexts, to help build a new focus on microbial movement across Earth’s dynamic modern landscape.

One-sentence Summary
Defining microbiome connectivity across habitat boundaries

Organizer
Benjamin Sikes – University of Kansas, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology

Co-organizer
Lydia H. Zeglin – Kansas State University, Divison of Biology

Moderator
Benjamin Sikes – University of Kansas, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology

Speakers

• Mechanisms of microbiome resilience across scales
  • Ashley Shade, Department of Microbiology & Molecular Genetics, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI; Program in Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI; Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
• Impacts of precipitation and land use on terrestrial-aquatic microbiome connectivity
  • Lydia H. Zeglin, Division of Biology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, Benjamin A. Sikes, Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS and Sonny Lee, Kansas State University, KS
• Temporal dynamics of microbial metabolic processes under hyporheic fluctuation
  • Emily Graham, School of Biological Sciences, Washington State University, Richland, WA
• Ecology and evolution of plant-associated bacterial decomposers in the riparian zone.
  • Sara L. Jackrel, University of California San Diego
• How terrestrial runoff shapes aquatic microbiome composition and function
  • Raven L. Bier, Savannah River Ecology Lab, University of Georgia and Silke Langenheder, Department of Ecology and Genetics/Limnology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
• Metabolic insight into bacterial community assembly across ecosystem boundaries
  • Nathan I. Wisnoski, WyGISC, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, Mario E. Muscarella, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Megan L. Larsen, Phylagen, San Francisco, CA, Ariane L. Peralta, Department of Biology, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC and Jay T. Lennon, Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN

 

Organized Oral 46

Network Connections: Deepening and Expanding Access to Virtual Field Experiences

Thursday, August 5, 2021
2:30 PM-3:30 PM Pacific Time

Session Description
Students and educators in the environmental sciences were hit hard by the closures of field sites necessitated by the COVID pandemic. The transition of education to an online platform left many educators without teaching resources and reduced student opportunities for developing skills in observation and identification, research and engagement with careers associated with field research, which for most are essential experiences for undergraduate majors, undergraduate internship programs, and graduate degrees. In response to this need a collaboration of field stations, marine laboratories and field researchers around the world began developing teaching tools to bring aspects of the missing field experiences into virtual classrooms. This session highlights a variety of approaches to develop and distribute virtual field learning resources to faculty, students and other stakeholders. Common threads across these projects are the recognition of the immense educational benefits of in-person field experiences and the potential for virtual learning experiences to remove geographic, physical or socioeconomic barriers to learning. Virtual tools have the potential to create field-trip like experiences for large classes, prevent student exclusion based on financial considerations, enhance preparedness for field trips, and broaden “first-hand” experiences in environments around the world. Projects also explore a variety of educational goals, such as teaching observational skills or introducing students to field researchers in a myriad of disciplines. Some projects are part of “The Virtual Field”, a new field station and marine laboratory coalition focused on developing, compiling and distributing cross-site virtual resources.

One-sentence Summary
Virtual field experiences are a new and rapidly developing educational resource that complements in-person learning in field ecology. A variety of virtual tools are showcased with discussion addressing ways to use these tools to broaden participation across diverse student audiences.

Organizer
Itchung S Cheung – Oregon State University, Integrative Biology

Co-organizers
Claudia Luke – Sonoma State University, Center For Environmental Inquiry

Jonathan Davidson – University of Canterbury, School of Earth and Environment

Angelica Patterson – Black Rock Forest Consortium

Moderator
Itchung S Cheung – Oregon State University, Integrative Biology

Speakers

• The Virtual Field: How a Pandemic Expanded Access to the Field
  • Claudia Luke, Center For Environmental Inquiry, Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, CA, Hilary Swain, Archbold Biological Station, Venus, FL, Sarah Oktay, Natural Reserve System, UC Davis, Davis, CA and Itchung S Cheung, Hatfield Marine Science Center, Oregon State University, Newport, OR
• Live from the Field: Introducing Students to Field Research through Cross-Site Conversations
  • Kerry Wininger, Center For Environmental Inquiry, Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, CA, Hilary Swain, Archbold Biological Station, Venus, FL and Kari O’Connell, STEM Research Center, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR
• Start Local, Go Global—students build observation skills and link evidence to concepts using the Ecosystem Exploration Series
  • Patricia A. Saunders, Department of Biology & Environmental Science Program, Ashland University, Ashland, OH, Emily Boone, Department of Biology, University of Richmond, Richmond, VA, Flora Krivak-Tetley, Department of Biological Sciences & Environmental Studies Program, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, Gillian Schultz, Foothill College, Los Altos Hills, CA, Bonita Waters-Flournoy, Ed.D., Georgia Military College-Fayetteville, Fayetteville, GA; Science Education Resource Center, Carleton College, Northfield, MN and Kari O’Connell, STEM Research Center, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR
• A Walk in the Woods: Creating Virtual Experiences that Inspires Cross-Institutional Engagement at Black Rock Forest
  • Angelica Patterson, Black Rock Forest Consortium, Cornwall, NY and Edwin Reed-Sanchez, Saycel, New York, NY
• Virtual Field Tripping around volcanoes…what works?
  • Ben Kennedy1, Jonathan Davidson1, Alison Jolley2, Erik Brogt3 and Alex Watson1, (1)School of Earth and Environment, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand, (2)Centre for Tertiary Teaching and Learning, University of Waikato, Waikato, BC, New Zealand, (3)Future learning and development, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
• Evolving concepts in virtual field trips: New capabilities and democratizing VFT creation
  • Chris Mead1, Thomas J. Ruberto1, Geoffrey Bruce1, Steven Semken1, Rimjhim Aggarwal2 and Ariel Anbar1,3, (1)Center for Education Through Exploration and School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, (2)School of Sustainability, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, (3)School of Molecular Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ

 

Organized Oral 47

New Frontiers in Bryophyte Ecology

Thursday, August 5, 2021
2:30 PM-3:30 PM Pacific Time

Session Description
Bryophytes represent nearly half a billion years of adaptation to life on land, and shape the ecology of terrestrial systems from the poles to equatorial regions. This incredibly diverse group of plants influences productivity, biogeochemistry, and functional ecology of ecosystems, but is often overlooked and understudied. Here we bring together some of the most recent and thought provoking research on bryophyte ecology. This session will highlight how bryophytes serve as “Vital Connections in Ecology” with research spanning taxonomic groups (mosses, liverworts), ecosystems (forests, arid grasslands), and a wide range of bryophyte-mediated interactions (above and below-ground, across trophic levels, and at various spatial scales).

One-sentence Summary
The ecological impacts of bryophyte in ecosystems, though unfamiliar to many, are often considerable. We have organized a diverse group of bryophyte focused studies to showcase these impacts.

Organizer
Mandy L Slate – University of Colorado, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Co-organizer
Kirsten K. Coe – Middlebury College, Biology

Moderator
Mandy L Slate – University of Colorado, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Speakers

• Fluctuating sexual dimorphisms in an eco-physiological trait across environmental gradients in non-vascular plants.
  • D Nicholas McLetchie, Department of Biology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, Rose A Marks, Department of Horticulture, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, Juliana da Costa Silva e Costa, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil and Andrea Pereira Luizi-Ponzo, Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora, Brazil
• Syntrichia caninervis morphological plasticity in response to climate disturbances
  • Cristina Rengifo-Faiffer, Matthew Bowker and Anita Antoninka, School of Forestry, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ
• Avian-Bryophyte interaction networks: insights from an ornithological approach to bryophyte ecology
  • Matthew W. Chmielewski, Department of Biology and Center for Life in Extreme Environments, Portland State University, Portland, OR and Sarah M. Eppley, Department of Biology and Center For Life in Extreme Environments, Portland State University, Portland, OR
• Hyperspectral indices of Sphagnum moss water content and photosynthetic capacity reflect CO2 and CH4 exchange in a northern peatland ecosystem
  • Colin Tucker, Northern Research Station, US Forest Service, Madison, WI, Ally O’Neill, College of Forest Resources and Environmental Sciences, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI, Karl Meingast, School of Forestry, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI, Laura Bourgeau-Chavez, Michigan Tech Research Institute, Michigan Technological University, Ann Arbor, MI, Erik A. Lilleskov, Climate, Fire and Carbon Cycle Sciences, US Forest Service, Northern Research Station, Houghton, MI and Evan S. Kane, School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI
• Natural selection on a carbon cycling trait drives ecosystem engineering by Sphagnum peat mosses.
  • Bryan T. Piatkowski1, Joseph B. Yavitt2, Merritt R. Turetsky3 and A. Jonathan Shaw1, (1)Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC, (2)Natural Resources, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, (3)Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO
• Desiccation tolerance in dryland mosses: influences of micro- and macro-climate on carbon balance and feedbacks to biocrust communities.
  • Kirsten K. Coe1, Maya Gomez2, Niko Carvajal Janke3, Sahalie Pittman4, Theresa Clark5 and Lloyd Stark5, (1)Biology, Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT, (2)Middlebury College, (3)Viticulture and Enology, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, (4)Middlebury College, MIDDLEBURY, VT, (5)University of Nevada Las Vegas