Wednesday, August 5, 2009: 1:30 PM-5:00 PM
Taos, Albuquerque Convention Center
OOS 29 - Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function: Current Trends and Future Directions
The sustainability of our global society ultimately depends on biodiversity and the ecosystem services that result from ecological functions such as primary productivity and nutrient cycling. Past studies on the biodiversity-ecosystem functioning (BEF) relationship have focused primarily on diversity in artificial grasslands and its impacts on functioning of primary producers; thus, there is an urgent need to experimentally test and further develop BEF research in natural ecosystems with explicit consideration of multiple functions and higher trophic levels, including humans. We propose an organized oral session in order to present and synthesize the most recent empirical and theoretical findings from global BEF research, facilitate international collaborations among researchers, and discuss pressing issues and future directions. This session will present current empirical and theoretical results from the US, Europe, and China, from leading researchers and rising stars in the field. Presentations include current BEF topics such as the impacts of re-assembly in empirical studies, optimal measurements of functional diversity, theoretical support for consideration of food web structure and tradeoff structures, as well as initial results from a species removal experiment in a natural grassland representative of the Eurasian Steppe, the largest grassland in the world. This experiment uses stoichiometrically defined plant functional groups to test the magnitude of niche complementarity and its influence on changes in ecosystem function using a newly developed equal disturbance treatment, and will present findings related to key ecosystem processes. This organized oral session will provide a forum for presentation of recent findings from new and established research programs, enabling a synthesis of current BEF research from which we can identify remaining uncertainties and plan future directions.
Organizer:	Chris Clark, Arizona State University
Co-organizer:	Jianguo Wu, Arizona State University
Moderator:	Jim Elser, Arizona State University
1:30 PM	OOS 29-1		Testing biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships: Overview of the inner Mongolia grassland removal experiment Jianguo Wu, Arizona State University, Shahid Naeem, Columbia University, James Elser, Arizona State University, Yongfei Bai, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Jianhui Huang, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Le Kang, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chris Clark, Arizona State University, Qibing Wang, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingmin Pan, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xingguo Han, Chinese Academy of Sciences
1:50 PM	OOS 29-2		Plant functional group removal alters soil nitrogen transformation and plant nitrogen use efficiency in a Eurasian grassland Xingguo Han, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yongfei Bai, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Jianhui Huang, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Jianguo Wu, Arizona State University, James Elser, Arizona State University, Xiaotao Lü, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences
2:10 PM	OOS 29-3		The structure of mechanisms in biodiversity-ecosystem function research: Complementarity, compensation, and recruitment in Inner Mongolian grassland ecosystems Yongfei Bai, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Jianhui Huang, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingmin Pan, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qibing Wang, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Jianguo Wu, Arizona State University, Shahid Naeem, Columbia University, Xingguo Han, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences
2:30 PM	OOS 29-4		Predictable re-assembly of plant communities in biodiversity experiments Bernhard Schmid, University of Zürich, Jana Petermann, University of Zürich
2:50 PM	OOS 29-5		Function does not recapitulate phylogeny: A comparison of predictors of biodiversity-ecosystem function relationships Dan F.B. Flynn, Columbia University
3:10 PM			Break
3:20 PM	OOS 29-6		Realistic trait distributions and variable assembly processes greatly influence the predicted BEF relationship in the Eurasian Steppe Chris Clark, Arizona State University, Jianguo Wu, Arizona State University, Shahid Naeem, Columbia University, Dan Flynn, Columbia University, Xingguo Han, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yongfei Bai, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Michel Loreau, McGill University
3:40 PM	OOS 29-7		Do simple biodiversity−ecosystem functioning relationships found in plant communities hold good in more complex ecosystems? Michel Loreau, McGill University
4:00 PM	OOS 29-8		What fraction of species do we need to maintain a functioning ecosystem? Bradley J. Cardinale, University of California-Santa Barbara
4:20 PM	OOS 29-9		Different effects of species diversity on temporal stability in single-trophic and multi-trophic communities Lin Jiang, Georgia Institute of Technology, Zhichao Pu, Georgia Institute of Technology
4:40 PM	OOS 29-10		Land use change and perennial plant diversity in the drylands of northern Mexico Kimberly A. Franklin, University of Arizona, Francisco Molina-Freaner, Instituto de Ecologia, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico

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