OOS 1 - Continental-Scale Ecology and the Biology of Macrosystems

Monday, August 6, 2012: 1:30 PM-5:00 PM
B116, Oregon Convention Center
Organizer:
David S. Schimel, Jet Propulsion Lab, California Institute of Technology
Co-organizer:
Henry W. Loescher, University of Colorado
Moderator:
Brian Wee, National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON, Inc.)
Living systems interact with each other and with the rest of the Earth System at many scales. At a small scale, individual plants exchange energy and matter with the atmosphere to support growth. At a large scale, like that of an entire continent, exchange between biotic components, the atmosphere, and surface water affects climate and hydrology. Individual organisms interact directly with each other locally, but the movement of invasive or pathogenic species can change the biota of entire continents. Understanding the role of organisms and their biology in the Earth System requires coordinated analysis of pattern from small-scale mechanisms within cells to large-scale global studies of fluxes. Understanding the patterns of movement and distribution of organisms is also important as is the development and coordination of methods for quantifying the various scales of biological activity. The NSF program “Macrosystems Biology” seeks to understand biological systems over extensive geographical and spatial extents using quantitative, interdisciplinary, systems-oriented research. To address this challenge, ecological theory and methodology needs to be adapted, and socio-ecological theory needs to be developed for these larger scales. The National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) is a new major facility designed to provide data and information to scientists, educators, decision makers and the general public on biological processes and their responses to multiple stresses. NEON will provide information to enable analysis and forecasting in the areas of bioclimate, biodiversity, biogeochemistry, ecohydrology, infectious disease, and land use and land cover. Changing climate, land use change, and invasive species will cause significant impacts to ecosystem structure and function. In order to prepare for these changes, society needs ecological analysis and forecasts. Ecological forecasting depends upon data and information to develop and test forecast models. NEON is a system designed to provide that data and information on the scales of climate and land use change over biological macrosystems by providing free and open availability to data and information, and community access to shared models and algorithms.
1:30 PM
 Integrating theory and observation towards usable knowledge using the NEON platform
David S. Schimel, Jet Propulsion Lab, California Institute of Technology
1:50 PM
 Sampling organisms while describing the continent: the development of NEON's observing strategy for organismal biology
David Tazik, NEON, Inc.; Edward Ayers, National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON, Inc.); David Barnett, National Ecological Observatory Network; Sarah Elmendorf, National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON); Keith Krause, National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON); Courtney Meier, National Ecological Observatory Network; Stephanie Parker, National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON, Inc.); Jeffrey Taylor, National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON, Inc.); Eve-Lyn S. Hinckley, National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON, Inc.); Keli Goodman, National Ecological Observatory Network
2:10 PM
 Quantifying uncertainty in projections of continental fluxes of carbon and energy using the NEON platform
Andrew M. Fox, National Ecological Observatory Network; Tim J. Hoar, National Center for Atmospheric Research; David J.P. Moore, University of Arizona
2:30 PM
 Observing global biodiversity and ecosystem function from space
Robert O. Green, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
2:50 PM
 Integrated regional modeling of scocio-ecological systems and their use in sustainability research
Kathy Hibbard, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory; Anthony Janetos, Boston University
3:10 PM
3:40 PM
 Integrating long-term data into ecological forcasting models
Jason S. McLachlan, University of Notre Dame; Michael Dietze, Boston University; Stephen T. Jackson, U.S. Geological Survey; Christopher J. Paciorek, University of California, Berkeley; Jack W. Williams, University of Wisconsin-Madison
4:20 PM
 Universality of the species-area relationship: From individuals to continents
David Storch, Charles University; Arnost L. Sizling, Charles University; Petr Keil, Yale University; Walter Jetz, Yale University
4:40 PM Cancelled
 Quantifying the fundamental unit of biogeography: Assessing different methods to measure geographic range size and why it matters
John C. Donoghue II, University of Arizona; Naia Morueta-Holme, Aarhus University; Brad Boyle, University of Arizona; Lindsey L. Sloat, University of Arizona; Brian J. Enquist, University of Arizona; Brian J. McGill, University of Maine; Jens-Christian Svenning, Aarhus University; Richard Condit, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
See more of: Organized Oral Session