Wednesday, August 8, 2007: 1:30 PM-5:00 PM
A2&7, San Jose McEnery Convention Center
SYMP 14 - Microbial communities along environmental gradients: Linking microbial ecology and the ecosystem
Understanding the factors that generate large-scale patterns in biotic diversity and community composition has been the work of ecologists for a century. Environmental gradients in temperature, precipitation, energy, and resources have been a useful template for understanding the ecological determinants of many biotic communities. We are currently entering an age in which we can uncover the composition and diversity of a great majority of soil and aquatic microorganisms, yet we currently lack a comprehensive understanding of the factors that structure the composition and diversity of the microbial world. Understanding the environmental determinants of microbial communities is a prerequisite to linking microorganisms to spatially explicit models of carbon and nutrient cycling, which are dominantly under their control. Environmental gradient analysis can been used to determine which factors structure microbial communities, and it can provide insight into how microbial communities respond to a changing world. The purpose of this symposium is to synthesize what is currently known about microbial communities across environmental gradients and the environmental factors that structure soil and aquatic microbial communities at small and large scales, to search for common themes, and to consider how microbial communities affect ecological processes. This symposium is also intended to synthesize interest from the two microbial-themed ESA sections, Soil Ecology and the newly formed Microbial Ecology section. A panel discussion will follow presentations.
Organizer:	Mark P. Waldrop, United States Geological Survey
Co-organizer:	Chris Francis, Stanford University
Moderator:	Mark P. Waldrop, United States Geological Survey
1:30 PM			Introductory Remarks
1:35 PM	SYMP 14-1		The development of soil microbial communities over successional timescales Richard Bardgett, University of Lancaster
1:55 PM	SYMP 14-2		Stress versus adaptation: Microbial communities in natural successions Klaus Nüsslein, University of Massachusetts
2:15 PM	SYMP 14-3		Soil genomics and the nitrogen cycle across an elevation gradient in Northern Arizona Egbert Schwartz, Northern Arizona University
2:35 PM	SYMP 14-4		Microbial community composition and function parallel landscape-level patterns of biogeochemical processes Donald R. Zak, University of Michigan, Mark P. Waldrop, United States Geological Survey, Christopher B. Blackwood, Kent State University, Kirsten S. Hofmockel, University of Michigan, Ivan P. Edwards, University of Michigan
2:55 PM			Break
3:05 PM	SYMP 14-5		Covariance between ecosystem processes and soil microbial community structure along three million years of ecosystem development in Northern Arizona Stephen C. Hart, Northern Arizona University, Gregory S. Newman, Northern Arizona University, Paul C. Selmants, Northern Arizona University, Karen Adair, Northern Arizona University, Egbert Schwartz, Northern Arizona University, Kristin Haskins, The Arboretum at Flagstaff, Valerie Kurth, Northern Arizona University, Andrew Kowler, University of Arizona
3:25 PM	SYMP 14-6		Variation in microbial community composition and function across across two North American transects JoAnn M. Holloway, United States Geological Survey, Mark P. Waldrop, United States Geological Survey, Kate M. Scow, University of California, Davis, Richard P. Dick, Ohio State University
3:45 PM	SYMP 14-7		Diversity and activity of ammonia-oxidizing archaea and bacteria across estuarine gradients Chris Francis, Stanford University
4:05 PM	SYMP 14-8		Simple environmental factors determine the structure of complex soil microbial communities Eric A. Dubinsky, University of California - Berkeley, Eoin L. Brodie, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Jeffrey A. Bird, Queens College, Gary L. Andersen, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Mary K. Firestone, University of California - Berkeley
4:25 PM			Panel Discussion
4:40 PM			Concluding Remarks

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See more of The ESA/SER Joint Meeting (August 5 -- August 10, 2007)