Thursday, August 6, 2009: 8:00 AM-11:30 AM
Grand Pavillion V, Hyatt
SYMP 18 - Paleoecosystem Ecology: Reconstructing Material and Energy Flows of the Past
Long-term processes of global change are altering biogeochemical cycles, climate, and land use, and thus the composition, structure, and function of the world's ecosystems. Ecosystem studies have aimed to understand the processes that mediate the flow of energy and materials through ecosystems to better understand patterns and processes that may be important in the future. Observational and experimental approaches are useful for studying ecosystem processes on relatively short time-scales (i.e., years to decades). But ecosystem processes that operate over hundreds to millions of years are difficult to document, although they are likely essential for understanding future ecosystem changes. Ecologists have traditionally studied these long-term ecosystem variations using the chronosequence approach, which adopts a “space-for-time” substitution. Additionally, over the past decade innovative paleoecological techniques have been applied to lake sediment (lacustrine) records to enable information about these slow ecosystem processes to be directly, albeit retrospectively, studied through time. We aim to synthesize information derived from the complimentary, yet unique, chronosequence and paleoecological approaches that form the emerging field of paleoecosystem ecology. The purpose of this symposium is to highlight recent and exciting examples of how paleoecosysem ecology studies have informed theories of ecosystem change over time and to address the challenges that lie ahead. For example, do lacustrine records support a “space-for-time” assumption? How can paleoecosystem studies best inform conservation and management decisions during periods of rapid climate change? How do nutrient cycling and the fate of primary productivity change during ecosystem development? The topics addressed by speakers will include comparisons of chronosequence studies and sediment records, evaluations of the role of vegetation and climate in influencing terrestrial nutrient cycles, and investigations that utilize geochemical techniques to advance our understanding of tempo and time in ecosystem ecology. This synthesis will help pave the way for discussion and collaboration among ecosystem ecologists, paleoecologists, biogeochemists, pedologists, and global-change scientists.
Organizer:	Kendra K. McLauchlan, Kansas State University
Co-organizer:	David Nelson, University of Illinois
Moderator:	David Nelson, University of Illinois
Endorsement:	ESA Biogeosciences Section, ESA Paleoecology Section
8:00 AM			Welcoming Remarks
8:05 AM	SYMP 18-1		Reconciling terrestrial and lacustrine paleoecosystem records in North America Kendra K. McLauchlan, Kansas State University, Peter Leavitt, University of Regina
8:25 AM	SYMP 18-2		Two millennia of biogeochemical and vegetation responses to disturbance and climate in a Colorado watershed Bryan N. Shuman, University of Wyoming, M. F. Mechinech, University of Minnesota, V. Stefanova, University of Minnesota, A. K. Henderson, University of Minnesota, J. P. Donnelly, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
8:45 AM	SYMP 18-3		Biogeochemical coupling between terrestrial succession and lake development at Glacier Bay, Alaska: A comparison of sediment records with a classic chronosequence Daniel R. Engstrom, Science Museum of Minnesota, Sherilyn C. Fritz, University of Nebraska
9:05 AM			Break
9:20 AM	SYMP 18-4		Evidence of the Holocene – Anthropocene transition from lake sediment records: Sedimentology, chemostratigraphy, and paleoecology William O. Hobbs, University of Nebraska, Alexander P. Wolfe, University of Alberta
9:40 AM	SYMP 18-5		Linking watershed alder coverage to lake nutrient availability: Biogeochemical records from southwestern Alaska Feng Sheng Hu, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Denise Devotta, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
10:00 AM	SYMP 18-6		The tempo of soil differentiation along granitic catenas: How poor soils get poorer and rich soils get richer Tony Hartshorn, Arizona State University, Lesego Khomo, University of Witwatersrand, Jean Dixon, Arizona State University, Carl Bern, United States Geological Survey, Andrew Kurtz, Boston University, Arjun Heimsath, Arizona State University, Kevin Rogers, University of Witwatersrand, Oliver Chadwick, University of California
10:20 AM	SYMP 18-7		The plural of anecdote is not data: Rigorously testing a boreal forest chronosequence Ben P. Bond-Lamberty, Joint Global Change Research Institute, Chuankuan Wang, Northeast Forestry University, Stith T. Gower, University of Wisconsin, Madison
10:40 AM			Panel Discussion

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See more of The 94th ESA Annual Meeting (August 2 -- 7, 2009)