99th ESA Annual Meeting (August 10 -- 15, 2014)

OOS 1

Ecosystem and Community Effects of Native and Invasive Diseases

Disease structures many ecological communities and ecosystem processes, and invasive diseases can transform ecological communities. Many emerging and invasive diseases have escaped detection, control and eradication efforts and spread over large areas, leaving modified systems in their wake. In the past decade, such diseases have included Sudden Oak Death in Pacific Coast forests, White Nose Syndrome in eastern bat populations, and chytridiomycosis in amphibian communities worldwide. In other systems, native endemic diseases are a crucial component in maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services. This session aims to synthesize research on the cascading effects of both native and invasive diseases on other ecological processes such as behavior, species competition, trophic interactions, and nutrient cycling. It also aims to understand how these effects compare across systems and especially between outbreaks of invasive disease and endemic diseases. Speakers will present recent research including empirical work on secondary and tertiary effects of disease that occur at the community- and ecosystem-scale and models that link disease to other ecosystem processes. The talks will include research on a diverse set of systems with both plant and animal diseases.