OOS 24
Collaborative Ecological Research Networks: Sociology, Successes, and Future Opportunities

Tuesday, August 11, 2015: 1:30 PM-5:00 PM
314, Baltimore Convention Center
Organizer:
Habacuc Flores-Moreno, University of Minnesota
Co-organizers:
Elizabeth T. Borer, University of Minnesota; and Eric M. Lind, University of Minnesota
Moderator:
Habacuc Flores-Moreno, University of Minnesota
Collaborative ecological research networks generate data across many locations that allow novel insights into the generality and site- or regional-scale contingencies of ecological phenomena and processes. This approach has led to significant new understanding of marine, terrestrial, and freshwater ecosystems, and provides a way to overcome the limitations of other approaches such as local-scale studies and meta-analysis for understanding general ecological rules. In the past few years, there has been a very rapid increase in the use of collaborative research networks to quantify global ecological responses. Networks are forging new ground by piloting paradigm shifts in the etiquette of collaborative research, while also tackling new methodological and statistical challenges arising from the multivariate biological phenomena nested in their design. Through their unique global experimental set up, networks are allowing novel tests of ecological theory and generating novel insights into the role of global generalities and regional contingencies in ecological responses, that otherwise wouldn’t be possible. In this session we bring together perspectives on the practice, and opportunities that arise from the collaborative network approach. We will begin with an assessment of key elements underpinning successful scientific collaboration across scientific networks. Then, speakers working in a diversity of ecosystems will present novel ecological insights that have arisen because of tackling questions with a collaborative network approach. We will continue with a talk about the analytical opportunities that emerge from a multi-site collaborative approach. We will end with a talk about lessons learned from network science, and the development and roles of networks into the future. In sum, this symposium will provide examples of a powerful approach for addressing ecological questions and pressing environmental issues, place these into a sociological framework, and point the way forward for future synthetic opportunities that are possible with collaborative research networks.
1:30 PM
 The keys to innovation arising from collaborative scientific networks
Eric W. Seabloom, University of Minnesota; Elizabeth T. Borer, University of Minnesota
1:50 PM
 The Global Lake Ecological Observatory Network (GLEON) Experiment: Socio-ecological advances and surprises
Kathleen C. Weathers, Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies; Paul C. Hanson, University of Wisconsin; Grace S. Hong, University of Wisconsin; Michael O'Rourke, Michigan State University; Carol Brewer, University of Montana
2:10 PM
 From buckets to the biosphere: Linking environment, biodiversity, and ecosystem processes across scales via the Zostera Experimental Network
J. Emmett Duffy, Tennenbaum Marine Observatory Network, Smithsonian Institution; Pamela L. Reynolds, University of California
2:30 PM
 A continent-scale field survey reveals increases in population size and density, and altered demographic structure in the introduced range of a global plant invader
Ruth Hufbauer, Colorado State University; Robert Colautti, University of Tübingen; Steve Franks, Fordham University; Oliver Bossdorf, University of Tübingen
2:50 PM
 Combining distributed ecology with phylogenetics to understand global change: Lessons from the Nutrient Network
Eric M. Lind, University of Minnesota; Elizabeth T. Borer, University of Minnesota; Eric W. Seabloom, University of Minnesota; Nutrient Network, Multiple Institutions
3:10 PM
3:20 PM
 Broader impacts and understanding ecosystem processes through scientist-stakeholder engagement: A case study of knowledge co-production among academic researchers and water users
Laura B. Ferguson, Oregon State University; Samuel Chan, Oregon State University; Mary V. Santelmann, Oregon State University; Bryan Tilt, Oregon State University; Maria Wright, Institute for Natural Resources
3:40 PM
4:00 PM Cancelled
 Opportunities for general, synthetic understanding that emerge from collaborative scientific networks
James B. Grace, U.S. Geological Survey, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center
4:20 PM
 Networking into the future
Richard Inouye, Utah State University