SYMP 11 - Ecological Insights Derived from Environmental DNA Analyses: Linking Community Pattern and Process Through Space and Time

Wednesday, August 10, 2016: 8:00 AM-11:30 AM
Grand Floridian Blrm C, Ft Lauderdale Convention Center
Organizer:
Kristy Deiner, Univeristy Notre Dame
Co-organizers:
David M. Lodge, University of Notre Dame; and Michael Pfrender, University of Notre Dame
Moderator:
David M. Lodge, University of Notre Dame
As several articles in the May and July 2015 issues of Science highlighted, identification and quantification of DNA from environmental samples of all kinds—modern and ancient, aquatic and terrestrial—is enabling ecologists to answer longstanding questions about community structure and function. We no longer need to capture (or even to see) a species in a community to know it is present and, to some degree, to infer its ecological interactions. This symposium will highlight how the use of eDNA facilitates hypothesis-driven research in ecology, and fosters the increased dialogue between molecular ecologists, stakeholders and a diverse suite of other ecological researchers. The symposium will focus on the intersection of many avenues significant to the role of biodiversity in the Anthropocene such as invasion biology, conservation, pollution and policy. High-profile panelists will illustrate means of linking ecological pattern and process from trace sources of DNA, be it in a stomach, in a few grams of sediment, or in a jug of water. They will specifically highlight how the use of eDNA can deliver “more for less” and measure impacts of global change on terrestrial, freshwater and marine communities, and do so in the context of informing conservation, management and policy.
8:00 AM
 Determining the timing of extinction for a late-surviving island mammoth population using ancient DNA from a lake sediment core
Peter D. Heintzman, University of California, Santa Cruz; Joshua D. Kapp, University of California, Santa Cruz; Beth Shapiro, University of California, Santa Cruz; Russell W. Graham, Pennsylvania State University; Soumaya Belmecheri, University of Arizona; Kyungcheol Choy, University of Alaska Fairbanks; Brendan J. Culleton, Pennsylvania State University; Lauren J. Davies, University of Alberta; Duane G. Froese, University of Alberta; Carrie Hritz, National Science Foundation; Lee Newsom, Pennsylvania State University; Ruth Rawcliffe, University of Alaska Fairbanks; Emilie Saulnier-Talbot, University of Alaska Fairbanks; Yue Wang, University of Wisconsin-Madison; John W. Williams, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Matthew J. Wooller, University of Alaska Fairbanks
9:00 AM
 Social behavior and the gut microbiome in wild baboons
Elizabeth A. Archie, University of Notre Dame
9:30 AM
9:40 AM
 Environmental DNA in ports: The known, the unknown, and the non-indigenous
Erin K. Grey, Governors State University; Kristy Deiner, Univeristy Notre Dame; Yiyuan Li, University of Notre Dame; Jian Xu, University of Notre Dame; Thanuka Wickramarathne, University of Notre Dame; Amanda M. Countryman, Colorado State University; Travis W. Warziniack, US Forest Service; James Corbett, University of Delaware; Nitesh V. Chawla, University of Notre Dame; Michael Pfrender, University of Notre Dame; David M. Lodge, University of Notre Dame
10:10 AM
 Exploring the ecological relevance of eDNA in freshwater ecosystems
Simon Creer, Bangor University; Iliana Bista, Bangor University; Gary R. Carvalho, Bangor University; Kerry Walsh, Environment Agency; Martin Christmas, Environment Agency; Mehrdad Hajibabaei, University of Guelph; Delphine Lallias, INRA; Lofresh Consortium, Bangor University
10:40 AM
 So what? Coastal environmental DNA, and why it matters for policy
Ryan P. Kelly, University of Washington; James L. O'Donnell, University of Washington; Natalie C. Lowell, University of Washington; Andrew O. Shelton, NOAA Fisheries; Jameal F. Samhouri, NOAA Fisheries; Shannon M. Hennessey, Oregon State University; Blake E. Feist, NOAA Fisheries; Gregory D. Williams, NOAA Fisheries
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