OOS 9 - Consequences of Individual Variation in Dispersal for Recruitment, Populations, and Communities

Tuesday, August 8, 2017: 8:00 AM-11:30 AM
Portland Blrm 256, Oregon Convention Center
Organizer:
Noelle G. Beckman, Utah State University
Co-organizers:
Rebecca Snell, Ohio University; Bette A. Loiselle, University of Florida; Evan Fricke, Iowa State University; and Eugene W. Schupp, Utah State University
Moderator:
Rebecca Snell, Ohio University
Seed dispersal is a poorly understood phenomenon of great conservation importance, since it is both affected by global change and affects the ability of plants to respond to global change. As the single opportunity for plants to move, seed dispersal has an important impact on plant fitness, species distributions, and patterns of biodiversity. However, models that predict extinction risk of species, range shifts, and biodiversity loss rarely incorporate realistic dispersal mechanisms and tend to rely on the mean value of parameters due to the challenges of incorporating processes occurring over multiple scales and in heterogeneous environments. By focusing on the mean population value, variation among individuals or variability caused by complex spatial and temporal dynamics are ignored. This calls for increased efforts to understand individual variation in dispersal and integrate it more explicitly into population and community models involving dispersal. However, the sources, magnitude, and outcomes of intraspecific variation in dispersal are poorly characterized, limiting our understanding of the role of dispersal in mediating the dynamics of communities and their response to global change. The objective of this organized oral session is to synthesize recent research that examines the sources of individual variation in dispersal and its implications for plant fitness, populations, and communities. Speakers will focus on causes of individual variation in dispersal due to intrinsic factors (e.g., seed traits, heterogeneity in vital rates) and due to extrinsic factors (e.g., animal behavior, resource availability, environmental conditions), as well as the consequences of this variation for population persistence, spatial spread, and the maintenance of diversity. This session includes empirical, statistical, and theoretical advances that link intraspecific trait and environmental variation in dispersal to population- and community-level outcomes. The goal is to improve our understanding about the importance of individual variation in dispersal in order to increase our ability to predict the relative role of dispersal for plant populations and communities under changing conditions.
8:20 AM
 Consequences of incorporating individual variation in araçari movement behaviors for seed dissemination
Bette A. Loiselle, University of Florida; F. Javiera Rudolph, University of Florida; Flavia Montano-Centellas, University of Florida; Kimberly M. Holbrook, The Nature Conservancy
8:40 AM
 Understanding variation in dispersal distances and behavior across groups of individuals with inverse models
Eelke Jongejans, Radboud University; Marjolein Bruijning, Radboud University; Caspar A. Hallmann, Radboud University; Marco D. Visser, Princeton University; Andrew M. Allen, Radboud University
9:40 AM
9:50 AM
 Variation in dispersal, demography, and functional traits related to population spread
Noelle G. Beckman, Utah State University; James M. Bullock, Centre for Ecology and Hydrology; Mark A. Lewis, University of Alberta; Michael G. Neubert, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
10:10 AM
 The importance of within-patch heterogeneity for metapopulation dynamics of a high elevation pine
Emily L. Schultz, Rice University; Tom E. X. Miller, Rice University
10:30 AM
 Resource-driven variation in plant dispersal traits and potential movement
Lauren L. Sullivan, University of Minnesota; Karen C. Abbott, Case Western Reserve University; Stan W. Harpole, German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research
10:50 AM
 Intraspecific variation and coexistence: Seed size mediates tradeoffs within species
Evan C. Fricke, Iowa State University; Joshua J. Tewksbury, Future Earth; Haldre S. Rogers, Iowa State University
11:10 AM Cancelled
 Rescuing intraspecific variation of a keystone fruit in defaunated forests
Carolina Carvalho, Universidade Estadual Paulista "Júlio de Mesquita Filho"; Mauro Galetti, São Paulo State University; Marília Souza, Universidade Estadual Paulista "Júlio de Mesquita Filho"; Giovane Hypolito, Universidade Estadual Paulista "Júlio de Mesquita Filho"; Marina Côrtes, Universidade Estadual Paulista "Júlio de Mesquita Filho"