Dear colleagues,
I wanted to bring your attention to a special four day symposium that will be held during the annual meeting of the Society of Wetland Scientists ( https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v1/url?u=http://swsannualmeeting.org/&k=Zn6W9g0QMlyJSNRckEnWug%3D%3D%0A&r=A2CnFkWnzBsB%2BUW%2FH0wJvkVKKIBgQhXG4mJvxcSK4mo%3D%0A&m=UhlZGPo%2BUso6dV2t0Wo%2BMGBLGMjTidQ2SUx7ihu3l5Y%3D%0A&s=942dfb47db60a883cedc4e1bd6b6d2e02394bf9e6e77b9fc01c63c1823fbaa10 ) in Providence, RI, from May 31 - June 4 . Our symposium, " Phragmites australis –A model organism for understanding genetic- to ecosystem–level responses in a rapidly changing world" is being chaired by Thomas J. Mozdzer (Bryn Mawr College), Hans Brix ( Aarhus University) , James T. Cronin ( Louisiana State University) , Eric L.G. Hazelton (Utah State University), Laura A. Meyerson (University of Rhode Island), Carla Lambertini ( Aarhus University) , Kristin Saltonstall (Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute), & Dennis Whigham (Smithsonian Environmental Research Center). The cosmopolitan common reed, genus Phragmites , is one of the most studied wetland plants in the world. It has both positive attributes as an ecosystem engineer and provides beneficial ecosystem services, but in many places it is identified as an invader. Multiple interacting global change factors including nitrogen pollution, changing precipitation patterns, relative sea level rise, rising atmospheric CO 2 concentrations, and warming will interact to alter the responses of Phragmites to the environment, such as physiological changes to overall ecosystem responses, and consequently, its distribution. Given the global distribution of Phragmites, and its key role in aquatic ecosystems, we propose that Phragmites is a perfect model system to study the evolutionary processes driving range expansion and extinction under global change. We welcome speakers that will focus on topics related to Phragmites from the genetic to the ecosystem level that emphasize global change effects. We have planned a four day symposium on global change responses of Phragmites identified as: 1) genetics & genomics, 2) ecophysiology, 3) species interactions, and 4) population to ecosystem-level responses. Because Phragmites is ubiquitous in both coastal and inland wetland ecosystems, our goal is to bring together data on Phragmites to inform predictive models and to identify future research areas on wetlands in our changing world. If you are interested in participating in the symposium and contributing a talk, please reach out to Dr. Thomas Mozdzer (tmozdzer(at)brynmawr.edu). Abstracts are due by Feb 11 . ( https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v1/url?u=http://swsannualmeeting.org/symposia-abstract-submission&k=Zn6W9g0QMlyJSNRckEnWug%3D%3D%0A&r=A2CnFkWnzBsB%2BUW%2FH0wJvkVKKIBgQhXG4mJvxcSK4mo%3D%0A&m=UhlZGPo%2BUso6dV2t0Wo%2BMGBLGMjTidQ2SUx7ihu3l5Y%3D%0A&s=90d9fb27a87762abe18150c6e60c89130c428ea91da1ac1af68d37b92e99333a ). According to the SWS policy, symposium participants may also contribute a talk to a different session at the SWS annual meeting. Best wishes, Tom Mozdzer ***************************************************************** Thomas J. Mozdzer, PhD Assistant Professor Department of Biology Park Science Building, Room 111 Bryn Mawr College 101 N. Merion Ave Bryn Mawr, PA 19010 Office: 610-526-5098 Fax: 610-526-5086
