This conference provides a discussion forum for those wanting to make links between physiological, behavioral, population, community and ecosystems ecology. If you want to reach out from specialized research and are passionately interested in linking the levels and putting the pieces together, or if you want to apply ecology in, e.g., conservation, fisheries, forestry or climate change, then this is the conference for you. We look forward to welcoming you at this five-day meeting at the beautiful seaside campus of the University of New England overlooking the Saco River Estuary. To attend: just apply; to speak: contact the chair. Bursaries are available to speakers to part cover registration which includes accommodation and meals, and it is hoped bursaries for postgrads may be available from BES.
Special focus will be on linking the levels using insights from the factors that constrain individual physiologies such as availability of energy and nutrients. Major themes are Metabolic Ecology and Individual-based Modeling using computer simulation. Approaches will include energy-based methods but also ecological stoichiometry accounting for chemical flows within and across levels. Examples will include animals, plants and microbes. Speakers include Brian Enquist, Mary O'Connor, Gabriel Yvon-Durocher, Roger Nisbet Steve Railsback and Volker Grimm. More details and online application are available at: http://www.grc.org/programs.aspx?id=13261 Associated Gordon Research Seminar for postgrads: https://www.grc.org/programs.aspx?id=15150 Organizers: Chair: Richard Sibly; Vice Chair: Mary O'Connor The preliminary program is as follows:- Sunday 1 Making Links Between Physiological, Behavioral, Population, Community and Ecosystems Ecology (Discussant Mary O'Connor) 7.30-8.30 James H Brown Toward a metabolic theory of ecology: how far have we come and how far still to go? 8.30-9.30 Roger Nisbet Prediction up and down levels of organization: one step at a time Monday 2 Metabolic Traits and Biotic Interactions (Discussant Gabriel Yvon-Durocher) 9.00-10.00 Mark Bradford Biotic interactions, biogeochemistry and scale: does ignoring local variation invalidate our knowledge of broad-scale controls on carbon cycling? 10.30-11.30 Thomas Bell Ecosystem functioning in miniature worlds: dynamics of the niche in bacterial microcosms 11.30-11.50 Anita Narwani The role of standing genetic variation in determining competitive abilities of freshwater green algae 11.50-12.10 Mridul Thomas The effect of temperature on present and future phytoplankton 12.10-12.30 Elisa Schaum Wee beasties in a warming world - molecular and physiological mechanisms of thermal acclimation and adaptation 3 Linking Ecological, Evolutionary and Ecosystem Dynamics (Discussant Samraat Pawar) 7.30-8.30 Gabriel Yvon-Durocher Ecological and evolutionary constraints on the temperature dependence of the carbon cycle 8.30-9.30 Mick Follows Linking stoichometry, allometry and the biogeography of marine microbes Tuesday 4 Linking the Levels Using Individual Based Models (IBMs) (Discussant Roger Nisbet) 9.00-10 Volker Grimm Nothing makes sense in ecology except in the light of individuals: individual-based modelling unifies ecology 10.30-11.30 Steve Railsback Should we hope for general theory linking individual adaptive behavior and community ecology? 11.30-12 Richard Sibly Linking individuals and populations using Individual Based Models 12-12.30 Elske van der Vaart Evaluation of complex models using Approximate Bayesian Computation 5 New Insights from Individual Based Models (Discussant Volker Grimm) 7.30-8.30 Jaclyn Hatala Matthes The challenge of reconciling earth system models with ecological datasets across centuries 8.30-9.30 Contributed talks Wednesday 6 Biological Allometry - Organismal Form, Function, and Evolution (Discussant: Van Savage) 9.00-10 Brian Enquist TBA 10.30-11.30 Chris Doughty How did ecosystems function before the megafauna extinctions: Using biological allometry to predict large animals impact on forest function 11.30-11.50 Cyrille Violle Biological allometry, natural and artificial selection 11.50-12.10 Lisa Bentley Scaling ecosystem function in the tropics using tree architecture traits 12.10-12.30 Contributed talks 7 Biological Allometry - Constraints on Ecosystem Functioning and Biological Diversity (Discussant: Brian Enquist) 7.30-8.30 Van Savage Temperature, Traits, and Trophic Interactions 8.30-9.30 Contributed talks Thursday 8 Stoichiometry in Ecological Interactions and Evolutionary Dynamics (Discussant: Angelica Gonzalez) 9.00-10 TBA 10.30-11.30 Kathleen Treseder Microbial traits, stoichiometry, and ecosystem function 11.30-11.45 Caroline Turner Evolving stoichiometry in E. coli: Selection for elemental efficiency or increased growth? 11.45-12 Arianne Cease A stoichiometric approach to understanding livestock-locust social-ecological systems offers insights for global locust management 12-12.15 Krista Capps Waste-water stoichiometry and freshwater ecosystem function: linking resource-management decisions with the quality and quantity of basal food resources 12.15-12.30 Jim Heffernan Using fine-scale variability to diagnose and forecast shifts in resource limitation 9 Stoichiometry from Ecosystems to Molecules (Discussant: Angelica Gonzalez) 7.30-8.30 Michael Lomas Redfield: Revisiting the coupling of ocean nutrient cycles from microscopic single cells to macroscopic integrated ocean basins 8.30-9.30 Mary O'Connor Unifying ecology - where have we got to and what are the prospects? Hope to see you there! Best wishes Richard Sibly School of Biological Sciences Harborne Building University of Reading Whiteknights, PO Box 217 Reading, RG6 6AS, UK Tel +44 (0)118 931 8461 http://www.reading.ac.uk/biologicalsciences/about/staff/r-m-sibly.asp
