Symposium Proposals Under Preparation
The following is a list of symposium proposals already submitted, or known to be under preparation. These are PROPOSALS ONLY and their possible inclusion in the draft scientific programme will not be notified until 30 June.
Symposia proposers are invited to submit details for inclusion in this list (to murray.williams@vuw.ac.nz), as follows:
TITLE: ...up to 50 words detailing symposium theme or objectives...
Proposer's EMAIL:
- Towards managing for resilience in New Zealand and Australian agro-ecosystems
- Urban ecology ‘Down Under’
- Impacts of multiple herbivores on plant communities
- Honeydew: fuel that drives an ecosystem
- Using DNA markers to uncover cryptic ecological patterns
- Endemic and new infectious diseases: conservation considerations and challenges
- Ecology and the Law
- Restoring
Towards managing for resilience in New Zealand and Australian agro-ecosystems: operationalising the theory.
Managing for resilient agro-ecosystems in an uncertain and variable world should be a key plank of sustainable land management. However the lack of operationalised theory and hypothesis testing means that there are few rigorous guidelines, other than generic statements, available for land managers and communities. This symposium explores a way forward, through a collaborative Australian–New Zealand research program. Conceptual, dynamic systems and other models will be presented, as will testable predictions and hypotheses.
Contact: Craig.Miller@csiro.au
Urban ecology ‘Down Under’
Urban areas occupy a very small proportion of New Zealand’s and Australia’s land areas, yet they contain a wide range of notable and rare habitats and have been the setting of many of our most dramatic ecological transformations. Furthermore, they now contain the great majority of both countries’ human populations. This symposium will add to and critically examine the growing interest in urban ecology ‘Down Under’. In particular, it will focus on two questions:
- What are the similarities and differences in the range of urban environments found in Australia and New Zealand?
- What can ecologists bring to good urban design and planning?
The symposium will be complemented by several of the conference field trips.
Contact: Paul.blaschke@xtra.co.nz
Impacts of multiple herbivores on plant communities
Although there has been a long history of research into, and management of, the impacts of single herbivores on plant communities, only recently have researchers started to investigate the consequences of multiple herbivores. Speakers in this symposium will outline current research into the consequences of multiple herbivores on plant communities in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.
Contact:
New Zealand
Elaine Wright: ewright@doc.govt.co.nz and
Wendy Ruscoe: ruscoew@landcareresearch.co.nz
Australia and Pacific Islands
dave.forsyth@dse.vic.gov.au
Honeydew: fuel that drives an ecosystem?
Honeydew produced by scale insects and other phloem-feeding insects is the fuel that drives a range of key ecological process in forest ecosystems. It can structure tropical insect mosaics, alter forest nutrient cycles, provide a seasonally important source of energy for forest birds, and can facilitate invasion by social insects. Because of the way the insects feed, honeydew also provides an excellent tool to probe aspects of host-tree physiology that are improving our understanding of environmental regulation of forest growth. Despite its keystone role, we still know little about the insects responsible for honeydew production, the mechanisms controlling honeydew availability, and the consequences it has for ecosystems in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific. This symposium will draw together these research strands, present important new results, and identify opportunities for exciting new research.
Contact: Roger.Dungan@canterbury.ac.nz
Using DNA markers to uncover cryptic ecological patterns
Molecular ecology has provided a suite of DNA markers for studying populations and communities. The application of marker technologies has provided a new and powerful approach with which to study the natural world and has had a major impact on studies of species identification and history, connectivity among populations, microbial community structure, and conservation biology. The aim of this symposium is to present the new findings of molecular ecology in New Zealand and Australia, and explore the inter-disciplinary nature of the field from studying the behaviour of individuals to the complex structures of communities.
Contact: Peter.Ritchie@vuw.ac.nz
Australian contacts are especially welcome.
Endemic and new infectious diseases: conservation considerations and challenges
Disease is likely to play a role in practically every aspect of the evolutionary biology of animals. However, conservation issues such as habitat fragmentation or reduced population sizes can influence animal/disease dynamics, whilst new or emerging infectious diseases of wildlife create new challenges in wildlife management. This symposium will present research on a range of current wildlife disease issues.
Contact: R.K.Barraclough@massey.ac.nz
Ecology and the Law
One important aspect of environmental law is the protection of biodiversity. As a result, international instruments and legislation contain a wide variety of references to ecological concepts. This symposium will explore examples of international instruments and domestic legislation containing references to ecological concepts, and the challenges of applying those concepts in the legal context.
Contact : Paul Beverley pbeverley@doc.govt.nz
Restoring Australasia
A symposium which seeks to highlight how the science of restoration ecology is being used to underpin ecological restoration in Australia and New Zealand, to compare ecological restoration practice in the two countries, and to identify potential areas for trans-Tasman collaboration.
Contact: kelly.hare.vuw.ac.nz
