SS 14
Microbial Community Diversity and Assembly
Tuesday, August 12, 2014: 8:00 PM-10:00 PM
203, Sacramento Convention Center
Microbes are the most diverse and ubiquitous, yet least understood life group on planet Earth. The recent advance in metagenomic technologies has been expending our knowledge of microbial communities, enabling the trial of addressing fundamental questions that have long been discussed in macro-ecology regarding microbes: Why is the diversity of microbial communities in natural environments so high? How do communities assemble? How do the deterministic and stochastic processes control microbial community’s diversity, assembly and succession? During this proposed special section at the 2014 ESA Annual Conference, macro- and micro-ecologists will be invited to discuss the following topics: (1) extent of and patterns of microbial communities; (2) mechanisms controlling microbial community diversity and assembly; (3) linkages between microbial biodiversity and ecosystem functioning; and (4) applications of ecological theories developed in macro-ecology to microbial systems. Idea exchanges between speakers and attendees will be highly encouraged during this session.
8:00 PM
New frontiers in trait-based ecology: Testing theory by comparing functional diversity of forest trees and soil microbes across latitude
Brian Enquist, University of Arizona;
Vanessa R. Buzzard, University of Arizona;
Sean T. Michaletz, University of Arizona;
Ye Deng, University of Oklahoma;
Zhili He, Sun Yat-sen University;
Sean T. Hammond, University of New Mexico;
James H. Brown, University of New Mexico;
Amanda N. Henderson, University of Arizona;
Michael Kaspari, University of Oklahoma;
Yadvinder Malhi, University of Oxford;
Jeanine McGann, University of Arizona;
Hubert Morin, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi;
Colby B. Sides, University of Arizona;
Robert B. Waide, University of New Mexico;
Michael D. Weiser, University of Oklahoma;
James W. Voordeckers, University of Oklahoma;
Jizhong Zhou, University of Oklahoma
