OOS 24

Collaborative Ecological Research Networks: Sociology, Successes, and Future Opportunities

Collaborative ecological research networks generate data across many locations that allow novel insights into the generality and site- or regional-scale contingencies of ecological phenomena and processes. This approach has led to significant new understanding of marine, terrestrial, and freshwater ecosystems, and provides a way to overcome the limitations of other approaches such as local-scale studies and meta-analysis for understanding general ecological rules. In the past few years, there has been a very rapid increase in the use of collaborative research networks to quantify global ecological responses. Networks are forging new ground by piloting paradigm shifts in the etiquette of collaborative research, while also tackling new methodological and statistical challenges arising from the multivariate biological phenomena nested in their design. Through their unique global experimental set up, networks are allowing novel tests of ecological theory and generating novel insights into the role of global generalities and regional contingencies in ecological responses, that otherwise wouldn’t be possible. In this session we bring together perspectives on the practice, and opportunities that arise from the collaborative network approach. We will begin with an assessment of key elements underpinning successful scientific collaboration across scientific networks. Then, speakers working in a diversity of ecosystems will present novel ecological insights that have arisen because of tackling questions with a collaborative network approach. We will continue with a talk about the analytical opportunities that emerge from a multi-site collaborative approach. We will end with a talk about lessons learned from network science, and the development and roles of networks into the future. In sum, this symposium will provide examples of a powerful approach for addressing ecological questions and pressing environmental issues, place these into a sociological framework, and point the way forward for future synthetic opportunities that are possible with collaborative research networks.