OOS 65
Research Frontiers in Ecological Stoichiometry

Thursday, August 13, 2015: 8:00 AM-11:30 AM
329, Baltimore Convention Center
Organizer:
Angélica L. González
Moderator:
Jessica R. Corman
One of the core issues in ecology is to understand the underlying mechanisms that shape the structure and functioning of ecological systems from genes to ecosystems. Traditional approaches to understanding natural systems have relied on separate conceptual frameworks, such as evolutionary biology, community ecology or ecosystem ecology. Our ability to understand, predict, and mitigate the impacts of human activities on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning will depend in part on the integration of these approaches into a framework that builds from individuals to ecosystems. Ecological stoichiometry (ES), the study of the balance of energy and multiple chemical elements in living systems, has provided a framework for accomplishing integration across divergent areas of ecology. The premises of this conceptual framework are grounded in basic principles of biology, chemistry, and physics that govern the organization and functioning of all living systems. Three decades of ES have improved a mechanistic understanding of a variety of ecological processes including individual growth, population dynamics, trophic interactions, and the functioning of ecosystems. ES continues expanding its domain by applying its principles to emerging biological phenomena, including stoichiometric constraints on eco-evolutionary dynamics, macrophysiology, and coupled natural and human systems. Speakers in this Organized Oral Session will contribute perspectives to studying how stoichiometric constraints shape ecological and evolutionary processes acting on individual traits, which in turn affect community structure and ecosystem function. They will explore conceptual progresses and accomplishments, and discuss new directions in both theory and research for ES. The program of this Organized Oral Session combines the presentation of theoretical and empirical research on ecological stoichiometry, from small-scale experimental manipulations to larger-scale patterns and processes. This session takes an important step forward in our efforts to understand the role of elemental constraints on the diversity, structure and functioning of ecological systems in a changing world.
8:00 AM
Nutritional indicators and ecological stoichiometry
Paul C. Frost, Trent University; Nicole Wagner, Trent University
8:20 AM
Bacterial biomass composition and its implications for implications for Earth's biogeochemical processes and feedbacks
James B. Cotner, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities; Casey M. Godwin, Univeristy of Minnesota; Katherine Phillips, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
8:40 AM
The elements of sex: Using ionomics to understand the ecology and genetics of sexual dimorphism
Jared M. Goos, Oklahoma State University; Rickey Cothran, Southwest Oklahoma State University; Punidan D. Jeyasingh, Oklahoma State University
9:00 AM
Using soil enzymatic stoichiometry to understand ecosystem nutrient economies
Jared L. DeForest, Ohio University; Kurt A. Smemo, Skidmore College; Ryan Dorkoski, Ohio University; Michael N. Weintraub, University of Toledo; Daryl L. Moorhead, University of Toledo
9:20 AM
Linking timescales of nutrient physiology and ecosystem stoichiometry
James B. Heffernan, Duke University; Alison Appling, University of New Hampshire
9:40 AM
9:50 AM
Global patterns of invertebrate nutrient content in relation to temperature and latitude
Angélica L. González, Rutgers University; Harrower William, University of British Columbia; Nathan P. Lemoine, Colorado State University
10:10 AM
Consumer-resource interactions: Expanding ecological stoichiometry beyond C:N:P across environmental gradients in Neotropical streams
Amanda T. Rugenski, Arizona State University; Eric K. Moody, Middlebury College; Benjamin L. Turner, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute; James J. Elser, Arizona State University