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Plenary SessionsThere will be a plenary session on each of the four mornings of the meeting. Sunday, 25 June, 8:30 A.M.: Dr. Steven E. Sanderson Conservation Without Borders: If the Walls Come Down, Will the Roof Cave In? Conservationists in the field and research scientists alike struggle to define appropriate boundaries for their disciplines. Scientific objects of study and areas / wildlife targeted for protection require analytical and practical limits. Because of the increasing consensus that bounded systems important to conservation are, in fact, connected, we see increasing pressure to "cross open ground" among related disciplines and activities. To think of conservation today at a global scale without considering the timing and incidence of global environmental change seems quaint. To propose conservation of vulnerable species in protected areas alone is to risk missing dynamics and spatial considerations critical to the species? survival. To propose conservation without considering the "human question" is to ignore the pervasive global human footprint. The need for conservation without borders is clear. However, it is unclear that individual disciplines or the institutional stewards of science and conservation are presently able to take on this integrative challenge. This presentation will focus on the shortcomings of existing approaches to conservation, the institutional settings that favor imbedded disciplinary approaches, and the dangers and opportunities of engaging a conservation agenda without borders. The point of the talk will be to challenge conservationists to embrace powerful new agendas without sacrificing the integrity of the disciplines required for scientific understanding and conservation success. Monday, 26 June, 8:00 A.M. Journalists are from Venus, Scientists are from Mars: Bridging the Worlds of Science and Journalism Tuesday, 27 June, 8:30 A.M.: Dr. James A. Estes Repatriating Ecological Process: A Role for Big Predators? Although large predatory mammals once were common throughout most of the world, they have been among the first species to disappear in human-altered land and seascapes. Has the loss of these creatures influenced the way modern ecosystems look and operate, and if so what can or should be done about it? Hairston, Smith, and Slobodkin's (HSS) now classic work, its later iterations, and a plethora of empirical studies have established the importance of predation as an ecological process. Despite this rich history and well-known scientific culture, the ecological importance of large predatory mammals remains poorly understood and underappreciated. I will review findings from research conducted by my group and many others to illustrate the strength of effects and the diversity of ways by which large predatory mammals can shape ecosystem structure and function. Although HSS / Paineian "trophic cascades" characterize numerous species and ecosystems, the interaction web pathways that stem from large predators are more complex and interesting than this. Changes in the distribution and abundance of large predators can result in ecological chain reactions and shifts in connective processes across ecosystems, sometimes influencing matters of substantial human value along the way. While these processes and effects occur both in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, tactics and targets for repatriating the functional roles of large predators may differ rather fundamentally between land and sea. Wednesday, 28 June, 8:00 A.M.: Dr. Jack Dangermond “Deep Geography” as Inspired by “Deep Ecology” Ecology and technology have had an interesting courtship these past few decades. Databases, statistical computing, data-loggers and simulation models have all captured our attention and resources at different levels. Geographic Information Systems have already shown some value in helping us integrate and manage many different data types based on geography, but conservation sciences have always played second fiddle to the more commercially-interesting “hard” sciences. That’s about to change, however, as some of the first “big iron” funding ever for ecological research in the United States is due to become available under the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) program. This program combines the latest developments in citizen science and web collaboration with mote-level wireless robotic environmental sensors at every ecosystem level. After years of studying landscapes about which little was known, satellite imagery, cheap sensors, NEON, and programs like it mean ecologists are about to become inundated by a literal “firehose” of data. Where data management and analytical ability were important before, they may well become overwhelming issues for many practitioners. We hope to show that GIS systems are an important resource, uniquely suited to this ecological challenge. What makes these new data sources especially problematic is the fact that it often seems no matter how strong your evidence is, governments still make short-sighted provincial decisions based solely on expediency and focused vision. We learn again and again that great analyses alone are not enough to carry the day; you have to know how to communicate those results to the public, to citizens, to donors, to voters. Issues as complex as those in conservation biology seem especially difficult to communicate. Again, we hope to show that through GIS, the visceral power of graphic maps and spatial visualization can be harnessed to great effect to communicate complex and difficult ecological information. Finally, no matter how great the analysis and communication, changing an entire society to value stewardship over consumption, rational planning over short-sighted development, is going to take unique, special organizations who value humanity, community and relationships more than profit. The two international societies represented at these meetings, the Society for Conservation Biology and Society for Conservation GIS, have proven conclusively that when you support and enable individual, dedicated scientists and activists, great things are possible. ESRI feels privileged indeed that you have invited us to be with you and we look forward to expanding our support and commitment to you in the challenging years ahead. | |||||||||||||||||
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