Symposium # 10: Integrating Ecosystem and Landscape Ecology: Causes and Consequences of Spatial Heterogeneity in Ecosystem Processes.

Organized by: M.G. Turner and F.S. Chapin, III.
Sponsored by: Vegetation Section.
Monday, August 7, 2000
1:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Ballroom I - Cliff Lodge

Understanding the patterns and causes of spatial heterogeneity in ecosystem function remains at the frontier of ecosystem and landscape ecology. Despite tremendous advances in understanding ecosystem processes over relatively small spatial extents, there exists very little theory for predicting variability in ecosystem processes across heterogeneous landscapes. Although the library of empirical data from a variety of regions is slowly building, we have no general answers to such questions as: 1) Just how spatially variable are ecosystem processes, 2) How do the controls on processes and rates operate across space, 3) Are regional processes simply the area-weighted sum of the processes measured in component ecosystems, 4) Are there critical thresholds in spatial patterns that are important for ecosystem processes, 5) How do disturbance-generated patterns influence spatial dynamics of ecosystem processes, and 6) Do simple scaling rules work when we move from ecosystems to landscapes? Ecologists have long recognized that the abiotic template is a powerful constraint on ecosystem function. However, spatial processes such as land use, natural disturbance, and the activities of organisms also influence the rates and patterns of ecosystem processes. A more synthetic understanding of spatial heterogeneity in ecosystem processes remains an important research need, one which should include both theoretical development and empirical study. This symposium is designed to highlight a developing research area rather than synthesize a well-researched subject. The program will emphasize presentations by ecologists who are currently working at the interface between ecosystem ecology and landscape ecology. Each speaker will be asked to identify what s/he considers to be the most important questions or hypotheses for future research in this interface as part of their presentation.