PARENT SESSION
OOS 4: Organisms as Ecosystem Engineers: Conceptual Progress, Limits and Challenges.
Organized by: JP Wright and CG Jones
Monday, August 2, 8:00 AM to 11:30 AM, Meeting Room E 146.

Ecosystem engineering ten years on.

Jones, Clive¹, ¹ Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, NY

ABSTRACT- In the ten years since the publication of the first paper on ecosystem engineers, there has been considerable interest in and controversy regarding the concept. While many have found find it useful, others have misconstrued, trivialized or reinterpreted the meaning, and yet others have argued that it is too broad to be useful, is old wine in a new bottle, implies organismal intent or purpose, and is conflated with keystone species. Here I present my perspective on some of these issues, review progress in the field, and look to the future. I will critically examine the purpose and utility of the concept, including its breadth and what is new versus old. I will explore the distinctions and overlaps between the process-based, mechanistic engineering concept and outcome-based population and community concepts of keystone species, facilitation, and positive interactions. Using my work and that of others, I will illustrate conceptual and empirical progress made in predicting, quantifying, and comparing engineering effect magnitudes; scaling the effects of engineers; and using models to explore ramifications of ecosystem engineering. I will end by identifying some major research challenges, questions and frontiers, including understanding the diversity of engineering; integrating engineering with other ecological interactions; and evolutionary implications of engineering.

Key words: critique, prospects, ecosytem engineering, advances