Event type:
Virtual event, Discussion Meeting, Conference
Organised by:
Geological Society Events
Event status:
EVENT CLOSED
Ecological uniformitarianism - key or lock?
Are ecological niches stable? Exploring patterns in different taxa, habitats and time scales
Some evidence from fossils shows niche stability over hundreds of thousands of years (e.g. over multiple glacial-interglacial cycles) whereas modern invasive species (50% of which show niche change) demonstrate substantial lability. Are these different indications a reflection of the groups concerned, their habitats, the timescale of study, or some other factor? These issues are important because they bear on our use of information from modern representatives of species to interpret the environment of fossil counterparts, and on our use of palaeoecological data to predict the responses of organisms to current environmental change. The intention of this short ‘roundtable’ meeting is to bring together scientists with different perspectives for a discussion, with a view to stimulating further research and presentation of the results at a full conference in 2024. Brief talks on the following groups/topics will be interspersed with intervals for audience participation:
Speakers
Convenors
Andrew L.A. Johnson (University of Derby)
Elizabeth M. Harper (University of Cambridge)
Richard J. Twitchett (Natural History Museum, London)
Jean-François Cudennec (University of Derby)
Registration
Registration is free.
Programme
16.25 Event Opens
16.30 Welcome address from convenors
16.40 Ana Riesgo (National Museum of Natural Sciences, Madrid) - ‘Ecophysiological responses to changing environmental conditions in marine invertebrates: molecular keys to adaptation’
16.55 Discussion
17.05 Rachid Cheddadi (University of Montpellier) - ‘Niche shift or not for some major European tree species over the Holocene’
17.20 Discussion
17.30 Karl W. Flessa (University of Arizona) - ‘Niche stability and conservation paleobiology: Clams, condors and cottonwoods’
17.45 Discussion
17.55 BREAK
18.05 Tom S. White (Natural History Museum, London) - ‘How warm were Pleistocene interglacials? Reconstructing past temperatures using terrestrial fossil assemblages’
18.20 Discussion
18.30 Jan A.I. Hennissen (British Geological Survey) - ‘Late Pliocene – early Quaternary seasonality changes recorded in North Atlantic dinoflagellate cyst assemblages’
18.45 Discussion
18.55 Marci M. Robinson and Harry J. Dowsett (US Geological Survey) - 'Ecological uniformitarianism: A deep time perspective‘
19.10 Discussion
19.20 Concluding remarks from convenors and discussion
This event will start at 16.30-19.30 GMT.
Venue
This event will be held virtually.
Delegates will receive joining instructions on 2 March 2022, after midday when registration has closed. If not please email [email protected]
Contact
Please email [email protected] with any enquiries.
Register now