BIOCOMPLEXITY-INCUBATION ACTIVITY: The Effects of Global Change On Community Structure, Biodiversity And Ecosystem-Level Processes In Pinyon-Juniper Woodlands

Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff AZ

Investigators

Abstract

0083623 Gehring Global changes are affecting ecosystems worldwide, and some of the strongest effects are in the arid lands of the southwestern US. In response to recent droughts, trees have died in large numbers and harmful insects have expanded to record levels. How these changes impact plants, animals and microbes may change the way entire ecosystems function, thereby affecting human populations living in arid areas. We have assembled a team of researchers in ecology, genetics, physiology and soil science who have studied the soil microbes that help plants acquire nutrients from the soil, the insects that attack drought-stressed trees, and the importance of birds and mammals in one of the largest forest types of the southwestern US. We propose to hold a workshop and virtual meetings so that these experts may develop new collaborations and determine areas of future research that will best meet the challenges of global change in arid environments. The goals of this workshop are to expand our understanding of complex ecological processes by incorporating other disciplines and technologies, like computer modeling and stable isotope analysis, to predict the likely impacts of global change on ecological and genetic systems.