SYMPOSIUM TOPICS

Program Outline

There are 16 symposia proposed for ESA ECOLOGY 2003

1. Ecological functions and values of scattered native vegetation in managed landscapes
2. Disturbance regimes and the ecology and evolution of plant persistence in the Australian environment
3. Bugs, birds and bats: conservation biological control
4. The ecology, economics, and public policy of revegetation schemes as carbon sinks
5. The ecology of salinity: what do we really know?
6. Australasian peatlands: past, present and future.
7. Managing profitable and biodiverse production systems: linking policy, research and practice.
8. Woodlands and their sustainable management
9. Conservation planning for ecological connectivity at landscape, regional and continental scales
10. The reproductive ecology of native and invasive plants
11. Ecological impact assessment: what is the role of science?
12. Ecological thresholds in biodiversity conservation
13. Riverine ecosystems: a multidisciplinary perspective
14. Human dimensions in ecology: institutions, communities and landscapes
15. Chemical ecology: from process to application
16. Wetland ecosystems: ecological applications of spatial information technologies

1. Ecological functions and values of scattered native vegetation in managed landscapes

Convened by: Dr Brian R Wilson. NSW Department of Infrastructure Planning and Natural Resources, Armidale, NSW.

Over large areas of Australia, extant native vegetation is in the form of scattered trees and shrubs in extensively grazed and managed landscapes. However, there is an emerging body of evidence to suggest that, although dispersed in the landscape, this vegetation plays an important ecological role.

This symposium aims to synthesise current research findings with respect to the ecological benefits of retaining and conserving this extensive and varied component of our native vegetation. The symposium will draw on the expertise of an interdisciplinary group of speakers to elucidate the contribution of this vegetation to ecological heterogeneity and function.

2. Disturbance regimes and the ecology and evolution of plant persistence in the Australian environment

Convened by: Dr Peter Clarke, School of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resources Management, University of New England, Armidale, NSW.

The purpose of this symposium is to examine current research on the ecology and evolution of plant persistence in relation to disturbance regimes characteristic of the Australian environment. In particular, the symposium will focus on plant traits that allow them to either survive disturbance (resprout) or regenerate from seed. All levels of pattern are sought from those of ecophysiology through to biogeographic distribution of plant response characteristics. This symposium will identify gaps in knowledge about persistence and will link these to the needs of native vegetation management.

3. Bugs, birds and bats: conservation biological control

Convened by: Dr Letitia Silberbauer, School of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resources Management, University of New England, Armidale, NSW and Australian Cotton CRC, Dr Sarah Mansfield, CSIRO Entomology, Australian Cotton Research Institute, Narrabri, NSW and Australian Cotton CRC, and Ingrid Rencken, School of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resources Management, University of New England, Armidale, NSW and Australian Cotton CRC.

In undisturbed ecosystems herbivorous insect populations are kept in balance by a combination of top-down and bottom-up processes and environmental constraints. In many modern agricultural systems some of these controlling influences are either reduced or missing, which allows herbivorous insect populations to grow almost exponentially. Whilst chemical control of insect herbivores has been the most common control mechanism for the last several decades, it is becoming environmentally, socially and economically unacceptable. In situ pest control agents, e.g. predatory insects, bats and insectivorous birds, are attracting a lot of interest from resource managers and farmers. A thorough understanding of the ecology of beneficial animals is essential in order to optimise their use in production landscapes. In this symposium we will address some of the common problems associated with managing native organisms within production landscapes. We envisage a range of presentations covering aspects of the ecology of individual species, theoretical considerations of the dynamics of pest and predator populations and the applied ecology of managing populations of native animals in a modified landscape. We hope to include studies of arthropod, avian and mammalian biological control agents.

4. The ecology, economics, and public policy of revegetation schemes as carbon sinks

Convened by: Dr Michael L. Roderick, CRC for Greenhouse Accounting, Research School of Biological Sciences, The Australian National University, Canberra.

Revegetation programs have traditionally been promoted for a range of benefits, e.g. habitat, hydrological management, salinity, etc. Revegetation programs can also be used to reduce greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. This latter ‘reason’ for revegetation is of particular interest, because there are ongoing attempts to develop financial markets to trade the carbon sequestered in revegetation programs. If successful, this could revolutionise the way landscapes are managed. The papers in this symposium, explore the ecological, financial, and public policy aspects of using revegetation schemes as carbon sinks.

5. The ecology of salinity: what do we really know?

Convened by: Dr Margaret Brock, NSW Department of Infrastructure Planning and Natural Resources, Armidale, NSW, and Professor Richard J. Hobbs, School of Environmental Science, Murdoch University, Murdoch, WA.

Salinity although present naturally in our landscapes has emerged as a major ecological and management issue for the 21st Century because of the increased spatial extent of salinised land, ground and surface water related to human land use practices in the 20th Century. An ecological and hydrological understanding of how increasing salinity affects community and ecosystem structure and function is needed if we are to feed appropriate scientific understanding into management and rehabilitation activities.

This symposium aims to discuss:
· where research on salinity is at, where it needs to go, and how it should feed into management,
· where salinity research questions in aquatic and terrestrial environments have parallels and where there are differences.

6. Australasian peatlands: past, present and future

Convened by: Dr Kerry Bridle, School of Geography and Environmental Studies, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, and Jeff Parr, School of Environmental Science and Management, Southern Cross University, Lismore, NSW.

Peatlands are important ecosystems in the Australasian region. They are complex environments, where multi-disciplinary approaches to environmental problems and issues and their management are encouraged. Peat cores provide important historical information on past climates, environmental conditions and the impact of past management regimes. This information is important at a local, regional and global scale, especially in terms of present and future management of the resource, and given current global warming scenarios. It is estimated that more carbon is stored in peatlands than is contained in the atmosphere. Work on carbon stores in peatland environments is just beginning in Australia. This symposium will present Australasian research into peatlands from a wide variety of research focuses (archaeological, ecological, geomorphological, palynological). Emphasis will be placed on pressing management issues such as the impact of fire and the the conservation and restoration of peatland ecosystems.

7. Managing profitable and biodiverse production systems: linking policy, research and practice.

Convened by: Dr Jann Williams, Department of Geospatial Science, RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria.

This symposium will explore the integration of native vegetation and biodiversity into agricultural production systems by addressing key research, management and policy issues. An increasing number of policies and programs in Australia are emphasising the need for better integration of conservation and production objectives and purchasers of agricultural products are looking more closely at the impact of management practices on the natural resource base. It has emerged that a key gap in our understanding is the relationship between biodiversity and production systems, and what this means for the profitability of farming enterprises. By examining these links, and working closely with land managers, policy makers and non-government organisations (with both a production and conservation bent), targeted research and partnerships can help move rural Australia closer to sustainable land management. Two related programs - the Native Vegetation and Biodiversity sub-program of the Land, Water & Wool Program and the Native Vegetation R&D Program (managed by Land & Water Australia) – will be used to illustrate some of these new approaches to research and communication.

8. Woodlands and their sustainable management

Convened by: Dr Christopher Nadolny, NSW Department of Infrastructure Planning and Natural Resources, Armidale, NSW, and Dr John T Hunter, J.A. Hunter Pty Ltd, Armidale, NSW.

Woodlands in Australia have been extensively cleared, degraded and fragmented and despite extensive efforts in the last decade this process is still continuing. The question of how best to manage woodlands is still controversial even though our analysis of what is happening in woodlands is becoming increasingly sophisticated. Attention has been focused on the impacts of clearing and fragmentation on woodlands, but there is still a need take stock of the situation and to consider what else threatens the sustainability of woodlands once clearing is controlled. The symposium will focus on how to determine priorities for managing areas of woodland and how to restore functional integrity in degraded and fragmented woodlands. Questions to be addressed include the following. What are the best ways to restore hydrological balance and habitat for wildlife? How can we stop invasion by exotic weeds? Are there more innovative ways of managing woodlands? What levels of productive utilisation are compatible with sustainable management?

9. Conservation planning for ecological connectivity at landscape, regional and continental scales

Convened by: Dr Brendan Mackey, School of Resources, Environment and Society, The Australian National University, Canberra.

Current and projected levels of dedicated reserves in Australia are a necessary but insufficient prerequisite for securing the conservation of Australia’s biodiversity (genes, species, ecosystems). This is because (a) the percentage of Australia that is reserved is unlikely to ever exceed 10-15%, leaving most of the biodiversity outside reserves, (b) Australia is characterised by a high degree of variability in rainfall and landscape productivity (in terms of net primary productivity and how the products of that bio-production are allocated and made available to food chains), (c) many species are nomadic or highly dispersive such that they need to move around large areas to acquire the necessary resources, and (d) many other processes critical to biodiversity conservation can be identified that commonly transcend reserve boundaries. These processes demand large scale planning to maintain their connectivity. Conserving Australia’s biodiversity therefore requires evaluation and planning on a landscape-wide basis, across all tenures, inclusive of large-scale connectivity processes. The primary research question is how do we design a conservation system for Australia, inclusive of large-scale connectivity processes, that is likely to maintain biodiversity (genes, species, ecosystems), in the long-term (centuries to millennia)?

A panel of 3-5 experts will be asked to respond to the presentations. The panel response will be followed by questions from the floor and open discussion.

10. The reproductive ecology of native and invasive plants

Convened by: A/Prof Caroline Gross, School of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resources Management, University of New England, Armidale, NSW, and Dr Ross Goldingay, Southern Cross University, Lismore, NSW.

Australia has a rich native flora and an increasing complement of introduced plant species, yet for only about 1% of these species do we have information on key aspects of their reproductive ecology. This information is needed for a variety of reasons, e.g. evolutionary processes, recovery of endangered species, integrated weed management, and the determination of impacts of fragmentation and declining population sizes on plant fitness. In addition, plant reproductive processes can be used as key indicators of ecosystem health, an emerging field of study. This symposium recognises the diversity of reasons as to why we look at plant reproductive processes and will attempt to summarise the latest research directions in Australia, both from pure and applied perspectives.

11. Ecological impact assessment: what is the role of science?

Convened by: Dr Louisa Mamouney, NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, Hurstville, NSW.

Ecological impact assessment is the gathering of information on the impacts of activities on the ecological system in which the activity is to occur or otherwise affect and then taking account of these impacts. It is a subset of environmental impact assessment. A great deal of investment is made, both financially and intellectually, in ecological impact assessment through the preparation of reviews and reports into the impact of activities. These include Reviews of Environmental Factors, Environmental Impact Statements, Tests of Significance for threatened species and Species Impact Statements. However, ecological impact assessment is an area in which scientific research is only sometimes used, expert advice is seen as crucial, and the ecological stakes are high. This symposium will consider whether impact assessment works to prevent ecological degradation as well as possible alternatives or ways forward. It is also an opportunity to consider cross-disciplinary interactions between ecologists and those in the fields of law, and social sciences and economics.

12. Ecological thresholds in biodiversity conservation

Convened by: Dr Andrew Huggett, CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems, Wembley, WA.

Ecologists, land managers and policy-makers alike require accurate, up-to-date information on the response of natural systems to agricultural, forestry and other production-centred activities. The ability to identify and quantify limits or thresholds to these responses beyond which the ecological integrity of these systems is compromised has far-reaching implications for nature conservation, economic viability and sustainable land management. This symposium seeks to improve our understanding of the nature, role and utility of ecological thresholds in production landscapes across Australia. It specifically aims to describe the ecological consequences of crossing thresholds, reveal how knowledge of thresholds can be used as a valuable landscape design and planning tool, and explore relationships between thresholds in rural lands under different levels of vegetation cover, connectivity, and spatial configuration. The symposium will present the results of new research on landscape-level thresholds for conserving the biodiversity of fragmented and variegated rural lands, isolation thresholds for the movement of declining and threatened birds and mammals in grazing lands, use of landscape attribute thresholds to conserve the genetic and ecological viability of plants in threatened ecological communities, practical methods for quantifying thresholds in forested and pastoral landscapes, and implications for policy and planning.

13. Riverine ecosystems: a multidisciplinary perspective

Convened by: Dr Craig Miller, Department of Physical Geography, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW.

Management and restoration are essential for improving the environmental condition of Australia’s modified and degraded rivers. An inadequate understanding of how rivers function and their role in the structure and function of the landscape and its biota can lead to inappropriate management strategies and unintended or undesirable outcomes. This symposium will present a multidisciplinary perspective of river structure and function in Australia. Issues of scale, ecosystem resilience, thresholds, and biophysical interactions will be addressed.

14. Human dimensions in ecology: institutions, communities and landscapes

Convened by: Professor David Brunckhorst and Dr Phil Coop, Institute for Rural Futures, University of New England, Armidale, NSW.

Ecological degradation and problems in delivering more sustainable natural resources management (NRM) remain a significant threat to the viability of agriculture and to the integrity of vital ecosystem functions. This threat is exacerbated by the increasing demands placed on resources and ecosystems at many scales, from local habitat loss or externalities of particular land uses through to the effects of an open, globalising economy. These encompass the human dimensions of ecology. There is an urgent need to take the debate and discussion in resource management beyond the technical biophysical issues that are associated with resource assessment and ecosystem management. While ecological studies will remain important, it is the social, political and other institutional aspects of NRM that need to be better understood so that the technical tools can be used to good account. This symposium provides an opportunity for inter-disciplinary discussion on the mix of community, institutional and ecological attributes that span many ecosystem management issues at multiple (social, economic, political and ecological) scales.

15. Chemical ecology: from process to application

Convened by: A/Prof Peter Gregg and David Britton, School of Rural Science and Agriculture, University of New England, Armidale, NSW, and Australian Cotton CRC.

The purpose of this symposium is to explore the ways in which ecological interactions are mediated by chemicals. Chemical ecology is now coming of age both internationally and in our region, as evidenced by the establishment in the last few years of the Asia-Pacific Association for Chemical Ecology. Many critical processes in population and community ecology are determined by semiochemicals, which influence reproductive behaviour, food location and recognition, defence against natural enemies and competitive interactions in plants, insects and higher organisms. This symposium will range from exploring the fundamental mechanisms of chemical ecology through to their applications in fields such as insect pest management in agriculture and marine resource management. We will encourage contributions from a wide range of ecologists dealing with many different organisms.

16. Wetland ecosystems: ecological applications of spatial information technologies

Convened by: Dr Lalit Kumar and Paul Frazier, School of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resources Management, University of New England, Armidale, NSW, and Dr Simon Ferrier, NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, Armidale, NSW.

The purpose of this symposium is to examine current research in the use of spatial information technologies (SIT) for understanding the ecology of wetland ecosystems. We envisage a range of presentations covering different aspects of wetland ecology, as elucidated by SIT, including environmental flows, vegetation and water birds. We will also look at the status of current technologies, new developments in sensors and systems and how these could be used to better understand wetland ecosystems.