There are ten organised symposia this year at ESA (nominations for symposia from the ESA membership closed in May).

1. Insect-plant interactions: from pollination to decomposition
Convenors: Heloise Gibb (CSIRO) and Nigel Andrew (University of New England)

Approximately half of known multi-cellular organisms are insects or plants and these distinct taxa have been co-evolving for over 100 million years.  Plant-insect interactions range from mutualistic to antagonistic; facultative to obligatory.  Insects perform many beneficial functional roles in the life of plants, ranging from pollination, through seed dispersal, protection of plants from herbivory and consumption of dead plant matter.  However, they are also important predators or parasites of plants and can act as vectors of disease.  In this symposium, we explore the range of insect-plant interactions and the environmental factors that influence their outcomes.

2. Plant-pollinator interactions: shaping populations and structuring communities
Convenors: Glenda Wardle and Yvonne Davila (University of Sydney) and Simone Simpson (University of New England)

Biotic pollination is fundamental to plant reproduction and persistence of plant and pollinator populations for 216,000 animal-pollinated flowering plant species, and almost 300,000 obligate or facultative flower-visiting animal species worldwide. Pollination is, therefore, an essential ecosystem service and is central to community structure and maintaining biodiversity. In order to understand the evolution and maintenance of pollination systems, and ultimately conserve these essential mutualistic interactions, in-depth knowledge of the range of specialisation and generalisation of plants and their pollinators, the temporal and spatial variation in these relationships, and the environmental factors influencing these interaction dynamics is needed. This symposium showcases the current research on plant-pollinator interactions in Australasia, ranging from specific flower-insect interactions to the network of pollination interactions that structure mutualistic webs, and includes the influence of exotic species, non-mutualistic interactions and co-flowering plants on the dynamics of pollination.

3. Ecological responses to fire
Convenors: Carola Kuramotto de Bednarik, Lyndsey Vivian and Adam Leavesley (all Australian National University)

Bushfires are an integral part of most Australian ecosystems. Fire ecologists play a key role in the development of fire management policy and practice, relying on the understanding of the interactions among various components of ecosystems. This symposium summarises this knowledge for four interconnected areas:
1. Conceptualising and quantifying the fire regime: building a firm foundation for fire ecology and management. The central tenet of fire ecology is the fire regime with its four parameters: frequency, intensity, seasonality and type. A fundamental requirement of fire ecology is accurate fire histories at the relevant scale. What are the limitations and prospects for improvement of fire mapping and fire modelling for quantifying fire regimes?
2. Plant vital attributes: how well does the evidence fit the theory?
The second big theme of fire ecology is the plant vital attributes concept. But how well does the theory fit the evidence? What evidence is there that the distribution of Australian plants and ecosystems fit the predictions?
3. Predicting the responses of fauna to fire: towards a functional trait framework for animals. The development of a framework for predicting the response of fauna to fire has lagged behind the plant vital attributes theory. Similarly, fire regime theory has arguably not gained wide acceptance amongst zoologists. In addition, what are the roles of other factors such as fire mosaics and patchiness? Why is there such a difference between the approaches of botanists and zoologists, and what is the way forward for fire ecology and fauna?
4. Fire and climate change. Knowledge developed for current conditions is vital to understand the likely ecosystem responses to fire under climate change conditions. What are the likely changes in fire regimes and ecosystem responses? How will this affect management policies and practices in light of the gaps in knowledge and areas of contention?

4. Marine and terrestrial invasions, taxonomic impediments, impacts on native ecosystems and control measures
Convenors: Pat Hutchings (Australian Museum) and Melanie Bishop (Macquarie University)

The symposium will consider marine and terrestrial invasions, using both animal and plants as examples, consider the taxonomic impediment in correctly identifying introductions, their impacts on native ecosystems and control measures, similarities and differences between marine and terrestrial introductions, and what lessons can be learnt and how these can be applied to management strategies.

5. Native seeds - germinating science for revegetation success
Convenors: Penny Atkinson (Florabank), Paul Gibson-Roy (University of Melbourne) and Melinda Pickup (Greening Australia)

The availability of high quality seed and an understanding of all aspects of seed science are critical to revegetation success. The growing need for native seed for both small and landscape scale revegetation and restoration projects means that issues around seed supply and quality have become increasingly important. Seed science can increase the efficiency of seed use, improve biodiversity outcomes in revegetation, ensure an appropriate genetic basis for revegetation and  improve the overall success of revegetation projects. In particular, the physical and genetic quality of seed used in revegetation projects is of high concern, as the consequences of using poor quality or inappropriately sourced seed can be serious. This symposium will look at the science of seeds for revegetation success, including: provenance genetics, seed dormancy and germination science, studies of seed application and use, and seed supply (seed production and quality). Greening Australia’s Native Seed Resource, Florabank, aims to increase the amount and diversity of native seed available for large-scale revegetation projects around Australia through the provision of technical and research information as well as support and services to the native seed sector. Florabank links science and practice so that revegetation projects and practices are based on the best available science.  

This symposium will begin with a summary of the current issues in seed science for revegetation to set the scene for the papers to follow.  The symposium will conclude with a synthesis of how the findings of the presented papers will assist us to improve practices in revegetation and native seed collection to make a difference to success on the ground.  These documents will be available to seed practitioners on the Florabank website www.florabank.org.au

6. Interactions across estuarine and coastal landscapes
Convenor: Catherine Lovelock (University of Queensland)

Estuaries are of high economic and social importance. They comprise multiple habitat types that are connected via tidal and riverine flows that facilitate interactions over a range of spatial and temporal scales. Connectivity among habitats and the resulting exchange of fauna and materials across habitat boundaries can alter community structure and ecosystem productivity. This symposium will present case studies that explore 1) how connectivity varies across estuarine landscapes, 2) what the consequences of differing habitat arrangements and levels of connectivity have for estuarine communities and productivity and 3) how material and faunal exchange affects the ecology of estuarine habitats. The symposium will consider both faunal exchange and the exchange of materials (carbon, nutrients and pollutants) among habitats, including materials derived from the terrestrial environment. Understanding the interactions among estuarine habitats is important for developing integrated ecosystem management for sustained productivity of the coastal zone with continued development in estuaries and with climate change.

7. OZPACS: retrospective assessment of the condition of Australian ecosystems
Convenor: Peter Gell (University of Ballarat)

OZPACS is a working group within the ARC Funded Environmental Futures Network. The aims of the group are to examine ecosystem change over the last 500-1000 years to identify baseline conditions, to identify the timing and rates of anthropogenic ecosystem change and to identify the principal drivers of those changes. The group has assembled a data base of sediment-based (palaeoecological) studies from across Australia and is able to report on the changing condition of Australian vegetation, soils and wetlands relative to a pre-European reference state. A meta database of fine resolution pollen and charcoal records provides evidence of vegetation clearance, species shifts and fire regime change. Analysis of sedimentation rates in wetlands reveals the response of soils to settlement and agricultural development. The records from wetlands also document the salinisation and eutrophication, and the impact of turbidity, on these systems and the biological response to these stressors. In many instances human impact occurred very early in settlement and the presumed natural condition of a site is actually that derived in response to recent change. The long term record of change provides managers with evidence of ecosystem condition, the drivers of change, the degree of departure from a pre-European reference and an array of targets to direct  restoration measures.

8. Ecosystem services
Convenors: Nick Reid and Rhiannon Smith (both University of New England)

The concept of ecosystem services has generated considerable interest, literature and research activity in ecological circles over the past 11 years, both internationally and in Australia. Some have embraced the ecosystem services framework as justification for retaining and enhancing biodiversity in human-dominated landscapes and to emphasise the importance of ecosystem function and the management of biodiversity in socio-economic terms. Others have criticised the concept as a means of achieving nature conservation gains. This symposium provides a timely venue for reviews of the research conducted over the past 11 years, of the literary battles being waged in favour of and against conservation based on utilitarian arguments, and of the progress in translating biophysical function into socio-economic significance across a wide variety of scales. Participants are also encouraged to address the next generation of research challenges in order to further scrutinise and exploit the strengths of the ecosystem services framework.

9. Biological responses to climate change: beyond the niche
Convenor: David Keith (NSW Dept of Environment & Climate Change)

Threats to biodiversity posed by 21st century climate change are poorly understood but likely to involve large numbers of extinctions and substantial changes to ecosystem processes. Species responses to climate change will depend on complex processes involving interaction between physiological tolerance, population turnover and dispersal, species inter-dependencies and landscape dynamics. A common approach for predicting species’ responses to climate change uses habitat suitability models or ‘bioclimatic envelopes’ to infer shifts, contractions and expansions in species niches. These models use present-day species-climate relationships to define species niches and project their potential distributions under future climates. While they provide important guidance, predictions of species responses based solely on such models are incomplete because they fail to account for important processes that influence biological responses. This symposium will focus on processes involving species interactions, ecophysiological responses and landscape disturbance regimes, which are likely to be important in mediating responses to climate change in terrestrial and marine ecosystems.

10. The ecology of cities
Convenor: Ross Coleman (University of Sydney)

The growth of cities and towns is one of the most serious ecological problems currently facing Australia and the world.  By 2051 it is projected that the populations of Sydney and Melbourne will have grown to 5.6 and 5.0 million respectively.  This represents an increase of 1.4 million people from 2004.  A similar increase is predicted in Brisbane, which will grow from 1.8 million people in 2004 to 3.4 million in 2051.  The increase in the number of people living in cities and towns, coupled with the magnitude and intensity of human activities has resulted in significant impacts to local, regional and global environments.  These impacts include changes in land- use resulting in habitat loss and landscape fragmentation, toxification of the biosphere, loss of ecosystem services, invasion of exotic species and the loss of native biotic diversity to name a few.  These impacts are most evident in major cities, but significant changes are also occurring in exurban areas, small towns and especially in coastal settlements.  Consequently, there is a tremendous call for more ecological information in urban and exurban environments by natural resource managers, planners, conservationists, scientists, and professionals associated with human health. Understanding the impact that urbanisation has on the ecology of citeis will help to identify measures that can be taken to minimize the detrimental effects to ecological patterns and processes. Urbanisation also presents an opportunity to test how well general ecological theories hold up in systems that have been highly modified by human actions. The purpose of this Symposium is to bring together leading ecologists in the field of urban ecology to identify: 1) gaps in our knowledge base, 2) methodological and theoretical limitations and 3) opportunities for using ecological knowledge to create more sustainable cities in the future.