Cary Conference VII: Successes, Limitations and Frontiers in Ecosystem Science: May 6-8, 1997

1985年，生态系统研究所在玛丽·弗拉格勒·卡里慈善信托基金的赞助下举行了一系列“卡里会议”。这些会议都集中讨论和审查生态学的基本问题，来自20个国家的350多名科学家参加了会议。该奖项将协助支持将于1997年5月举行的第七次卡里会议，该会议将通过确定和描述过去的成功、评价限制和探索前沿来集中注意生态系统科学。成功被定义为：1)促进了我们对生态系统结构和功能的科学理解；2)为环境问题提供了见解和解决方案。会议将集中讨论目前概念上的限制以及如何解决这些限制。从生态系统科学如何发展其预测和应用范围的角度，也将批判性地解决其局限性。生态系统科学的前沿将通过研究重要的概念领域和应用新方法解决现有问题的潜力来探索。这一分析背后的一个主要论点是，生态系统科学是独一无二的，因为该领域的许多重大进展都是由现有方法和技术无法解决的新环境问题的出现所推动的。明确认识环境问题与生态系统生态学进展之间的关系，对于确定导致该领域成功的关键因素、突出限制进展的因素以及提高预测和解决前沿问题的能力可能非常有用。会议卷将提供对生态系统研究状况的评估，并应引起实践者、新进入该领域的学生和其他对当代生态系统研究感兴趣的生态学家的广泛兴趣。更广泛的兴趣手册和/或电子媒体和网页将向更广泛的受众展示生态系统生态学的力量和价值，包括来自其他学科的科学家、环境管理人员和科学资助机构的人员。

Pace 9617026 In 1985 the Institute of Ecosystem Studies inaugurated a series of "Cary Conferences" with sponsorship by the Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust. These conferences which have all focused on discussion and examination of fundamental issues in ecology have been attended by over 350 scientists from 20 countries. This award will assist in the support of the seventh Cary Conference to be held in May 1997, which will focus on ecosystem science by identifying and characterizing past successes, evaluating limitations and exploring frontiers. Successes are defined as bodies of work that have 1) advanced our scientific understanding of ecosystem structure and function, and 2) provided insight and solutions to environmental problems. The conference will focus on current conceptual limitations and how these might be resolved. Limitations will also be critically addressed from the perspective of how ecosystem science can develop its scope for prediction and application. The frontiers of ecosystem science will be explored by examining important conceptual areas and the potential for the application of new approaches to standing problems. A major thesis behind this analysis is that ecosystem science is unique in that many of the major advances in the field have been driven by the emergence of new environmental problems that could not be solved with existing approaches and techniques. Explicit recognition of the relationships between environmental problems and progress in ecosystem ecology may be very useful for determining the key factors that have led to successes in this field, highlighting what limits progress, and improving ability to predict and address frontier topics. A conference volume will provide an evaluation of the state of ecosystem research and should be of wide interest to practitioners, new students entering, the field, and other ecologists curious about contemporary ecosystem research. A more general interest brochure and/or electronic media and web page will demonstrate t he strength and values of ecosystem ecology to a broader audience, including scientists from other disciplines, environmental managers, and scientific funding agency personnel.