Workshop on Plant Dispersal and Migration in Response to Climate Change: An IGBP-GCTE Focus 2 Workshop, October 16-22, 1996, Canberra, Australia

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A critical set of issues confronting researchers examining the causes and consequences of global change is the dynamics through which plants might migrate in response to changes in climatic and other conditions. Although the general tendency of plants to migrate is readily evident in the long-term historical record, more focused studies of the dynamics of plant community change have only begun to address many important questions. As a result, considerable uncertainty, contradictory evidence, and divergent opinion exists among researchers. In order to better coordinate the activities of leading researchers from many different nations in dealing with this and related topics, the Global Change and Terrestrial Ecosystems (GCTE) project has been established as a core project of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP). CGTE leaders have identifies four major research foci. One of these areas (Focus 2) emphasizes Ecosystem Structure, including ecosystem changes like plant migrations. GCTE leaders have chosen to identify areas of agreement, disagreement, and uncertainty related to plant dispersal and migration related to global change by convening a workshop in Batemans Bay, N.S.W., Australia, in October 1996. In addition to bringing together more than three dozen leading researchers from ecology and related sciences, the workshop will result in a major scholarly paper synthesizing the current state of knowledge related to plant dispersal and migration in response to changing climatic conditions. Summaries of the major conclusions and recommendations of the workshop also will be reported in a number of newsletters and posted on the GCTE site on the WWW. This award will provide support to enable more scientists from the U.S. and other nations to participate in the workshop. Support for the workshop also is being provided from other sources, including the Electrical Power Research Institute (EPRI), the U.S. Forest Service, and local sources in Australia. Through this award, agencies that participate through the Subcommittee on Global Change Research in the coordinated management of the U.S. Global Change Research Program will provide support for this important research activity. The funds for this award have been provided by NSF and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.