Workshop: A New Generation of Research on Amphibian Declines

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Uncovering the patterns of biological diversity and the processes behind it are central to global conservation efforts. Due to their complex life cycle, amphibians take an important role in food webs, participate in energy transfer between aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, and constitute important indicators of ecosystem health. This proposal requests funds for a symposium - A New Generation of Research on Amphibian Declines - on amphibian declines to take place at the Joint Meeting of Ichthyologists and Hepetologists in Tampa, FL, on July 6-11, 2005. The symposium will consist of 24 talks by students drawn from the US and a diversity of countries throughout Latin America. The symposium will push the frontiers of science by presenting and discussing much-needed multidisciplinary and collaborative perspectives on amphibian decline research, gathering an international group of graduate and post-doctoral students conducting cutting-edge research in Africa, Asia, Central, North and South America. This international, interdisciplinary, and cross-generation discussion will enable members of the scientific community to define the next steps in amphibian decline research, identifying the geographic and research areas in need of further studies and funding opportunities. Through the consolidation of recent collaborations among presenters, and by stimulating collaborative work among audience members, it will also help bridge scientific programs and intellectual advances across countries throughout the world.