Symposium: The Rainforest Within - Biodiversity of the Human Body and its Relationship to Health and Disease to be held at the Ecological Society of America - August 2-7, 2009

生物多样性的生态学研究通常考察生活在群落、生态系统或跨地理或纬度梯度中的动植物。新的分子工具使表征微生物多样性成为可能；这些工具现在支持在越来越多的环境中研究微生物群落。有趣的是，最初生物多样性研究的重点是植物和动物，它们本身就是能够支持高度多样化的微生物群落的环境。对生物多样性的模式和后果感兴趣的生态学家和对描述与人体相关的高度多样化的微生物群落感兴趣的微生物学家将讨论他们研究生物多样性的不同方法，并研究他们的方法如何有助于更好地理解与人类相关的微生物群落的组成和功能。这次研讨会的共同组织者和主持人都是女性，还有四名参与者，为科学领域的年轻女性提供了积极的榜样。第二个潜在的重大影响将是加强对不同微生物群落对机体健康和功能的影响的理解。

Ecological studies of biodiversity have typically examined plants and animals living in communities, ecosystems, or across geographic or latitudinal gradients. New molecular tools make it possible to characterize microbial diversity; those tools now support studies of microbial communities in a growing number of environments. Interestingly, the plants and animals that were the focus of the first studies of biodiversity are themselves environments that can support highly diverse communities of microbes. Ecologists, interested in patterns and consequences of biodiversity, and microbiologists, interested in characterizing an apparently highly diverse community of microbes associated with the human body, will discuss their distinct approaches to studying biological diversity and investigate how their approaches can contribute to a better understanding of the composition and function of microbial communities associated with humans.The symposium co-organizer and moderator are both women, as are four participants, providing positive role models for young women in science. A second potentially significant broader impact will be an enhanced understanding of impacts that a diverse microbial community has on organismal health and function.