PACE Workshop: Integrating Paleoecology and Community Ecology; May/June, 2017 - Winter Harbor, ME

该项目是一个研讨会，旨在促进研究现代系统中一般问题的生态学家与关注过去环境的生态学家（利用埋藏的花粉、动植物残骸和其他化石）之间的交流。对过去的研究能够提供发生在很长一段时间内的生态动态数据，比在当前系统中观察到的要长得多。它可以揭示对当前生态变化很重要的过程。然而，它往往侧重于特定地点和时间的自然历史，而不是更一般的概念。与此同时，研究当前系统中一般概念的生态学家往往不知道对过去的研究提供了什么，或者怀疑化石数据是否足以回答他们的问题，因为实验操作是不可能的。通过将这两类生态学家结合在一起，可以丰富种群和群落生态学领域。结果将有助于提高应对全球变化的能力，并且将促进科学家之间的合作。许多人类活动对人口和社区的影响需要几十年或更长时间才能显现出来；处于“旧”和“新”方法之间的边界，它们需要两者的方法和见解。信息学革命也使多种生态数据在空间、时间和分类尺度上的综合成为可能，包括物种特征、过去和现在的分布、古代和现代遗传学、环境协变量和系统发育历史。然而，尽管古生态学和PCE之间存在明显的协同机会，但各种结构性挑战阻碍了它们之间的整合。一个讲习班将促进能力建设，以解决阻碍古生态学家和新生态学家相互作用的科学开展方式中的结构性问题。更广泛的影响将包括网络和能力建设，以加强古生态学和群落生态学之间的学科联系，这在全球变化时期至关重要。这一建议促进了关键时期的职业发展和稳定，为不同的早期职业教师。

This project is a workshop to advance interchange between ecologists working on general problems in modern systems and those focused on environments of the past (using buried pollen, plant and animal remnants, and other fossils). Study of the past is able to provide data on ecological dynamics that take place over long stretches of time, much longer than can be observed in current systems. It can shed light on processes that are important to current ecological change. However, it is often focused on the natural history of specific places and times rather than more general concepts. Meanwhile, ecologists working on general concepts in current systems are often unaware of what study of the past has to offer or are skeptical of whether the fossil data are adequate to answer their questions, given that experimental manipulation is not possible. By bringing both types of ecologists together the field of population and community ecology can be enriched. The outcome will contribute to the ability to respond to global change, and collaborations among scientists will be fostered.Many of the anthropogenic impacts on populations and communities that are of high interest take decades or more to play out; sitting on the boundary between 'paleo' and 'neo' approaches, they require the methods and insights of both. The informatics revolution is also enabling the synthesis of multiple kinds of ecological data across spatial, temporal, and taxonomic scales, including species traits, past and present distributions, ancient and modern genetics, environmental covariates, and phylogenetic history. However, while there are clear opportunities for synergy between paleoecology and PCE, various structural challenges hinder integration between them. A workshop will facilitate capacity-building to address structural problems in the way that science is conducted that hinder the interaction of paleo- and neo- ecologists. Broader impacts will include networking and capacity building to strengthen the disciplinary ties between paleoecology and community ecology, which is critically important during a time of global change. This proposal facilitates critically timed career development and stabilization for diverse early career faculty.