ATBC 2008 - Zotz

Symposium

Diversity in the Canopy: Causes & Consequences

Organizers: Gerhard Zotz (gerhard.zotz at- uni-oldenburg.de) and Catherine Cardelus (cardelus -at- botany.ufl.edu)

This symposium addresses one of the fundamental questions in ecology: what are the patterns and mechanisms of species richness? Here we focus on the rainforest canopy because of its outstanding richness in diverse taxa: plants, arthropods, lichens, etc. Much of canopy research has focused on documenting species richness, but the last decade has seen a proliferation of research developing a more mechanistic understanding of this diversity. Research approaches taken are similarly diverse and may use a phylogenetic, physiological, ecosystem and modeling focus. This symposium will emphasize these recent advances with contributions that embrace this methodological and taxonomic diversity. By synthesizing current research on the controls of species richness and distributions in forest canopies, we should be in a better position to predict how this ecosystem’s biota may respond to the impacts of forest fragmentation, habitat degradation and climate change.