Frontiers in Ecosystem Ecology from a Community Perspective: The Future is Boundless and Bright |
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| Authors: | K C Weathers P M Groffman E Van Dolah E Bernhardt N B Grimm K McMahon J Schimel M Paolisso R Maranger S Baer K Brauman E Hinckley |
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| Institution: | 1.Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies,Millbrook,USA;2.Department of Anthropology,University of Maryland,College Park,USA;3.Department of Biology,Duke University,Durham,USA;4. Faculty of Ecology, Evolution & Environmental Science, School of Life Sciences,Arizona State University,Tempe,USA;5.Madison,USA;6.Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology,University of California,Santa Barbara,USA;7.Groupe de Recherche Interuniversitaire en Limnologie et en Environnement Aquatique, Département des Sciences Biologiques,Université de Montréal,Montréal,Canada;8.Department of Plant Biology, Center for Ecology,Southern Illinois University,Carbondale,USA;9.Institute on the Environment,University of Minnesota,Saint Paul,USA;10.Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research,University of Colorado Boulder,Boulder,USA |
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| Abstract: | In an era of increasingly multidisciplinary science, it is essential to identify the frontiers as well as the core of an inherently holistic discipline: ecosystem ecology. To achieve this, we led a series of town hall events at multiple scientific-society meetings over a two-year period followed by a workshop with a diverse set of ecosystem scientists to review and expand on those outcomes. For the society town hall events ~70 individuals were asked to give short, provocative (the so-called, soapbox) presentations and audience members (~250) filled out tailored surveys. Both presentations and surveys were transcribed and themes were extracted and analyzed before and during the follow-up workshop. Formal ethnographic analysis of the soapbox texts produced three major themes: “frontiers,” “capacity building,” and “barriers to implementation,” including several subthemes. A workshop was held to analyze the ethnographic data where workshop participants further grouped key frontiers as (1) rethinking the drivers of ecosystem change, (2) new insights into ecosystem process and function, (3) evaluating human dimensions of ecosystem ecology, and (4) new angles on problem-solving/applied research. In addition, 13 experts were interviewed to crosscheck interpretations. The survey data, workshop deliberations, and expert interviews suggest that the core of these frontiers defines the current state and provides the foundational knowledge that bounds ecosystem ecology as a discipline. In response to emerging complex environmental issues and ongoing socioecological challenges, the edges of these frontiers expand fundamental ecosystem ecology to engage and intersect with disciplinary realms to create new ways of making sense of complexity, and to develop an even more holistic understanding of ecological systems. In this paper, we present our synthesis of the frontier and core research themes with the goal of inspiring the next wave of studies in ecosystem ecology. |
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