Detecting and attributing synchrony in cross-ecosystem community dynamics using long-term observational data in coastal oceans
Group leaders: Jarrett Byrnes (University of Massachusetts Boston) and Kylla Benes (University of Montana)
Working group dates: March 1-5, 2021
Deadline to apply: 12 January 2021
Application portal: closed
The Canadian Institute of Ecology and Evolution, as part of its NSERC-CREATE Living Data Project, is now accepting applications for graduate students who wish to participate in the following virtual working group March 1-5, 2021. Students will gain valuable experience in synthesis science, have the opportunity to co-author publications, and may be eligible for two course credits. Students must be currently registered in a graduate program in ecology, environmental science, evolution or a related discipline in a CIEE member university (see list here). The highest priority will go to students who have already taken the Living Data project courses "Synthesis statistics for ecology and evolution" and "Scientific collaboration in ecology and evolution". Together with these two courses, participation in this working group will fulfill most of the requirements for a CIEE Certificate in Synthetic and Collaborative Science.
Much of our understanding of the rules and theories of nearshore ecological communities draws on rocky intertidal ecosystems as a living laboratory. Many of the key players here – particularly predators - spend most of their time submerged in the adjacent subtidal, acting as linkages between different food webs. Despite this close coupling, these ecosystems are typically considered distinct. Further, long-term changes in coastal biodiversity are largely assessed separately for different communities. To remedy this disconnection, and understand the coupled dynamics of intertidal and subtidal systems, we propose to use a unique set of long-term monitoring data from adjacent subtidal kelp forests and rocky intertidal shores in New England. Specifically, we will ask how the abundance and diversity of New England coastal organisms has changed over the last 10-35 years, and whether changes in different are correlated with each other and/or physical drivers. We hypothesize changes in abundance will be larger than in diversity; changes in diversity will be associated with increases in warm affinity species; changes in the intertidal zone will be greater than in kelp forests; and changes in one ecosystem - particularly at higher trophic levels - will be associated with changes in the other ecosystem.
Working group dates: March 1-5, 2021
Deadline to apply: 12 January 2021
Application portal: closed
The Canadian Institute of Ecology and Evolution, as part of its NSERC-CREATE Living Data Project, is now accepting applications for graduate students who wish to participate in the following virtual working group March 1-5, 2021. Students will gain valuable experience in synthesis science, have the opportunity to co-author publications, and may be eligible for two course credits. Students must be currently registered in a graduate program in ecology, environmental science, evolution or a related discipline in a CIEE member university (see list here). The highest priority will go to students who have already taken the Living Data project courses "Synthesis statistics for ecology and evolution" and "Scientific collaboration in ecology and evolution". Together with these two courses, participation in this working group will fulfill most of the requirements for a CIEE Certificate in Synthetic and Collaborative Science.
Much of our understanding of the rules and theories of nearshore ecological communities draws on rocky intertidal ecosystems as a living laboratory. Many of the key players here – particularly predators - spend most of their time submerged in the adjacent subtidal, acting as linkages between different food webs. Despite this close coupling, these ecosystems are typically considered distinct. Further, long-term changes in coastal biodiversity are largely assessed separately for different communities. To remedy this disconnection, and understand the coupled dynamics of intertidal and subtidal systems, we propose to use a unique set of long-term monitoring data from adjacent subtidal kelp forests and rocky intertidal shores in New England. Specifically, we will ask how the abundance and diversity of New England coastal organisms has changed over the last 10-35 years, and whether changes in different are correlated with each other and/or physical drivers. We hypothesize changes in abundance will be larger than in diversity; changes in diversity will be associated with increases in warm affinity species; changes in the intertidal zone will be greater than in kelp forests; and changes in one ecosystem - particularly at higher trophic levels - will be associated with changes in the other ecosystem.