The web of Life in a Changing World
MONTPELLIER, FRANCE – JUNE 5 2012
The aim of this conference was to bring together experts on ecological networks to synthesize existing approaches of ecological complexity in the context of global changes.
While numerous studies have addressed the effect of global change on biological systems (physiology, species dynamics, evolution), too few have included species responses in a network context. In natural systems, species are embedded in complex network of interdependency, where they depend on each other. It is thus at this scale we need to ask how global change might affect species:how will perturbations spread through the web of life?
Understanding the consequences of global changes thus requires a better knowledge of species interactions and how they mediate the functioning and stability of ecological communities and ecosystems.
This will require a synthesis of concepts and methods developed in mechanistic and phenomenological network ecology, from local to large spatial and temporal scales. As large datasets (phylogeny, spatial species distributions, species traits, etc) are becoming available, we now have a unique opportunity to combine these different types of information and address the fundamental and applied challenges of understanding how the web of life will respond to a changing world.
Organisators
Nicolas Mouquet,Sonia Kefi, François Massol and Fadela Tamoune
Program
9h00 Nicolas Mouquet & Sonia Kéfi: The web of life in a changing world: Introduction.
9h15 Daniel Stouffer: General patterns in food-web structure and their consequences
9h40 Ulrich Brose: Dynamics and stability of complex food webs
10h05 Michel Loreau: Beyond food webs: ecological complexity and the webs of life
——–10h30 Coffee break
10h50 Dominique Gravel, Michel Loreau, François Massol & Nicolas Mouquet: Toward a spatial theory of interaction networks
11h15 Nicolas Loeuille: Eco evolutionary dynamics of ecological networks: implications for community structure and stability
11h40 Timothé Poisot: Evolving the web of life
12h05 Miguel Verdú: Phylogenetic signatures of plant facilitation networks
——–12h30 Lunch Break
14h30 Colin Fontaine & Elisa Thébault: Phylogenetic signature of mutualistic and antagonistic networks
14h55 Carlos Melián: Eco-evolutionary dynamics in individual-based networks
15h20 Elsa Canard: Spatial patterns of beta diversity in neutral food webs
——–15h45 Coffee break
16h15 Jose Montoya: Emerging ecological networks and ecosystem functioning from climate change
16h40 David Mouillot: Predicted fish diversity erosion from coral habitat loss: trophic level matters!
17h05 Eric Berlow: Correlation decay in food webs
17h30 Miguel Araújo: Using species co-occurrence networks to assess the impacts of climate change
——–17h55 Conclusion