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Mt. St. Helens        Volume 86, Number 4, October 2005

Cover Photo: A SCUBA diver, Jos Selig, measuring red abalone (Haliotis rufescens), and red sea urchins (Strongylocentrotus franciscanus), along a 30-m transect at Point Cabrillo State Marine Conservation Area, in Mendocino County, northern California. Elasticity analyses of size-based matrix models can be used to determine which size classes of abalone have the most influence on population growth, aiding in the management and conservation of abalone in California. This photo was taken while collecting data used by L. Rogers-Bennett and R. T. Leaf to model red abalone populations. For more information read “Elasticity analyses of size-based red and white abalone matrix models: Management and conservation in California” to be published in Ecological Applications 16(1), February 2006.


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Table of Contents
(click on a title to view that section)

Governing Board


ANNOUNCEMENTS
Society Notices

Call for nominations: ESA Awards
Student Awards for Excellence in Ecology
2005 Student Awards Judges
Other Notices
One Planet, Many People: Atlas of Our Changing Environment
Course on Multivariate Analysis of Ecological Data Using CANOCO: 17–28 January 2006
Garden Club of America Fellowship in Ecological Restoration
Resolution of Respect: Peter Yodzis

SOCIETY ACTIONS
ESA Awards for 2005
Murray F. Buell Award
E. Lucy Braun Award
William S. Cooper Award
George Mercer Award
Eugene P. Odum Award
Sustainability Science Award
Corporate Award
Honorary Member Award
Distinguished Service Citation
Eminent Ecologist Award
Minutes of the 19–20 May Governing Board Meeting

ANNUAL REPORTS
Reports of the Executive Director and Staff
Executive Director
Finances/Membership/Subscriber Services
Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment
Scientific Programs Office
Public Affairs Office
Education Office
Publications Office
Meetings
Reports of Officers
Report of the Vice President for Education and Human Resources
Report of the Vice President for Public Affairs
Report of the Vice President for Science
Reports of Editors-in-Chief
The Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America
Ecological Applications
Issues in Ecology

Reports of Standing Committees
Awards Committee
Board of Professional Certification
Historical Records Committee
Meetings Committee
Professional Ethics and Appeals Committee
Publications Committee
Public Affairs Committee (see Report of the Vice President for Public Affairs)
Research Committee (see Report of the Vice President for Science)
Reports of Sections
Agroecology Section
Applied Ecology Section
Asian Ecology Section
International Affairs Section
Long Term Studies Section
Paleoecology Section
Physiological Ecology Section
Plant Population Ecology Section
Rangeland Ecology Section
Statistical Ecology Section
Theoretical Ecology Section
Traditional Ecological Knowledge Section
Urban Ecosystem Ecology Section
Vegetation Section
Reports of Chapters
Mexico Chapter
Mid-Atlantic Chapter
Rocky Mountain Chapter
Southeastern Chapter

PHOTO GALLERY
Elk in grassland meadows. S. Creel
Red abalone and red sea urchins. L. Rogers-Bennett
Size differences among annual kelp individuals. C. Pfister


CONTRIBUTIONS
Commentary

Interpreting the Results from Multiple Regression and Structural Equation Models. J. B. Grace and K. A. Bollen
An Ecologist’s Perspective of Ecohydrology. D. D. Breshears
A History of the Ecological Sciences, Part 18. John Ray and His Associates Francis Willughby and William Derham. F. N. Egerton

DEPARTMENTS
Ecology 101
Statistics without Math. W. E. Magnusson and G. Mourão
Ecological Education: K–12
Eating your way through ecology class: it’s a realistic way to learn. T. E. Lauer
Public Affairs Perspective
Congressional Visits Day
Society Section and Chapter News
Plant Population Ecology Section Newsletter
Canadian Chapter Newsletter
Southeastern Chapter Newsletter

MEETINGS
Meeting Review
Ecological Models and Satellite Imagery: from Observations to Forecasts. W. Turner and F. Melton

Instructions for Contributors


The BULLETIN OF THE ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA (ISSN 0012-9623)
is published quarterly by the
Ecological Society of America, 1707 H Street, NW, Suite 400, Washington, DC 20006.
It is available online only, free of charge, at
http://www.esapubs.org/bulletin/current/current.htm›.
Issues published prior to January 2004 are available through
http://www.esapubs.org/esapubs/journals/bulletin_main.htm


Bulletin Editor-in-Chief E. A. Johnson

Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America, 1707 H Street, NW, Washington DC 20006
Phone (403) 220-7635, Fax (403) 289-9311,
E-mail: bulletin@esa.org

Associate Editor
David A. Gooding

ESA Publications Office,
127 W. State Street, Suite 301,
Ithaca, NY 14850-5427
E-mail: dag25@cornell.edu




Production Editor
Regina Przygocki
ESA Publications Office,
127 W. State Street, Suite 301,
Ithaca, NY 14850-5427
E-mail: esa_journals@cornell.edu


Section Editor, Ecology 101
H. Ornes
College of Sciences, SB310A, Southern Utah University
Cedar City, UT 84720 E-mail: ornes@ssu.edu



Section Editor, Public Affairs Perspective
N. Lymn
Director for Public Affairs, ESA Headquarters,
1707 H Street, NW, Suite 400,
Washington, DC 20036 E-mail: nadine@esa.org

Section Editors,
Emerging Technologies
D. W. Inouye
Department of Biology,
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742
E-mail: inouye@.umd.edu
and S. Scheiner
Div. of Environmental Biology
Natl. Science Foundation
4201 Wilson Blvd.
Arlington, VA 22230
E-mail: sscheine@nsf.gov

Section Editors,
Ecological Education: K–12

S. Barker

Dept. of Secondary Education
350 Education South,
University of Alberta
Edmonton, Alberta
T6G 2G5 Canada
E-mail: susan.barker@ualberta.ca
and C. W. Anderson
319A Erickson Hall, Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824 USA.
E-mail: andya@msu.edu






The Ecological Society of America
GOVERNING BOARD FOR 2005–2006

President: Nancy B. Grimm, School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-4501
President-Elect:
Alan Covich, Institute of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602
Past-President:
Jerry M. Melillo, Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA 02543
Vice President for Science:
Gus R. Shaver, The Ecosystems Center, Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA 02543
Vice President for Finance:
Bill Parton, Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University, Ft. Collins, CO 80523-1499
Vice President for Public Affairs:
Rich Pouyat, 3315 Hudson St., Baltimore, MD 21224
Vice President for Education and Human Resources:
Carol A. Brewer, Division of Biological Sciences, University of Montana, Missoula, MT 59812-0001
Secretary:
David W. Inouye, Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742-4415
Member-at-Large:
P. Dee Boersma, Department of Zoology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-1800
Member-at-Large:
Shahid Naeem, Department of EEEB, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027
Member-at-Large:
Dennis Ojima, Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University, Ft. Collins, CO 80523-1499

AIMS

The Ecological Society of America was founded in 1915 for the purpose of unifying the sciences of ecology, stimulating research in all aspects of the discipline, encouraging communication among ecologists, and promoting the responsible application of ecological data and principles to the solution of environmental problems. Ecology is the scientific discipline that is concerned with the relationships between organisms and their past, present, and future environments. These relationships include physiological responses of individuals, structure and dynamics of populations, interactions among species, organization of biological communities, and processing of energy and matter in ecosystems.

MEMBERSHIP
Membership is open to persons who are interested in the advancement of ecology or its applications, and to those who are engaged in any aspect of the study of organisms in relation to environment. The classes of membership and their annual dues for 2006 are as follows:
Regular member: Income level Dues
  <$40,000 $50.00
  $40,000—60,000 $75.00
  >$60,000 $95.00
Student member:
  $25.00
Emeritus member:   Free
Life member:
Contact Member and Subscriber Services (see below)  


Subscriptions to the journals are not included in the dues.
Special membership rates are available for individuals in developing countries. Contact Member and Subscriber services (address below) for details.

PUBLICATIONS
The Society publishes a bulletin, three print journals, and an electronic data archive. The Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America, issued quarterly, contains announcements of meetings of the Society and related organizations, programs, awards, articles, and items of current interest to members. The journal Ecology, issued monthly, publishes essays and articles that report and interpret the results of original scientific research in basic and applied ecology. Ecological Monographs is a quarterly journal for longer ecological research articles. Ecological Applications, published six times per year, contains ecological research and discussion papers that have specific relevance to environmental management and policy. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, with 10 issues each year, focuses on current ecological issues and environmental challenges: it is international in scope and interdisciplinary in approach. Ecological Archives is published on the Internet at ‹http://esapubs.org/Archive› and contains supplemental material to ESA journal articles and data papers.
No responsibility for the views expressed by the authors in ESA publications is assumed by the editors or the publisher, the Ecological Society of America.
Subscriptions for 2006 are available to ESA members as follows:
Regular Student
Ecology $65.00 $50.00
B
ulletin of the Ecological Society of America Free to members
E
cological Monographs $30.00 $25.00

Ecological Applications $50.00 $40.00
Frontiers in Ecology Free to members
Ecological Archives
Free


Application blanks for membership may be obtained from the Ecological Society of America, Member and Subscriber Services, 1707 H Street, NW, Suite 400, Washington, DC 20006, to which all correspondence concerning membership should be addressed. Checks accompanying membership applications should be made payable to the Ecological Society of America.
For additional information on the Society and its publications, visit ESA's home page on the World Wide Web http://esa.org›.



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ANNOUNCEMENTS


Society Notices

Call for Nominations: ESA Awards

The Awards Committee of the Ecological Society of America solicits and encourages nominations from members of the ESA for each of the awards listed below. ESA especially encourages nominations of candidates from traditionally underrepresented groups, including women and minorities. In preparing a nomination, it would be helpful to consult with the Chair of the specific award subcommittee or the Awards Committee Chair. More information about the process is available on ESA’s web page ‹http://www.esa.org› under ESA Awards.

Nomination schedule

To be given full consideration, nominations for awards should be completed by 30 November 2005. They should be submitted directly to Chairs of the specific award subcommittees (e-mail addresses below) or to the Awards Committee Chair, Judith L. Bronstein, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, (520) 621-3534, fax (520) 621-9190, ‹judieb@email.arizona.edu›. A complete statement on policies and procedures for the ESA Awards may be obtained by contacting the address above.

Robert H. MacArthur Award

The MacArthur Award is given to an established ecologist in mid-career for meritorious contributions to ecology, in the expectation of continued outstanding ecological research. Nominees may be from any country and need not be ESA members. This award is given in alternate years, and the recipient is invited to address the membership at the Annual Meeting following his/her selection. Recent recipients include Stephen R. Carpenter, James H. Brown, and May Berenbaum. Nominations consisting of a letter of nomination, up to two supporting letters, and a recent CV should be sent to Robert Colwell, Chair of the ESA MacArthur Award Subcommittee ‹colwell@uconn.edu›.

Eminent Ecologist Award

The Eminent Ecologist Award is given to a senior ecologist in recognition of an outstanding body of ecological work or of sustained ecological contributions of extraordinary merit. Nominees may be from any country and need not be ESA members. Recipients receive lifetime active membership in the Society. Recent recipients include Charles Krebs, Richard Root, Sam McNaughton, and Lawrence Slobodkin. To submit a nomination, contact Paul Dayton, Chair, Eminent Ecologist Award Subcommittee ‹pdayton@ucsd.edu›.

Odum Education Award

The Eugene P. Odum Award recognizes an ecologist for outstanding work in ecology education. This award was generously endowed by, and named for, the distinguished ecologist Eugene P. Odum. Through teaching, outreach, and mentoring activities, recipients of this award have demonstrated their ability to relate basic ecological principles to human affairs. Nominations recognizing achievements in education at the university, K–12, and public levels are all encouraged. Recent recipients include Alan Berkowitz, Richard Root, and James Porter. To submit a nomination, contact Charlene d’Avanzo, Chair, ESA Odum Education Award Subcommittee ‹cdavanzo@hampshire.edu›.

Honorary Member Award

Honorary Membership in the Society is given to a distinguished ecologist who has made exceptional contributions to ecology and whose principal residence and site of ecological research are outside of North America. Up to three awards may be made in any one year until a total of 20 is reached. Nominations of women and minority candidates, as well as those from developing countries, are especially encouraged. Recent honorees include Norman Owen-Smith, Madhav Gadgil, Carlos Herrera, and Erkki Haukioja. To submit a nomination, contact Sandra Tartowski, Chair, Honorary Member Award Subcommittee ‹slt2@cornell.edu›.

George Mercer Award

The Mercer Award is given for an outstanding ecological research paper published by a younger researcher (the lead author must be 40 years of age or younger at the time of publication). If the award is given for a paper with multiple authors, all authors will receive a plaque, and those 40 years of age or younger at the time of publication will share the monetary prize. The paper must have been published in 2004 or 2005 to be eligible for the 2005 award. Nominees may be from any country and need not be ESA members. Recent recipients include Jean L. Richardson, John Stachowitz, and Daniel Bolnick. Nominations should be sent to Ellen Simms, Chair, Mercer Award Subcommittee ‹esimms@berkeley.edu›.

W. S. Cooper Award

The W. S. Cooper Award is given to honor an outstanding contributor to the fields of geobotany and/or physiographic ecology, the fields in which W. S. Cooper worked. This award is for a single contribution in a scientific publication (single or multiple authored). Nominees need not be ESA members and can be of any nationality. Recent recipients include David Foster and coauthors; Jack Williams and coauthors; and Daniel Gavin and coauthors. Nominations should be sent to Steven Jackson, Chair, Cooper Award Subcommittee ‹jackson@uwyo.edu›.

 

Distinguished Service Citation

The Distinguished Service Citation is given to recognize long and distinguished service to the ESA, to the larger scientific community, and to the larger purpose of ecology in the public welfare. Recent recipients are H. Ronald Pulliam, Allen M. Solomon, Jim Reichman, and Jim MacMahon. To submit a nomination, contact Paul Dayton, Chair, Distinguished Service Citation Subcommittee ‹pdayton@ucsd.edu›.

Sustainability Science Award

The Sustainability Science Award is given to the authors of a scholarly work that makes the greatest contribution to the emerging science of ecosystem and regional sustainability through the integration of ecological and social sciences. One of the most pressing challenges facing humanity is the sustainability of important ecological, social, and cultural processes in the face of changes in the forces that shape ecosystems and regions. This ESA award is for a single scholarly contribution (book, book chapter, or peer-reviewed journal article) published in the last 5 years. Nominees need not be ESA members and can be of any age, nationality, or place of residence. Recent recipients are Marten Scheffer and colleagues, and Thomas Dietz and colleagues. To submit a nomination, please contact Terry Chapin, Chair of the Sustainability Science Award Subcommittee ‹terry.chapin@uaf.edu›.

Corporate Award

The Corporate Award is given to recognize a corporation, business, division, program, or an individual of a company for accomplishments in incorporating sound ecological concepts, knowledge, and practices into planning and operating procedures. This award was designed to encourage use of ecological concepts in business and private industry and to enhance communication among ecologists in the private sector. Educational institutions and government agencies are not eligible for this award. Recent recipients of the Corporate Award include Adam Davis of EPRI Solutions, Cornell University’s Department of Utilities and Energy Management, Norm Thompson Outfitters, Taylor Guitars, and Bon Appétit Management Company.

The award can be made each year in any one of the following six categories:

A) Environmental Education:
Organizations producing educational materials in print, film, video, software, or multimedia formats; conducting workshops or training sessions; or providing other types of educational products or services that are primarily concerned with environmental education.

B) Stewardship of Land Resources:
Organizations concerned with the use of land resources, land‑use planning, multiple use of land resources, resource extraction, land development, and related activities.

C) Resource Recycling:
Organizations concerned with the recovery, reclamation, or recycling of natural resources such as wood and paper products, glass, metals, waste water, and related residuals.

D) Amelioration of Risks from Hazardous and Toxic Substances:
Organizations concerned with the safe manufacturing, distribution, and use of hazardous and toxic substances, those concerned with the identification and reduction of risks, as well as those in mitigative and restorative activities.

E) Sustainability of Biological Resources in Terrestrial Environments:
Organizations concerned with forestry, wildlife management, range management, and agroecosystems, including areas such as soil conservation, integrated pest management, fertilization, irrigation, hybridization, and genetic engineering.

F) Sustainability of Biological Resources in Aquatic Environments:
Organizations concerned with aquaculture and commercial fishing, including shellfishing and related industries; sports fishing, boating, and related recreational uses; lake management and restoration; wetlands protection and restoration; channelization; dredging; and related activities.

Nominations for the Corporate award may be made by industrial representatives, government officials, the general public, ESA members, or by members of the ESA Corporate Award Subcommittee. To submit a nomination or to obtain more information about the nomination procedure, please contact Laura Huenneke, Corporate Award Subcommittee ‹Laura.Huenneke@nau.edu ›.


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STUDENT AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE IN ECOLOGY

Murray F. Buell Award and E. Lucy Braun Award

Murray F. Buell had a long and distinguished record of service and accomplishment in the Ecological Society of America. Among other things, he ascribed great importance to the participation of students in meetings and to excellence in the presentation of papers. To honor his selfless dedication to the younger generation of ecologists, the Murray F. Buell Award for Excellence in Ecology is given to a student for the outstanding oral paper presented at the ESA Annual Meeting.

E. Lucy Braun, an eminent plant ecologist and one of the charter members of the Society, studied and mapped the deciduous forest regions of eastern North America and described them in her classic book, The Deciduous Forests of Eastern North America. To honor her, the E. Lucy Braun Award for Excellence in Ecology is given to a student for the outstanding poster presentation at the ESA Annual Meeting.

A candidate for these awards must be an undergraduate, a graduate student, or a recent doctorate not more than 9 months past graduation at the time of the meeting. The paper or poster must be presented as part of the program sponsored by the Ecological Society of America, but the student need not be an ESA member. To be eligible for these awards the student must be the sole or senior author of the oral paper (Note: symposium talks are ineligible) or poster. Papers and posters will be judged on the significance of ideas, creativity, quality of methodology, validity of conclusions drawn from results, and clarity of presentation. While all students are encouraged to participate, winning papers and posters typically describe fully completed projects. The students selected for these awards will be announced in the ESA Bulletin following the Annual Meeting. A certificate and a check for $500 will be presented to each recipient at the next ESA Annual Meeting.

If you wish to be considered for either of these awards at the 2006 Annual Meeting, you must send the following to the Chair of the Student Awards Subcommittee: (1) the application form below, (2) a copy of your abstract, and (3) a 250-word or less description of why/how the research presented will advance the field of ecology. Because of the large number of applications for the Buell and Braun awards in recent years, applicants may be pre-screened prior to the meeting, based on the quality of the abstract and this description of the significance of their research. The application form, abstract, and research justification must be sent by mail, fax, or e-mail (e-mail is preferred; send e-mail to sacchi@kutztown.edu) to the Chair of the Student Awards Subcommittee: Dr. Christopher F. Sacchi, Department of Biology, Kutztown University of PA, Kutztown, PA 19530 USA. If you have questions, write, call (610) 683-4314, fax (610) 683-4854, or e-mail: sacchi@kutztown.edu. You will be provided with suggestions for enhancing a paper or poster. The deadline for submission of form and abstract is 1 March 2006; applications sent after 1 March 2006 will not be considered. This submission is in addition to the regular abstract submission. Buell/Braun participants who fail to notify the B/B Chair by 1 May of withdrawal from the meeting will be ineligible, barring exceptional circumstances, for consideration in the future. Electronic versions of the Application Form are available on the ESA web site, or you can send an e-mail to sacchi@kutztown.edu and request that an electronic version be sent to you as an attachment.


Application Form for Buell or Braun Award


Name _______________________________________________________________________________________

Current Mailing Address _____________________________________________________________________________

Current Telephone _________________________________________________________________________________

E-mail __________________________________________________________________________________________

College/University Affiliation ___________________________________________________________________________

Title of Presentation _________________________________________________________________________________

Presentation: Paper (Buell Award) ______ Poster (Braun Award) _______

At the time of presentation I will be (check one):
______an undergraduate student ______a graduate student______a recent doctorate not more than 9 months past graduation

I will be the sole ____ /senior ____ author (check one) of the paper/poster.

Signed (electronic signatures are OK)

Please attach a copy of your abstract and 250-word or less description of why/how the research presented will advance the field of ecology.


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2005 Student Awards Judges

The 2005 Student Awards Selection Subcommittee, Christopher F. Sacchi (Chair), Anita Davelos Baines, Judie Bronstein, Peter Kotanen, Paul Marino, and J. Alan Yeakley, thank the following individuals for judging presented papers and posters at this year’s Annual Meeting in Montreal, Canada.

Lynn Adler
Peter Adler
Roger Anderson
Sara Baer
Randy Balice
Caroline Bampfylde
Jayne Belnap
Rick Black
Dee Boersma
Dorothy Boorse
David Boose
Jere Boudell
John Briggs
Judie Bronstein
Jill Bubier
Yvonne Buckley
David Busch
Jeb Byers
Prassede Calabi
Hilary Callahan
Chris Caruso
Norm Christensen
Louise Comas
William J. Cromartie
Irina Danielova
Jared DeForest
Joseph Fail
Sylvia Fallon
Joe Fargione
Adrien Finzi
Jeremy Fox
Stephen Freedman
Tadashi Fukami
Janice Golding
Lou Gross
Jeff Herrick
Brett Goodwin
Paul Grogan
Kevin Gross
Caleb Hickman
Karen Holl
Nat Holland
Claus Holzapfel
Jeff Houser
Robert Humston
Jonathan Jeschke
Adam Kay
Catherine Kleier
Brian Kloeppel
Jessica Knapp
Mary Beth Kolozsvary
Nicola Koper
Abby Kula
Sharon Lawler
Josh Leffler
Deborah Letourneau
Kathleen LoGiudice
Stephen Main
Jennifer Mattei
Audrey Mayer
Paul Mayer
Kathy McGrath
Wendy McIntyre
Scott Meiners
Michael Melampy
Beth Middleton
Shahroukh Mistry
Charles Mitchell
Randy Mitchell
S Raghu
Tara Rajaniemi
Kiyoko Miyanishi
Sherri Morris
Karen Nelson
Chris Paradise
Brian Pedersen
Karl Polivka
Evan Preisser
Tom Romdal
Bill Romme
Jay Rosenheim
M Rudnicki
Patricia Saunders
Eric Schauber
Sanna Sevanto
Jonathan Shurin
David Slingsby
Melinda Smith
Allen Solomon
Steve Stein
Jarrod Thaxton
Cassondra Thomas
Daniel Tinker
Nuri Trigo Boix
Chris Tripler
Andrew Tyre
Jana Vamosi
Jenneke Visser
Guntram Weithoff
William E. Williams
Susan Will-Wolf
Stan Wullschleger
Ruth Yanai

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Other Notices

One Planet, Many People: Atlas of Our Changing Environment

In celebration of World Environment Day on 3 June 2005 the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), in cooperation with NASA, the United States Geological Survey (USGS), and the University of Maryland launched One Planet, Many People: Atlas of our Changing Environment, a publication that provides visual evidence of environmental change using satellite images, graphics, and text. The focus is on the environmental status and trends over several decades, both in physical and human geography. The 332-page hardbound Atlas presents visual evidence of global environmental changes resulting from natural processes and human-induced activities. The Atlas demonstrates how our growing number of people and their consumption patterns are shrinking our natural resource base. The challenge is, how do we satisfy human needs without compromising the health of ecosystems? One Planet, Many People is an additional wake-up call to this need. Access the Atlas online at ‹www.na.unep.net›. Order your hard copy from ‹www.earthprint.com›.

Reader’s Feedback

One Planet, Many People: Atlas of Our Changing Environment, clearly illustrates that our ozonosphere has been threatened by human activities. It also shows that this problem has been practically solved due to the collaborative efforts of the different sectors of our society. We all need to work together to address the many other problems that affect the health of our planet. As illustrated in this atlas, we need integrated, interdisciplinary approaches to mitigate the adverse effects of human-induced activities on the environment.
—Mario J. Molina
Institute Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Co-Winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work in atmospheric chemistry, particularly concerning the formation and decomposition of ozone.

One Planet, Many People: Atlas of Our Changing Environment demonstrates how our growing number of people and their consumption patterns are shrinking our natural resource base. The challenge is how do we satisfy human needs without compromising the health of ecosystems. One Planet Many People is an additional wake-up call to this need.
–Ola Ullsten
Co-Chair World Commission on Forests and Sustainable Development
Former Prime Minister of Sweden

Thanks for the book, I read it last night and find it both interesting and stimulating . . . .
—Jack Dangermond
President, ESRI, Redlands, California

 

One Planet, Many People: Atlas of Our Changing Environment shows us our home as it really is, not only where it is now but where it has been. It becomes quite evident that we have had a huge and largely negative effect on the rest of life of earth— the biodiversity with which our well-being is intricately tied both directly and indirectly. The atlas provides an indispensable guide for a better future for humanity through maintenance of the splendor and magnificence of biodiversity.
—Thomas E. Lovejoy
President of H. John Heinz III Center for Science

So great, so wonderful, so outstanding, . . . This will be an asset for all people in the globe who care for the mother earth.
—Medini Bhandari
Founder (in 1985) of the Association for Protection of Environment and Culture (APEC-Nepal)

One Planet, Many People—what an outstanding publication! Aesthetics, Science, and Message; this book has it all:
1) First impression: interesting and beautiful pictures, intriguing maps and time sequences, and informative charts and graphs.
2) Next impression: a thorough documentation of the nature and extent of the many ways humans have impacted our planet.
3) Lasting impression: our planet is beautiful, fragile, to a limited degree self healing, but very dependent on our intelligent habitation for our well being and, eventually, our survival.

—Ed Gibson, former astronaut,
Senior Vice President with Science Applications International Corporation

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Multivariate Analysis of Ecological Data Using CANOCO

17–28 January 2006, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic

This course introduces modern approaches to multivariate data analysis, with much time allocated to practicals, where participants do work with their own data.

In-depth lectures and practical exercises are provided for the following topics:

• Classical ordination methods (PCA, CA, DCA, PCO, NMDS)

• Constrained ordination methods (RA, CCA) including partial analyses and permutation tests of multivariate hypotheses

• Thorough explanation of how to interpret the contents of ordination diagrams.

 

 

 

 

In addition, we provide an overview of classification methods (cluster analysis, TWINSPAN), modern regression methods (GLM, GAM, CART), and experimental design.

Course lecturers have written a book published by the Cambridge University Press: Lepš, Jan and Petr Šmilauer. 2003. Multivariate Analysis of Ecological Data using CANOCO. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.

Additional details about the course can be found at the web page ‹http://regent.bf.jcu.cz› or contact the course manager, Petr Šmilauer:
E-mail: petrsm@jcu.cz.

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Fellowship in Ecological Restoration to Be Awarded by the Garden Club of America

The Garden Club of America (GCA) announces a competition for a Fellowship in Ecological Restoration, which will be awarded to an exceptional graduate student to assist with study and research. The winning applicant will receive $8000 to support specialized study in ecological restoration at a leading accredited university in the United States. The University of Wisconsin-Madison Arboretum will administer the fellowship.

All applications will be reviewed by a selection panel of research scientists and approved by the GCA Scholarship Committee. Selection criteria will include the degree to which the proposed fellowship work addresses the objectives of the GCA, as well as the excellence of the student’s academic and personal qualifications.

This past March, the GCA Scholarship Committee awarded scholarships, fellowships, awards and stipends totaling $162,000 to 55 recipients for 2005–2006 in the fields of conservation, environmental studies, horticulture, botany, and landscape architecture.

 

 

 

 

The GCA, a national nonprofit organization comprising 196 clubs in 40 states and the District of Columbia, is a recognized national leader in the fields of horticulture, conservation, and civic improvement, and is headquartered in New York City. Since its founding in 1913, it has worked to restore, improve, and protect the quality of the environment through educational programs and action in the fields of conservation, preservation, and civic improvement.

For the purposes of this scholarship, “Ecological Restoration” is defined in accordance with the Society for Ecological Restoration (SER): “Ecological restoration is the process of assisting the recovery and management of ecological integrity. Ecological integrity includes a critical range of variability in biodiversity, ecological processes and structures, regional and historical context, and sustainable cultural practices.”

Letters of application must be received by the selection committee by 14 January 2006. For guidelines and frequently asked questions, go to the GCA Web site at ‹http://www.gcamerica.org/scholarship/ecorestor.html

Committee reviews will be completed early in March 2006 and the recipient will be notified, and the award made, by the GCA Scholarship Committee shortly thereafter. For further information, contact:

Dr. Mark Leach, Ecologist
University of Wisconsin-Madison Arboretum
1207 Seminole Highway, Madison, WI 53711
(608) 263-7344
Fax: 608/262-5209
E-mail: mkleach@wisc.edu

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Resolution of Respect

Peter Yodzis
1943–2005

Renowned theoretical ecologist Peter Yodzis, Professor Emeritus at the University of Guelph (Guelph, Canada), husband to Susan and father to Hans and Michael, passed away in Guelph, Canada on 28 March 2005. Peter was afflicted with ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis; Lou Gehrig’s disease), a crippling and terminal disease that deteriorates the motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord. Peter was an eminent leader in theoretical community and food web ecology. He was an advocate for an energy-based view of the world as a means to simplify the sheer complexity of both mathematical models and nature.

Peter was born on 10 July 1943 in Baltimore, USA. Like a number of theoreticians working in ecology in the 1970s, Peter was first a physicist by training. He received a B.Sc in 1964 from Duke University in North Carolina and a Ph.D in mathematical physics in 1969 from New Mexico State University. Following a series of postdoctoral fellowships in Dublin, Ireland and Hamburg, Germany, he joined the Institute for Theoretical Physics in Bern, Switzerland. While at Bern working on relativity theory, Peter became interested in theoretical ecology, and he shifted his focus to that subject. Peter published his first paper on theoretical ecology in 1976 in the journal Nature, and soon after he became a regular lecturer on the subject at the University of Zurich’s Zoological Museum, where he became acquainted with his most influential mentor, Professor Hans Burla. Peter made a move to the Department of Zoology at the University of Guelph in 1979, where he enjoyed a successful 25-year career.

Late in his career Peter was diagnosed with ALS, and like many patients, he was ultimately confined to a wheelchair and had only limited mobility in his lower extremities. Despite the dire physical challenges of the disease, Peter continued to work with the passion and rigor that marked his entire career. In 2004 he retired from an active role and was honored with the status of Professor Emeritus. Following his retirement, Peter continued to collaborate with his colleagues and to pursue his own research directives.

Compared to many accomplished ecologists, Peter’s publication record is brief. However, his attention to detail and the rigor with which he conducted research is evident in each of his publications. Peter was a true proponent of the maxim “quality over quantity.” During his 25 years at Guelph, Peter supervised only a small number of graduate students, but his ability to inspire and teach is evident when considering that all have continued on to careers in science. Peter believed that ecologists, as scientists, should be familiar with mathematics, and he passed on this idea to graduate and undergraduate students alike. His desire to make biologists mathematically and computationally literate met resistance, but he persevered. In the words he often used to his graduate students, “You’ve got to fight the good fight.” When Peter believed in something, he could not be swayed. He was a true teacher and mentor who cared more about content and rigor than pleasing everyone.

In 1980 and 1981 Peter published two groundbreaking papers on the connnectance and stability of real ecosystems. At this time theoretical ecologists were bewildered by the discrepancy between natural ecosystems, which appeared to be stable and resilient, and the instability exhibited by ecosystem models. These two papers awoke ecologists to the importance of the trophic organization of ecosystems (which had previously been considered somewhat random) and prompted decades of research into the subject. In 1988 Peter published his best known paper, “The indeterminacy of ecological interactions as perceived through press perturbation experiments.” The conclusion, that the consequences of a perturbation on a food web are frequently impossible to determine from short-term observations of the system, has resonated consistently through the food web literature. It also suggested that the management of such complex systems may be better understood within a probabilistic framework, since complex systems are prone to a dizzying array of potential responses.

In an attempt to deal with such complexity and its baroque consequences, Peter then employed bioenergetic reasoning as a means to simplify food web dynamical models. The 1992 paper “Body size and consumer-resource dynamics,” co-authored by physiologist Stuart Innes, has frequently been used as a means to understand the role of energy flow in driving food web dynamics. This paper was one of the first to unite trophic models with organismal physiology.

Peter had a gift for communicating science—an unusual ability to integrate simple explanations and profound mathematical theory with such clarity that he could impress a message upon the most accomplished ecological theoretician and the interested layman with a single line of text. Attesting to this, Peter’s 1989 textbook, Introduction to Theoretical Ecology, appears often in the syllabi of current courses and is, despite its age, still considered an essential reference for any theoretician. Perhaps his most well-known work to those outside theoretical ecology was published with his long-time friend Alan Held, “On the Einstein-Murphy interaction.” Here they provide a satirical test of the claim that “bread always falls butter side down,” which they argued must contradict either Einstein’s theory of general relativity or Murphy’s Law—both of which are known to be true.

Toward the end of his career, Peter’s battle with ALS limited his travel to conferences and forced him to turn down the many speaking invitations he received. Hearing this, John Vandermeer of the University of Michigan suggested that if Peter could not go to a meeting, then a meeting should come to Peter. Many of Peter’s closest colleagues at the University of Guelph and abroad, excited by this idea, hurriedly organized a colloquium in his honour. As a testament to Peter’s reputation and broad affiliation, the program was quickly filled by a distinguished list of colleagues: Jim Brown, Don DeAngelis, John Harwood, and Kirk Winemiller. Peter himself delivered the final lecture, entitled “The seven scholia of bioenergetic allometric models,” and received a standing ovation for his charismatic and brave performance. The colloquium has since spawned an annual series at the University of Guelph, aptly named the “Peter Yodzis Colloquia in Fundamental Ecology,” and a new book series, Fundamental Ecology, chronicling the colloquia. (More information about past and upcoming “Peter Yodzis Colloquia in Fundamental Ecology” and the book series Fundamental Ecology is available on the Internet at ‹http://www.ecologycolloquia.uoguelph.ca/›)

Those of us who had the opportunity to know Peter realized that he possessed an incredibly warm personality and a love of laughter. Peter was an avid practitioner of Aikido, a dynamic martial art that emphasizes control of one’s opponent through use of the opponent’s energy. Peter was a lover of classical music, debate, and the Japanese art of Haiku poetry. When asked why he made the change from the study of general relativity to theoretical ecology, Peter’s recurring answer was, “Because I wanted to change the world.” Peter was an outstanding colleague and teacher and a dear friend. He will be sadly missed by all.

David A. Vasseur and Kevin S. McCann
Department of Integrative Biology
University of Guelph
Guelph, ON
N1G 2W1 Canada

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SOCIETY ACTIONS


ESA Awards for 2005


 

Murray F. Buell Award
Sean Menke
University of California,
San Diego

Murray F. Buell ascribed great importance to the participation of students at meetings and to excellence in the presentation of papers.

To honor his dedication to the Ecological Society of America and to the younger generation of ecologists, this award is presented to a student for the outstanding oral paper presented at the Society’s annual meeting.

The winner of the Murray F. Buell Award in 2005 is Sean Menke for his paper “Abiotic factors control invasion by ants at the community scale,” which is based on his doctoral research at the University of California, San Diego, under the supervision of David Holway. The Buell judges noted that Sean presented a clear, creative, and well-designed study of the influence of abiotic factors on the ability of the introduced Argentine ant to invade native communities. Judges noted that Sean clearly described the background and motivation for this study based on both natural history and principles of community ecology. In his presentation, in a clear and unforced manner, he described the connection between pure ecology and management. Sean provided a thorough explanation of the factors influencing Argentine ant invasion of communities in California.

He took an experimental approach to investigate the problem and determined that water, and indirectly, plants, can influence colonization of habitats by Argentine ants. As Argentine ants increased in abundance, Sean could demonstrate that they were more likely to spread to native habitats and to displace native ants. Based on this research, Sean could predict future sites of invasion as a basis for managing xeric habitats under threat of invasion. Sean received his M.S. in Zoology from the University of Oklahoma in 2002, and his B.A. in Biology from the University of Minnesota–Morris in 1999.

The Buell-Braun Award Selection Committee also selected one student for Honorable Mention for the Buell Award. This recognition was given to Benjamin Houlton of Princeton University for his presentation on “Isotopic constraints on nitrogen acquisition by plant communities across tropical rainforests,” which was co-authored by Lars Hedin and Daniel Sigman.

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E. Lucy Braun Award
Phoebe L. Zarnetske
Utah State University

E. Lucy Braun was an eminent plant ecologist and the first woman president of the Ecological Society of America. Besides describing and mapping the deciduous forest regions of eastern North America, Lucy Braun served as a dedicated teacher and role model to her students. To honor her, this award is presented to a student for the outstanding poster presentation at the Society’s annual meeting.

 

The 2005 winner of the E. Lucy Braun Award is Phoebe L. Zarnetske for her poster “Modeling Forest Bird Species’ Habitat with Extant Presence Points and Generated Pseudo-Absence Points in Utah.” This work is based on Phoebe’s Master’s research at Utah State University under the supervision of Thomas Edwards of the USGS Utah Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit. Judges commented that Phoebe’s poster represented a great deal of work on a statistically complex problem; the modeling approach that Phoebe used allowed her to use existing data to extrapolate and generate usable conclusions of direct use to the U.S. Forest Service. Judges who interacted with Phoebe claimed that she provided clear responses to questions that demonstrated her familiarity with the model she developed, and also her awareness of the strengths and weaknesses of the approaches she used in this study. The goal of the project was to model the habitat of management indicator species and estimate their likelihood of occurrence across an extensive landscape. The regression model that Phoebe described used known presence data and generated pseudo-absence points for two bird species. Phoebe concluded that regression models like hers, based on presence and pseudo-absence data, could be powerful tools in habitat modeling and in conservation of species. Phoebe received her B.A. in Biology and Environmental Science from Colby College, Waterville, Maine in 2001.

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William S. Cooper Award
Daniel Gavin, Linda Brubaker,
and Kenneth Lertzman
University of Washington

The William S. Cooper Award is given by the Society in honor of one of the founders of modern plant ecology. It recognizes an outstanding recent contribution in geobotany, physiographic ecology, plant succession, or the distribution of organisms along environmental gradients.

The 2005 recipients are Drs. Daniel Gavin, Linda Brubaker, and Kenneth Lertzman for their paper, “Holocene fire history of a coastal temperate rain forest based on soil charcoal radiocarbon dates,” published in Ecology in 2003. The paper developed from research done while Daniel Gavin, currently a Research Associate at the University of Vermont, was a graduate student in Linda Brubaker’s laboratory at the University of Washington.

Determining the fire history of forest ecosystems is critical to understanding forest dynamics and forecasting ecosystem responses to ongoing and future climate change. Forest ecologists and paleoecologists have devised a number of clever ways to reconstruct fire histories, but they differ in their spatial and temporal resolution and applicability in particular systems. .
In their paper, Gavin, Brubaker, and Lertzman apply a novel combination of fire-scar analyses and radiocarbon dating of buried charcoal in soils toward reconstruction of fire history in southern British Columbia. Innovative statistical analyses of the charcoal and fire-scar data allowed them to develop an unusually detailed record of fire patterns among landform types. These records reveal evolving patterns of landscape-level fire patterns with Holocene climate change, going from extensive fires spanning multiple landforms in the dry early Holocene to a patchy late Holocene pattern of higher fire frequencies on south-facing slopes. The study sets new standards for paleoecological analyses of fire disturbance, and provides important baselines for scientifically sound management of forest ecosystems in coastal temperate rain forests

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George Mercer Award
Daniel Bolnick, Richard Svanback, James Fordyce, Louis Yang, Jeremy Davis, Darrin Hulsey, and Matthew Forister

The George Mercer Award is the oldest of the awards granted by the ESA, and is given in memory of a young British ecologist who was killed in action in World War I. The award is given to an author under 40 years of age in recognition of a single outstanding paper in ecology published during the past 2 years.

This year, the Mercer Award honors a paper where all seven co-authors were graduate students at the time of publication. They are Daniel Bolnick, Richard Svanback, James Fordyce, Louis Yang, Jeremy Davis, Darrin Hulsey, and Matthew Forister, who have won the award for their paper, “The ecology of individuals: incidence and implications of individual specialization,” published in The American Naturalist in 2003. Daniel Bolnick is now an Assistant Professor at the University of Texas.

The paper argues persuasively for the importance of interindividual specialization and niche variation within species, using data assembled from the literature and offering a conceptual framework for describing and thinking about individual niche variation and its consequences. This is not a new idea; in fact, the magnitude and importance of individual variation has been debated for a long time. However, the idea has had relatively little “penetrance” into the way we study ecology, perhaps because empirical and theoretical treatments of interindividual variation have been less than definitive, and even conflicting.

The Mercer Award subcommittee noted that Bolnick et al. do a superb and elegant job of articulating why individual niche variation deserves renewed attention, and how one might study it in natural systems.

Several members commented that this kind of paper opens one’s eyes to new things to look for in one’s own work. Interestingly, several members of the committee also commented that they had not decided exactly if they agreed with all the ideas in the paper—and this seemed a positive indication about the paper and its potential importance! The citation record for this paper is already impressive. ESA commends the authors for turning a graduate reading group into a piece of scholarship that promises to have impact for years to come.

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Eugene P. Odum Award
James Porter
University of Georgia

The Eugene P. Odum Award for Excellence in Ecology Education recognizes an ecologist for outstanding teaching, research, and mentoring activities, and for demonstrated ability in relating basic ecological principles to human affairs.

This year’s recipient of the Odum Award is Dr. James Porter of the University of Georgia. Jim Porter seems to be a natural fit for this award. He spearheaded an effort requiring environmental literacy at the University of Georgia. After this component was added to the curriculum, Dr. Porter set about teaching one of the most important portions of that effort, a nonmajors course with over 400 students per semester. His evaluations from colleagues to students are uniformly glowing. People endeavor not only to get into the class as enrolled students, but also to get a seat in the room as visitors, so that they can hear the lectures. His lectures are variously described as “. . . like an Aztec sacrifice. He rips your heart out with the information he presents”; “a multimedia tour de force”; and “a life-changing experience.” One student writes how he did not want to take the course, and how the Wall Street Journal said that global warming was baloney. “After Dr. Porter’s lecture on this subject, I canceled my subscription to The Wall Street Journal.” Other students tell how they changed careers based on Dr. Porter’s classes, becoming environmental attorneys, scientists, and educators themselves. One colleague further describes Jim as “a teacher who lives his life teaching as if that were all that matters.”

Dr. Porter’s teaching influence is felt beyond the walls of his classroom. His graduate and undergraduate students have gone on to populate academia, particularly in marine ecology. In addition, his efforts at education have been formally recognized by at least one member of Congress, who was impressed by his many visits to “the Hill” and how much he learned from those interactions.

Jim takes a genuine personal interest in all of his students, and they sense that his concern is real. His intense and passionate style is changing lives. Those lives can, in turn, change the world.

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Sustainability Science Award
Thomas Dietz, Elinor Ostrom, and Paul Stern

The Sustainability Science Award is given annually to the authors of the peer-reviewed paper published in the past 5 years that makes the greatest contribution to the emerging science of ecosystem and regional sustainability through the integration of ecological and social sciences. Unprecedented directional changes in climate, human population, technology, and social and economic institutions are altering the structure and functioning of current ecological and social systems. The Sustainability Science Award recognizes the role that science can play in addressing these challenges.

The subcommittee has selected Thomas Dietz, Elinor Ostrom, and Paul Stern as the 2005 Sustainability Science Award winners for their paper, “The struggle to govern the commons,” published in Science in 2003. Thomas Dietz is Director of the Environmental Science and Policy Program and Associate Dean of Environmental Science and Policy. Elinor Ostrom is with the Center for the Study of Institutions, Population, and Environmental Change at Indiana University, and Paul Stern is at the Division of Social and Behavioral Sciences and Education at The National Academies in Washington.

This paper provides a groundbreaking synthesis of key concepts from the emerging science of human–environment interactions, linking human institutions to sustainable management of the commons. The challenge they present is to create adaptive governance structures that can link globalization trends with local and regional needs. To meet this challenge, the authors demonstrate how a mix of human institutions (public and private), each operating at different scales, will need to be used in the 21st century to achieve sustainability. In doing so, the authors provide a suite of testable requirements for adaptive commons governance in complex systems, thus setting the stage for new and innovative research in the field of sustainability science.

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Corporate Award
Bon Appétit Management Company (BAMCO)
Palo Alto, California

The Corporate Award recognizes a corporation, business, division, program, or an individual of a company for its accomplishments in incorporating sound ecological concepts, knowledge, and practices into its planning and operating procedures. This year’s winner is the Bon Appétit Management Company (BAMCO). Founded in 1987 in San Francisco, Bon Appétit is an onsite custom restaurant company offering full food service management by providing café and catering services to corporations, colleges and universities, and specialty venues.

Bon Appétit is being recognized for its program known as “Circle of Responsibility.” Under this program, Bon Appétit has instituted a variety of socially and environmentally responsible practices, including the following:
  • Offering a program that purchases ingredients from local farms or artisans, and that are seasonal and minimally processed;
  • offering organic options, which contain at least 95% organically produced ingredients;
  • offering options for fair trade, shade-grown, and organic coffees;
  • recycling aluminum, glass, and plastics wherever possible;
  • observing the guidelines of Seafood Watch, a set of guidelines set forth by the Monterey Bay Aquarium for purchasing sustainable seafood choices.
As a major food purchaser in the United States, Bon Appétit has worked with Environmental Defense to take a unique stand on the critical environmental and human health issue of antibiotic resistance, leveraging their purchasing power to influence the way food is raised in the United States. They have adopted the first meat purchasing policy in the United States that prohibits the use of human antibiotics in healthy chickens. They have also extended their policy to pork, beef, and seafood suppliers. Bon Appétit’s policy is a unique and effective way to get action on this issue in the face of inaction on other fronts. Because they are a major customer, Bon Appétit’s policy requires meat suppliers to pay attention to this issue, and in some cases, make changes to their antibiotics use policies to comply.

Nominators noted that adopting a groundbreaking antibiotics policy is no easy feat and was met with resistance from a number of fronts. The staff, however, were always confident that their CEO, Fedele Baucchio, would back them up on taking a bold stand as long as it was the right thing to do from a business and environmental perspective. This type of support and leadership is unusual and deserves to be commended.

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Honorary Member Award
Erkki Haukioja
University of Turku

ESA’s Honorary Member Award recognizes a distinguished ecologist from outside of North America who has made exceptional contributions to the field of ecology. It includes a lifetime membership in the ESA.

The 2005 winner is Dr. Erkki Haukioja. The influence of Professor Haukioja’s ideas has been broadly international, not only through his widely cited and highly influential publications, but through leadership in international organizations and personal contacts with colleagues. An integrator of information and ideas across cultures and an open communicator, he is a gracious host and sought-after visitor. He has been a member of the Finnish Academy of Sciences since 1981.

For more than three decades, Professor Haukioja has explored the intricate and tangled complexities of the interactions between Fennoscandian mountain birch and its herbivores. His pioneering work on inducible plant defenses in the 1970s stimulated the establishment of a large and active new area of research, and he has continued to provide intellectual leadership throughout his career.

His early appreciation of the role of the host plant in population dynamics of herbivores, and exceptional creativity in testing hypotheses reshaped ecological approaches to studies of plant–herbivore interactions, forest pests, and population dynamics. He has seamlessly integrated the detailed study of mechanisms with the testing of grand hypotheses in a complex model system. Beyond the basic knowledge that they have produced, Professor Haukioja’s remarkable breadth of contributions have informed public policy in Finland and elsewhere.

Professor Haukioja has developed one of the premier ecology programs in Scandinavia. He has contributed decades of untiring service to the University of Turku, and the Kevo Subarctic Research Station, which he directed for many years. Professor Haukioja has mentored more than 50 graduate students and post-docs, many of them from outside Finland, who are now making sustained contributions of their own. His success as a mentor and colleague is a credit not only to his keen intellect, broad thinking, and unusually effective application of hypothetico-deductive science, but also to his contagious enthusiasm for natural history and the science of ecology.

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Distinguished Service Citation
Jim MacMahon
Utah State University

The Distinguished Service Citation is given in recognition of long and distinguished service to the ESA, to the larger scientific community, and to the larger purpose of ecology in the public welfare. We are pleased to present the award this year to Dr. Jim MacMahon of the Utah State University.

Jim’s contributions both to ESA and to the field of ecology have been substantial and diverse. He has given a tremendous amount of time, talent, and energy in a way that few of us are able to parallel. This award recognizes the long-term and massive contributions that he has so selflessly offered to the broader community, regionally and nationally, to improve the public profile of ecology and opportunities for ecologists.

Jim became President of the ESA in 1997, a very challenging time for the Society. The budget was in turmoil and ESA had recently moved into a headquarters office in Washington with a new Executive Director and staff. Jim made and articulated the tough decisions that were necessary to set the ESA on its present course of financial solvency, leading to the flexibility to tackle new initiatives. Jim spent an extraordinary amount of personal time working with the existing staff. These were critical times, and Jim did more to keep the Society on an even footing than almost any other President in the ESA’s long history.

Jim has long been a leader in foresighted efforts to involve the science of ecology and scientific community with the public welfare. He was a leader in the Sustainable Biosphere Initiative of the Society. He has served for years on the steering committee, insuring that the committee thinks creatively about how the SBI and the ESA leadership can shape ecological sciences. Jim also co-founded the ESA’s Annual Fund for the Millennium, the first organized effort for the Society to begin a “development” program. In addition, he has been one of the primary ESA leaders in the field of ecological restoration.

More than most ecologists, Jim spends a great deal of time and effort mentoring people, especially students. He is passionate about ecology and brilliantly communicates this passion to students in the classroom, field, and his writings. Not only does Jim take pride in his mentoring; his students have lavished important awards on him.

Jim MacMahon is one of those rare people who makes a huge contribution almost anonymously, without apparent need of recognition. That is one reason why it is a special pleasure to recognize him with this award.

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Eminent Ecologist Award
Lawrence B. Slobodkin
State University of New York at Stony Brook

The Eminent Ecologist Award is given in recognition of an outstanding body of ecological work or of sustained contributions of extraordinary merit. It is the highest honor bestowed by the Ecological Society of America. The recipient of the 2005 Eminent Ecologist Award is Professor Lawrence B. Slobodkin of the State University of New York at Stony Brook.

Larry Slobodkin is one of the premier ecologists of our time. He has made lasting contributions to the theoretical and empirical development of ecology. Beyond this, however, many of us have been greatly influenced by the wonderfully original and insightful perspectives that flow from his unfettered mind.

Over the course of his career, Larry Slobodkin published seminal papers that influenced the direction of ecological research, and that attracted scientists across disciplinary fields. His early efforts to model populations of Daphnia were instrumental in developing mathematical theory in ecology, and provided the first experimental evidence for the connections between population and ecosystem study. But even though he had a strong role in developing these connections, he never hesitated to comment when he perceived that the theory was not being faithful to the real biology. Some of our best ecologists refer to Larry as both inspirational, and as marching to a different drummer.

Larry recognizes fascinating questions, and brings such innovative ideas into routine observations that he forces ecologists to stand back and consider nature from a different angle. His efforts to influence ecologists to take orthogonal views of nature are among his most important contributions. An even broader audience has learned from his forays into the philosophy of ecology and the role of ecological science in public policy.

Another extremely important contribution of lasting impact has been the Department of Ecology and Evolution at SUNY Stony Brook, whose creation Larry spearheaded. Overnight, he created one of the most exciting departments in the world. The legions of ecologists trained at Stony Brook, the students they have mentored, and the many scientists who simply visited that department during the years when Larry was the de facto leader have done much to define and to advance our field. All agree that Larry Slobodkin was not always an easy person, but that he certainly was a great one.

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Minutes of the ESA Governing Board

19–20 May 2005
Washington, D.C.

Members present:
Jerry Melillo (President), Bill Schlesinger (Past-President, 19 May 2005 only), Nancy Grimm (President-elect), Alan Covich (incoming President-elect), Gus Shaver (Vice President for Science), Norm Christensen (Vice President for Finance), Bill Parton (incoming VP for Finance), Carol Brewer (Vice President for Education and Human Resources), Rich Pouyat (incoming VP for Public Affairs), Shahid Naeem (Member-at-Large), Dennis Ojima (incoming Member-at-Large, 19 May 2005 only). Unable to attend: Boersma, Palmer, Powers.

Staff Present:
Katherine McCarter (Executive Director), Cliff Duke (Director of Science), Nadine Lymn (Director of Public Affairs), David Baldwin (Managing Editor), Elizabeth Biggs (Director of Finance), Sue Silver (Editor).

Guests:
Jeff Herrick, 19 May 2005
Bruce Hayden, 20 May 2005

Thursday, 19 May 2005

I. ROLL CALL AND AGENDA

A) The GB unanimously adopted the proposed agenda.

II. RATIFICATION OF VOTES TAKEN SINCE THE OCTOBER 2004 MEETING

A) The minutes of the October 2004 meeting were approved.
B) Brief discussion and approval of the 2006 Annual Meeting theme, “Icons and Upstarts in Ecology.”
C) Reappointment of David Schimel, EIC for
Ecological Applications, to a 3-year term, beginning January 2005 and ending 31 December 2007, was approved.

II. REPORTS

A) Report of President Melillo. A reminder of the schedule of program reviews and midterm reviews:

Program Review Midterm Review
Science Fall 2004 Spring 2006
Finance/fundraising Spring 2005 Fall 2006
Publications Summer 2005 Fall 2006 or Spring 2007
Public Policy Fall 2005 Spring 2007
Education Fall 2006 Spring 2008

Gus Shaver requested that a document be created summarizing the timetable of events such as creation of the ESA office in Washington, D.C., the SBI program, etc. Katherine and staff will work on this after the Annual Meeting.
Gene Likens has agreed to give a retrospective of the ESA on its 90th birthday. Jerry has been contacting past-presidents to encourage them to attend. Nancy suggested that we consider commissioning a history of the ESA for its 100th anniversary. The ESA archives at the University of Georgia library could be a resource for this.

B) Report of the Executive Director and staff

• See the May 2005 written report. One highlight is the positive reception that several federal agencies gave to Katherine and Sue Silver about possible financial support for Frontiers.

• The Montreal meeting may have 4000 people (registration to open next week); this meeting may be even larger than Portland. Presidents of other ecological societies from around the world are being invited to a breakfast meeting with ESA president Jerry Melillo and BES president Alastair Fitter.

• Cliff Duke reported on the data sharing initiative, and planning and fund-raising for the Mexico meeting.

• Sue Silver reported on discussions with Charlesworth China to introduce Frontiers to many libraries in China, and efforts by the Chinese Frontiers Board member to solicit articles from Chinese authors for a possible special issue next year. The Mexico meeting may also generate a special issue (there is a proposal in to NSF for funding this).


• David Baldwin reported that submissions are up, and turnaround time at Ecology is now at a record low. The success of Ecological Archives is responsible for some of this (e.g., there are now >100 submissions associated with papers in Ecology, and almost every paper in the August issue has material in EA). The publications office is ready to start making links to a data registry as soon as it is created.

• Liz Biggs reported that Charlesworth China is also exploring marketing of other ESA publications besides Frontiers. ESA has had a good year in terms of finances (memberships, meetings). The membership database is now working with on-line access by members. The e-store is also working now for purchase of back issues.

• Nadine Lymn reported that the rapid response teams are mostly mobilized, and Board members will be invited to a lunch meeting with the team members at the Annual Meeting. Congressional Visits Day went well. Plans are proceeding to take a bus-load of congressional staffers on a tour of USGS activities in the Chesapeake Bay area.

• Jerry Melillo reported on a dinner meeting with Lou Pitelka, who is now working part-time at USDA, and discussion of possible collaboration with a few other societies to run a workshop about agricultural ecosystems.

C) Financial updates: Norm Christensen and Katherine McCarter

The fiscal year begins on 1 July, and Katherine reported results through the third quarter (March). The budget is in good shape, in large part because of the success of last year’s Annual Meeting (two-thirds of the surplus) and subscriptions and dues (one-third); currently we have a $325,432 surplus. We are trying a different mechanism this year to discourage those who submit abstracts for the meeting and then don’t show up (taking credit card numbers but not charging an abstract submission fee to nonattendees until after the meeting occurs).

D) Written reports from President-Elect Grimm and Program Chair Paul Ringold

• Grimm reported on plans for the International Conference on Circular Economy and Sustainable Development, to be held in Hangzhou, China, 1–4 November 2005, sponsored by the provincial government of Zhejiang. Melillo and Grimm will attend.

• Plans for the 2005 meeting in Montreal are proceeding well.

IV. DISCUSSION/ACTION ITEMS

A. Financial review

Liz Biggs led a quick discussion of 10 graphs sent to Board members that show membership and financial data for the past 6 years; the trend has been positive in both areas.

• Reserve funds. An analysis was done of the ESA’s requirements for operating reserves. Total risk, should there be significant problems with subscription revenue, cancellation of the Annual Meeting, etc., is about $2.3 million. One suggestion is that we have a reserve of 6 months of operating expenses, which is also about $2 million. The VP for Finance and staff recommend that we use this as a target, with the goal of budgeting $50,000/yr, as well as adding any additional surplus. This could become a quasi-endowment, managed like an endowment, but without the restrictions of endowment spending. We currently have about $600,000 in unrestricted reserves.

• A motion was moved and seconded: The Ecological Society of America should develop a financial reserve of approximately six months of operating expenses, currently $2 million, through an annually budgeted payment ($50,000) and any surplus from the annual budget. Approved unanimously.

• Investment of restricted funds. These follow a typical (conservative) pattern for endowment funds. Significant growth will have to come from donations, not from investment income.

• Discussion of a fundraising position, following on previous Board suggestions that we should have one. Katherine presented ideas about how this can be accomplished (using both core funding and Millennium Fund). We have researched a target amount for annual salary for a nonprofit development officer (with up to 50% of this in additional funding for travel, entertainment, publications, etc.).

• Millennium Fund. The Fund is available to the Governing Board for specific projects. Fund balance is about $84,000; Christiansen suggests we shouldn’t let it get this large. The proposed budget would fully utilize the account for this year, and let us start over next year.

Frontiers budget. Katherine reported on efforts to raise $500,000 to cover the gap that developed when Packard Foundation was unable to meet its original commitment. About $165,000 is now in hand from a few different federal agencies, and we are waiting to hear from a few more. Advertising revenue is above the goal for this time, and a lot of effort is going into securing additional library subscriptions. We have funding in hand for about three more years (at about $400,000/yr).

• Other publication issues. The plan is to give electronic access to ESA journals to all subscribers, for the previous cost (+ 9%) of print subscriptions. This will result in a savings of about $700/yr to libraries; Schlesinger suggests we use this as an opportunity to push adding a Frontiers subscription.

• Membership dues. Have been flat for many years, and we should consider whether to raise them. There is no specific proposal yet.

• Board ethics and management. Sarbanes-Oxley legislation provided guidelines to commercial companies, and while nonprofits are not covered by this, many organizations are beginning to look at a checklist of requirements of Sarbanes-Oxley that may eventually apply to nonprofits. ESA has been doing most of these for some time, but there are two that we should adopt: an audit committee of the Board, and clear conflict of interest policies (e.g., an annual form to be signed by Board members). The plan is for the staff to start work with the incoming VP for Finance, Bill Parton, to work on these changes.

B. The Mexico Meeting

Guest (meeting co-organizer) Jeff Herrick made a presentation about the meeting. Plans are progressing well, and there has been a lot of interest. A call for workshop titles will be issued soon (many have been suggested already). Fund-raising is progressing and looks promising, but the Board decided to assume responsibility for the cost of the meeting (running the meeting and subsidizing registration and travel for international participants) in the meantime so participants can make commitments to attend. A motion was moved and seconded: The ESA will commit to up to $250,000 in expenses for the Mexico meeting. Approved unanimously.

C. Proposed 2005–2006 budget

Katherine and Liz presented the budget, which the Board discussed. A major new initiative in the proposed budget will be the addition of a development/fundraising position (see discussion above). Printing of WAMIE II report, analysis of undergraduate education survey data, translation of additional Issues in Ecology before the Mexico meeting, and a WAMIE workshop were suggested as additional activities for Board approval. No decision was made about these additions.

D. Public Information Campaign

Vice President for Public Affairs Sunny Powers joined the discussion via speakerphone. Should the ESA undertake such a campaign? Nadine reviewed the chronology of this idea. Sunny summarized discussions of the Public Affairs Committee, and presented a recommendation. Lengthy discussion led to a consensus that a regional focus, perhaps taking advantage of ESA chapters, would be an appropriate way to proceed. This is less daunting than the idea of a national campaign, whose scale (and expense) began to appear formidable. Staff will begin development of a concept paper for review in August.

E. Publications issues

• Journal mission statements. David Baldwin reviewed the origins of these statements. A few suggestions were made that David will convey to Jim Reichman.

• EIC review recommendations. Issues raised in the report of the review committee for the Editor-in-Chief of Ecological Applications were discussed, and some recommendations were made that will be passed on to David Schimel.

F. Data registry proposal / data access

Nancy Grimm presented a possible timeline/process to move from a data registry toward a data repository, and then on to ways to facilitate use of stored data. The Board has already approved a statement for ESA journals encouraging authors to identify a data registry for their data. A prototype for an official ESA data registry at NCEAS can be seen at ‹http://knb.ecoinformatics.org/knb/style/skins/esa/index.html›. A motion was made: The ESA has approved the data registry at NCEAS and strongly encourages all authors of papers accepted in ESA journals to use this or another ESA-approved registry for data in their papers. Data registration will become a requirement for papers submitted for ESA journals beginning in 2006. Motion is tabled. The Publications Committee is asked to clarify the steps involved in creating a data archive and implications of requiring that it be used, and to come up with a list of ESA-approved data registries that might used in addition to the ESA registry. The motion will be reconsidered at the August meeting.

Dinner: The Governing Board invited NEON postdocs to join the Board for dinner. Those in attendance were Kit Batten, David Kirschtel, Rank Knight, Meeko Oishi, and Brian Wee.

Friday, 20 May 2005

EXECUTIVE SESSION

G. British Ecological Society proposal

The British Ecological Society intends to invest approximately $1,000,000 in support of ecology in developing countries, and has asked ESA to join in this effort, at least in terms of moral support (and potentially in terms of fund raising in the future). A motion was made and seconded: The ESA Board supports the idea of collaboration with the British Ecological Society. Approved unanimously. The details of this collaboration remain to be decided, but because there is some urgency for the BES to proceed, we would like to convey our interest and support at this time.

H. NEON Co-Director Bruce Hayden

Co-Director Hayden gave the Board an update on the status of NEON, and the role of the postdocs that joined us last night for dinner. They are working toward an integrated plan for development that is due in October. He also addressed the issue of funding for big science projects (e.g., what influence might they have on smaller-scale science funding), the relationship between NEON and other science agencies (e.g., NASA), the ratio of funding for infrastructure vs. research, and what the ESA might be able to do to support NEON.

I. Norm Christensen report

Norm Christensen reported on discussions regarding the National Parks Fellowship program. He is very enthusiastic about the impact of this program for science in and for the parks, and the potential to strengthen the relationship between NPS and ESA. Previously funding has come through a collaboration of the National Parks Foundation and the Mellon Foundation, while ESA has served as a subcontractor to organize the selection process. Advisory Committee Chair Kay Gross and Committee member Norm would like the Board to consider having ESA lead both the program in general and fundraising efforts for it. The Advisory Committee will come back with a proposal.

J. Science Committee suggestion for a change in the Bylaws

A proposed Bylaws revision to combine the Research and SBI Committees into a new Science Committee and to clarify the mission of the Office of Science Programs was proposed. This change grew out of the discussions in May about Science Programs. A motion was made and seconded: The ESA Board supports the proposed change in the Bylaws. Approved unanimously.

K. Awards nominations

Vice President Brewer presented the slate of proposed award winners from the Awards Committee. A motion was moved and seconded: The ESA Board supports the slate of proposed award winners. Approved unanimously.

L. Proposal from VP Powers and the Public Affairs Committee

The Committee proposed pursuing development of a position paper on ecosystem services. There is general support for this idea (including from incoming VP for Public Affairs Pouyat). The Committee is asked to proceed with identifying appropriate people to help develop a position paper.

M. Proposal to adopt a statement on economic growth

A proposal was made by an ESA member (Richard Christian) that the ESA adopt a statement on economic growth as it relates to the long-term health and functioning of ecosystems. Concerns raised by Board members included potential alienation of some ESA members (many of whom come from industry), potential to damage the Society’s reputation as an impartial source of advice to government, and the fact that some of the statements of fact in the proposed policy statement may not have a strong scientific basis at this time. There was consensus that this is a subject worthy of further discussion and study, but that it is premature for the ESA to make a policy statement.

N. Presentation of the WAMIE II report

The WAMIE II report was presented by VP Brewer. Extended discussion of the report and its (33) recommendations followed. There is a big gap between what seem to be female-majority graduate students in ecology (although many are not ESA members) and the numbers of females in postdoctoral and faculty positions. How can we identify the barriers and work as a Society to overcome them? Although there seems to be some progress with regard to sex ratios, there has not been much in recruiting from minority ethnic groups. Sentiment was expressed for using the existing committee structure (e.g., the Standing Committee on Education and Human Resources) rather than forming a new one to push for progress on the issues raised by the report. Can we mine previous government studies for data rather than duplicating efforts? Perhaps we should contact other societies such as the Society for Conservation Biology and the Society for Ecological Restoration about their memberships to see whether they are proving to be more attractive to female graduate students. A motion was moved and seconded: The ESA Board gratefully accepts the WAMIE II report. Approved unanimously. The EHR Committee was asked to try and find answers to several questions:

1) Why don’t more of the female ecology graduate students become members of ESA and consider it their primary professional organization?
2) What can ESA do to address the general issue of retention in the field?

O. ESA links to NEON

Given that NEON is likely to be funded in the near future, after a build-up phase of 5-10 years, and that this may bring about a cultural change in what ecologists do or are perceived as doing, what can the Society do to bring its membership behind this effort? Suggestions included an editorial in Frontiers, having Jerry make some comments at the NEON symposium in Montreal, and letting Bruce Hayden know that the Society would like to know what it can do to strengthen the case for NEON funding.

P. New business— none.

President Melillo reminded the Board about its meetings in Montreal. Board members are reminded about the requirement for a passport or other acceptable documentation for travel to Canada and back.

Meeting adjourned at 11:50 am.

Respectfully submitted,
David Inouye, Secretary


ANNUAL REPORTS


Annual Reports to Council
Ecological Society of America, August 2005


I. REPORTS OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND STAFF

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

The past year has been another highly successful one for the Ecological Society of America. We see our membership steadily increasing, our financial picture strong, and our annual meetings producing record attendance and programs that garner interest not only from scientists, but also from the media.

Our Society has moved forward on many fronts this past year. One new initiative has been the establishment of Rapid Response Teams that allow ESA to play a strong and relevant role in policy discussions. Our publications continue to be among the best in the field and Frontiers, in its third year, received its first ISI rating—12 out of 107 journals. The SEEDS initiative has grown and involves ever more students and ESA members as it seeks to support and encourage the interest of underrepresented students in the field of ecology. We have refocused our Science Programs to better advance ESA priorities and to develop a new sustainability science agenda.

ESA continues to become more international in its activities. Our collaboration with INTECOL for the Annual Meeting in Montreal, a gathering of Presidents of ecological societies worldwide during the Annual Meeting, the planning of a themed meeting in Mexico early in 2006, translation of the “Visions” issue of Frontiers into Chinese, and our ongoing support of the Federation of the Americas all attest to this fact.

The following staff reports accent these accomplishments—and many more. I am proud to be the Executive Director of such a fine organization and to work with such a professional and dedicated staff. We look forward to continuing our progress as a Society and to bringing the expertise of the membership and the staff to bear on the challenges ahead.

Submitted by:
Katherine McCarter


FINANCES/ MEMBERSHIP/ SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES

ESA continues to grow! The number of ESA members grew from 8116 members in 2003 to 8718 members in 2004 and we have already passed that figure for 2005. We expect to end our 2005 membership year with over 9000 members.

ESA upgraded our membership database for the 2005 membership and subscription year. Members are now able to renew their membership online and update mailing address and other information in real time.

We anticipate ending the 2004–2005 fiscal year with a positive bottom line. The meeting in Portland was well attended, library subscriptions are holding up despite budget problems for many institutions, and expenses have been kept within normal variances.

 

Membership and subscriptions for the calendar year 2004 were:

Total membership: 8718
Domestic: 7372
Foreign: 1346

By class:
Regular: 5961
Student: 1907
Developing countries: 291
Life members: 227
Emeritus: 332

Subscriptions:
Ecology total: 5768
Members: 3747
Institutions: 2019
Other: 2

Ecological Applications total: 3317
Members: 2066
Institutions: 1248
Other: 3

Ecological Monographs total: 2795
Members: 1480
Institutions: 1312
Other: 3

Chapter membership:
Rocky Mountain: 278
Southeastern: 486
Mid-Atlantic: 392
Western: 554
Mexico: 52

 

Section membership:
Asian: 92
Applied: 639
Aquatic: 898