
Volume
85, Number 4, October 2004
Cover Photo: Summer of 2003 saw an abnormal number of large crown fires in the mountains of western North America, an apparent shift in fire regime with far-reaching consequences to forest ecosystems there. If global climate change predictions come true, increasing frequency and intensity of wildfires are likely to follow, both because of increasing drought and of increasing woody fuel accumulation during a century of fire suppression. Here, on the border between Canada and the United States in Glacier and Waterton Lakes National Parks, 16 large wildfires burned 145,000 acres within Glacier NP boundaries, compared with 14 fires and 5000 acres burned per year that the park has averaged since 1988. The view is from the west side of Logan Pass, on Going To The Sun Road, looking down into the MacDonald Creek Canyon, with smoke emanating from the Trapper Fire (right) and Robert Fire (left), 27 August 2003. Photo by Allen M. Solomon, Corvallis, Oregon.Click on the photofor a larger view.
Table of Contents
(click on a title to view that section)
Governing
Board
ANNOUNCEMENTS
From the Editor
Society Notices
Call for Nominations: ESA Awards
Student Awards for Excellence in Ecology
2004 Student Award Judges
Society Section and Chapter News
Southeastern Chapter Newsletter
Other Notices
Garden Club of America: Fellowship in Ecological Restoration
SOCIETY ACTIONS
ESA Awards for 2004
MacArthur AwardMay Berenbaum
Eminent Ecologist AwardSam McNaughton
Distinguished Service CitationJim Reichman
George Mercer AwardJohn J. Stachowicz, Heather Fried, Richard
W. Osman, and Robert B. Whitlatch
William S. Cooper AwardJohn W. Williams, Bryan N. Shuman,
and Thompson Webb III
Eugene P. Odum AwardRichard B. Root
Corporate AwardTaylor Guitar Company
Sustainability Science AwardMartin Scheffer, Steve Carpenter,
Jonathan Foley, Carl Folke, and Brian Walker
Murray F. Buell AwardCynthia Hays
E. Lucy Braun AwardPedro Flombaum
Minutes of the 2425 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
Office of Science Programs
Public Affairs Office
Education Office
Publications Office
Meetings
Reports of Officers
Vice President for Education and Human Resources
Vice President for Public Affairs
Vice President for Science
Reports of Editors-in-Chief
The Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America
Ecological Applications
Reports of Standing Committees
Awards Committee
Board of Professional Certification
Grants and Fellowship 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)
Sustainable Biosphere Initiative Committee
Reports of Sections
Applied Ecology Section
Asian Section
Biogeosciences Section
International Affairs Section
Long Term Studies Section
Paleoecology Section
Physiological Ecology Section
Plant Population Ecology Section
Rangeland Ecology Section
Soil Ecology Section
Statistical Ecology Section
Student Section
Traditional Ecological Knowledge Section
Urban Ecosystem Ecology Section
Vegetation Section
Reports of Chapters
Mexico Chapter
Rocky Mountain Chapter
Southeastern Chapter
DEPARTMENTS
Ecology 101
Misconceptions About PlantHerbivore Interactions, Especially Plant Defenses.
N. Stamp
MEETINGS
Meeting Calendar
Mesopotamian Marshes and Modern Development: Restoring
Ecological and Cultural
Landscapes
13th Southern Silvicultural Research Conference
ESAs 90th Annual Meeting
CONTRIBUTIONS
Commentary
A History of the Ecological Sciences, Part 14: Plant Growth Studies in the 1600s.
F. N. Egerton
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
of the Ecological Society of America, 1707 H Street, NW, Washington DC 20006
For January 2005 and later issues, contact
Ed Johnson. 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, Technological Tools D. W. Inouye Department of Zoology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742 E-mail: di5@umail.umd.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 |
The
Ecological Society of America
GOVERNING BOARD FOR 20042005
President: Jerry
M. Melillo, Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA 02543
President-Elect: Nancy B. Grimm,
School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-4501
Past-President: William H. Schlesinger,
School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, Duke University, Durham,
NC 27708
Vice President for Science: Gus
R. Shaver, The Ecosystems Center, Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods
Hole, MA 02543
Vice President for Finance: Norman
L. Christensen, School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, Duke University,
Durham, NC 27708
Vice President for Public Affairs: Alison
G. Power, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University,
Ithaca, NY 14853-2701
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: Dee Boersma,
Department of Zoology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-1800
Member-at-Large: Shahid Naeem,
Department of Biology, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027
Member-at-Large: Margaret A.
Palmer, Department of Entomology, University of Maryland, College Park,
MD 20742-0001
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.
| Regular member: | Income level | Dues |
| <$40,000 | $50.00 | |
| $40,00060,000 | $75.00 | |
| >$60,000 | $95.00 | |
|
Student member:
|
$25.00 | |
| Emeritus member: | Free | |
|
Life
member:
|
Contact Member and Subscriber Services (see below) |
Ecological
Applications $50.00 $40.00
Frontiers in Ecology Free to members
Ecological Archives Free
ANNOUNCEMENTS|
This, the
last Bulletin issue I edit, calls for a few comments. The past
12 years in which I have played this role have provided me with a grand
experience. I thank you, the contributors and readers, for making it
so. You quickly taught me that I was not here to be a gatekeeper for
the Bulletin, but instead to serve as a facilitator. With that
attitude shift, I found the job soon became quite relaxing, as we always
seemed capable of finding a way to permit you to express your thoughts,
without resorting to emotionally charged or libelous verbiage. As the crossroads of the Society, the Bulletin and its editing has always seemed to me to be a fine place to observe the goings and comings of our distinguished colleagues who occupy the various offices of the Societys voluntary and paid bureaucracy. During my first few editing years, the activities of those officers looked like wonderful subjects for critiques, revelations, and even an occasional exposé. After trying a few editorials that were as uninteresting as they were diplomatically written (in my writing, the two properties definitely are related!), I came to understand that, like it or not, the Bulletin editor represents the Society AND its officers, and therefore cannot review their real or imagined foibles on the pages of the Bulletin without violating an implicit conflict of interest. It is probably a tribute to my increasing |
maturity
(or
decreasing mental acuity) that I have been able keep quiet,and to do
the editing the Society would prefer be done. That editing
has actually accomplished a fair amount, though the 48 issues it took
may hardly be considered a rapid pace. We (you and I) changed the mix
of content of the Bulletin, increasingly emphasizing contributions
by the readers over news and announcements. All of the contributions
provided worthy food for thought. Some of the ideas you expressed were
at the center of ongoing stormy ecological controversies, such as the
diversity = productivity question. Others were less weighty, and occasionally,
even lighthearted (a recent poem on the intertidal zone comes to mind).
More of both would be most welcome. Also changed is the Bulletin format, a feature that is probably least important and most amenable to producing a pleasant but false sense of accomplishment. Content locations were rearranged, coincidentally giving you the added challenge of finding your favorite sections. The Bulletin grew in size to fit only your taller bookshelves, but fitting more poorly in your wastebasket (a form of harassment for those of you who do not save your Bulletins!). The paper copies that dominate my bookshelves finally have given way to the
|
electrons
composing web sites and Acrobat© files, which fill but do not weight
down our cyber-media, as we shifted to an all-electronic form. Now, 3200+
pages later, no longer teetering on the brink of the electronic information
revolution, the Bulletin is ready for another editor who can
exploit the many new possibilities this medium offers, and a most suitable
candidate has stepped forward. Ed Johnson, Professor of Biology at the
University of Calgary, is greatly respected for the high quality of
his research on forest dynamics in the northern Rocky Mountains and
boreal regions, especially on the causes and roles of fire in forested
landscapes there. He is also well known for his hospitality toward visitors
to both the University and Kananasksis Biological Station. Perhaps most
important for the duties of Bulletin Editor-in-Chief, Ed is blessed
with a fine sense of humor and a relaxed but vigilant attitude toward
both the unexpected events of the day and their perpetrators. Thanks for the help, everyone, and the opportunity to servethis experience has been the EiC-ing on my cake! (I couldnt resist, and Im not really sorry for that terrible pun.) Allen M.
Solomon |
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. 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 ESAs 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 2004. 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.
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 Paul Ehrlich, Charles Krebs, Richard B. Root, and Sam McNaughton.
To submit a nomination, contact Judith L. Bronstein, Chair, ESA Awards Committee
judieb@email.arizona.edu.
Odum
Education Award
The Eugene P. Odum Award recognizes an ecologist for outstanding work in ecology
education. Through teaching, outreach, and mentoring activities, recipients
of this award have demonstrated their ability to relate basic ecological principles
to human affairs. This award was generously endowed by, and named for, the
distinguished ecologist Eugene P. Odum. Recent recipients include Margaret
D. Lowman (2002), Alan R. Berkowitz (2003), and Richard B. Root (2004). To
submit a nomination, contact Linda Wallace, Chair, ESA Odum Education Award
Subcommittee lwallace@ou.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. Recent honorees include
Henri Decamps, John Robert Lewis, Norman Owen-Smith, Madhav Gadgil, and Carlos
Herrera. 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 2003 or 2004 to be eligible for the 2005 award. Nominees may be from any country and need not be ESA members. Recent recipients include Jonathan Levine, Jean L. Richardson, and John Stachowitz. Nominations should be sent to Stephen Heard, Chair, Mercer Award Subcommittee sheard@unb.ca.
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 Nigel Pitman and coauthors; David Foster and coauthors; and Jack Williams 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 Louis Pitelka, H. Ronald Pulliam, Allen M. Solomon, and Jim Reichman. To submit a nomination, contact Judith L. Bronstein, Chair, ESA Awards Committee judieb@email.arizona.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. This award was presented for the first time in 2004, to Marten Scheffer, Stephen R. Carpenter, Carl Folke, Brian Walker, and Jonathan Foley. 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 The Organization
for Tropical Studies, Weyerhaeuser Corporation British Columbia, Adam Davis
of EPRI Solutions, Cornell Universitys Department of Utilities and Energy
Management, Norm Thompson Outfitters, and Taylor Guitars.
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, landuse 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. A complete nomination should include:
· name, address, phone number, e-mail, and affiliation of the individual
making the nomination;
· name of the person, program or division, or the company being nominated;
· description of the activity being recognized by the nomination and
how it fits into one of the six categories listed above;
· name, address, phone number, e-mail, and affiliation of an impartial
individual who could corroborate the nomination. Nominees may be invited to
provide additional documentation.
To submit a nomination or to obtain more information about the nomination
procedure, please contact Kate Lajtha, Chair, Corporate Award Subcommittee,
at lajthak@science.oregonstate.edu
________________________________________________________________________
Back
to Table of Contents
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 2004 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 prescreened 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 email (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
email: 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 2005; applications sent after
1 March 2005 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 ________________________________________________________________________________
Email __________________________________________________________________________________________
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 250word or less description of why/how the research presented will advance the field of ecology.
2004 Student Award Judges
The 2004 Student Awards Selection Subcommittee, Christopher F. Sacchi (Chair), Nancy Eyster-Smith, Paul Marino, and J. Alan Yeakley, thank the following individuals for judging papers and posters at the ESA Annual Meeting in Portland, Oregon.
|
Paul Alaback
|
Sarah
Goslee Peg Gronemeyer Kevin Gross Stephanie Hampton Erik Hobbie Claus Holzapfel David Hooper David Huff Chris Ivey James Jacobs Cynthia Jones Mike Kearsley Bruce Kendall Brian Kloeppel Jen Klug Alan Knapp Abby Kula John Kush Svata Louda Chris Luecke Ann Lynch Cathy Mabry John Maerz Paul Marino Deborah Marr Kelly McConnaughay David McNeely Brett Melbourne Don Miles Ben Miner Randall Mitchell |
Kyoko Miyanishi
|
Southeast
Chapter Newsletter
Issue 20043
Chapter Officers:
Chair: Paul James Luken (20042006) JoLuken@coastal.edu
Vice-Chair: Joan Walker (20032005) joanwalker@fs.fed.us
Secretary/Treasurer: Nicole Turrill Welch (20042006) nwelch@mtsu.edu
Web-Master: Mark Mackenzie mackenzi@forestry.auburn.edu
Chapter Homepage:http://www.auburn.edu/seesa/
| 2004
ESA Meeting, Portland, Oregon
The brown bag lunch meeting of the Southeastern Chapter was held on 3 August 2004 at the ESA Annual Meeting. Announcements made at this meeting are posted on the Chapter web site. Membership Renewal and Award Support Please remember to renew your membership in the SE Chapter when you renew your ESA membership. Your donations to the Eugene P. Odum Fund and the new Quarterman-Keever Fund support the best student paper and poster awards, respectively, at the Association of Southeastern Biologists Annual Meetings. Quarterman-Keever Award Funding The Quarterman-Keever Award for the best student poster will be awarded for the first time at the Association of Southeastern Biologists Meeting in 2005. The Chapter established this award in April 2004 to honor the achievements and contributions of Elsie Quarterman and Catherine Keever. ESA has requested that the award reach the sustainable level of $10,000 within two years, and Elsie Quarterman herself made the first contribution. Your contribution can be made by check payable to the Ecological Society of America (Quarterman-Keever Award), sent to Ecological Society of America, Elizabeth Biggs, CFO, 1707 H Street NW, Suite 400, Washington, D.C. 20006-3915.
|
Upcoming
Meetings
2005 ASB Meeting: The 2005 meeting of the Association of Southeastern
Biologists will be held 1316 April 2005 in Florence, Alabama,
hosted by the University of North Alabama. Abstracts are due 12 November
2004; the September 2004 issue of Southeastern Biologist and
http://www.asb.appstate.edu/Preliminary2005.htm
explain the submission process. Do note that abstracts are to be submitted
as an e-mail attachment, and all oral presentations must be made with
either overheads or Microsoft PowerPoint. Authors using Microsoft PowerPoint
must submit a CD containing their presentation by 1 April 2005. 2006 ESA Meeting: The 2006 ESA Meeting will be held in Memphis, Tennessee. This will be a great opportunity for symposia and organized paper sessions related to Southeastern ecosystems and ecological issues. Scott Franklin, University of Memphis and Chair of the Local Host Committee, requests ideas and leaders for field trips for this meeting. Keeping in Touch Check the Chapter home page: http://www.auburn.edu/seesa/ for updates and additional information. Join the Southeastern Chapter of ESA ListServer: To join the ListServer, send a message to majordomo@mail.auburn.edu with subscribe scesa in the body of the message. Please send news or announcements to scesa@mail.auburn.edu for distribution to the listserv, or to nwelch@mtsu.edu for inclusion in the next quarterly newsletter. Respectfully, |
The
Garden Club of America Fellowship in Ecological Restoration
| The
Garden Club of America announces a competition for its Fellowship
in Ecological Restoration. This GCA fellowship, established in 2000
with funds from the John B. Young Charitable Trust, as well as GCA
members and clubs, is awarded annually to an exceptional graduate
student to assist with study and research. The award carries a grant
of $8000 to support specialized study in ecological restoration at
a leading accredited university in the United States. The fellowship
is administered by the University of Wisconsin-Madison Arboretum and
may be renewed pending review. For the purposes of this scholarship, The Garden Club of America agrees to the following definition as stated by 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. 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 students academic qualifications and person.
|
Applicants
must provide the following: 1) A cover letter 2) A written proposal for the research to be undertaken (limit 5 pages) 3) A 1-page budget for the proposed research 4) A current resume 5) A letter of endorsement from the applicants graduate faculty advisor, which also certifies enrollment, and 6) Two additional recommendations. Letters
of application, with all required materials, must be received by
the selection committee by 14 January 2005. Committee reviews will
be completed early in March and the recipient will be notified,
and the award made, by the GCA Scholarship Committee shortly thereafter. GCA Fellowship
in Ecological Restoration |
Society
Actions The
Robert H. MacArthur Award is given biannually 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. The recipient is invited
to prepare an address for presentation at the annual meeting of the
society and for publication in Ecology.After careful deliberation, the Subcommittee has enthusiastically chosen May Berenbaum for this years MacArthur Award. After receiving her Ph.D. from Cornell in 1980, May began her professorial career in the Department of Entomology at the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign), where she has remained ever since, serving as Department Head since 1992. May has received many high honors, including election to the National Academy of Sciences (1994) at the rather young age of 41, and dozens of awards including the George Mercer Award (from ESA), the E. O. Wilson Naturalist Award (ASN), the Silverstein Simeone Award (International Society for Chemical Ecology), and the Founders Memorial Award (the top award of the Entomological Society of America). It is worth noting that May is one of only two women to win the Entomological Societys Founders award among the 45 recipients since 1958, and she is also the first female winner of the MacArthur Award.) May has made transformational research contributions to insect ecology, chemical ecology, and the study of coevolution, with the focal goal of understanding, at all levels, the role of plant chemistry in shaping the evolution and ecology of plants and their insect herbivores. As an example of the integrative nature of her research, May discovered early on that the leaf-rolling behavior of many herbivorous larvae served to protect them, not only by hiding them (the traditional explanation) but by keeping them in the dark, since many plant toxins are activated by UV light. May and her collaborators followed up on this discovery with multi-level investigations of phototoxic plant compounds and the ways that herbivores cope with them, including the genetics of inducible enzymes that detoxify plant defensive compounds. This work led to quantitative genetic studies by May and colleagues on both plants and their herbivores that showed heritable variation and biogeographically-pair adaptations in both coevolutionary antagonists. The study of coevolution came into being with Ehrlich and Ravens classic hypothesis of plant-herbivore arms race, but May Berenbaum was the first to provide a complete package of ecological, biogeographic, genetic, and chemical support for the hypothesis for a single system. Mays CV lists more than 150 peer-reviewed publications. Her research has been supported continuously by NSF, USDA, and many private foundations. May is renowned as a teacher and public lecturer, from major national and international venues to a long list of local preschools and elementary schools. Her non-majors course on insects at UI attracts hundreds of students, and she has directed the research of dozens of Ph.D. and M.S. students and introduced scores of undergraduates to research. Her famous annual Insect Fear Film Festival is just one facet of Mays indefatigable campaign to keep insects and arachnids in the public view. She has published four popular books (two of which have won national awards) and more than a hundred popular and semi-popular articles on insect ecology and evolution including regular contributions to American Entomologist, the membership magazine for the Entomological Society, which have entertained and enlightened professional entomologists for more than a decade. R.H. MacArthur Award Subcommittee: Rob Colwell (Chair), Steve Carpenter, Carla DAntonio, Ann Kinzig, Bill Murdoch, Judy Meyer, and Jim Reichman |
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. The 2004 Eminent Ecologist is Dr. Sam McNaughton. Over his 40 year career, Sams research output has been prodigious; he has authored/co-authored over 100 papers in peer-reviewed journals (more if you include book chapters and books!) and in 2003 was recognized as an ISI highly cited researcher. His work has ranged from theoretical to modeling to observational and empirical studies. Few ecologists have so effectively spanned population- community ecosystem- landscape ecology in their research and also managed to blend research in fundamental areas of ecology and evolutionary biology to their application in managed systems. Sam began his career by publishing an influential series of papers on ecotypes and geographical distributions of in Typha that demonstrating population differentiation at the biochemical level. In the late 1970s he switched his attention to plantherbivore interactions and the ecosystem-level consequences of herbivory and began what this year marks a 30 year adventure in exploring interactions between plant and grazing communities in the grasslands of the Serengeti. Many of his ideas were controversial (e.g., grazing facilitation), but his findings and hypotheses spurred further research and interest in the complexity of interactions and feedbacks between organisms and their resources and greater understanding of the roles of herbivores in the worlds ecosystems. His field observations and experiments in the Serengeti, led to a comprehensive understanding of the effects of grazers on nutrient cycling and plant competition, which he pursued by studying the physiological mechanisms by which grazing-induced changes in plant morphology, leaf- and plant-level photosynthesis, and the capacity to acquire nutrients. In this way he was able to make convincing links between evolutionary mechanisms at the population level to community dynamics to system-level properties. Similarly his work on diversity and stability took this debate from the level of correlation to the level of mechanism, beginning with his 1977 paper in American Naturalist. This work has been one of the most important spring-boards for the recent flood of interest in studies of the mechanistic basis by which biodiversity influences ecosystem function. To many, Sams career is the model of what ecologists should aspire to if they want to make a difference to ecology in terms of innovative research, development of theory, and the transfer of these concepts to younger generations of ecologists and managers. Sam has influenced the field of ecology through his own research and his mentorship of numerous graduate students and post-doctoral associates, many of whom were introduced to his wit, charm, drive and dedication to science while working with him on plantherbivore interactions in the Serengeti. Importantly, Sam is seen as a thoroughly nice person by his colleagues, former and current students and postdocs. To many he is the kind of professional that they seek to emulate his willingness to recognize and celebrate creativity has inspired generations of young scientists who have worked with him to continue to explore novel ideas and activities. Sam is clearly a true scholar with a gift for blending his love for natural history patterns to current and emerging issues in both theoretical and applied ecology and we are pleased to recognize his accomplishments by awarding him as the 2004 Eminent Ecologist Award. Eminent Ecologist Award Subcommittee: Kay Gross (Chair), Nelson Hairston, Jr., Bob Holt, Bea Van Horne, Paul Dayton, and Peter Groffman |
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Distinguished Service Citation Award Subcommittee: Kay Gross (Chair), Nelson Hairston, Jr., Bob Holt, Bea Van Horne, Paul Dayton, and Peter Groffman |




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The
Mercer Award recognizes an outstanding ecological research paper published
by one or more younger researchers (under 40 at the time
of publication). The 2004 Award is for the authors of Biodiversity,
Invasion Resistance, and Marine Ecosystem Function: Reconciling Pattern
and Process (John J. Stachowicz, Heather Fried, Richard W. Osman
and Robert B. Whitlatch; Ecology 83:2575-2590) Distinguished Service Citation Award Subcommittee: Steve Heard (Chair), Sally Holbrook, James Morris, Jean Richardson, Andy Sih, Ellen Simms, and Mike Willig |



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The William
S. Cooper Award is given by the Society in honor of one of the founders
of modern plant ecology. The Cooper Award is made annually for an
outstanding contribution in geobotany, physiographic ecology, plant
succession, or the distribution of organisms along environmental gradients.
The 2004 recipients are Drs. John W. Williams, Bryan N. Shuman, and
Thompson Webb III for their 2001 paper, Dissimilarity analyses
of Late-Quaternary vegetation and climate in eastern North America,
published in Ecology 82:3346-3362. The fossil
record of the Late Quaternary has yielded an important, yet enigmatic,
ecological observation: plant and animal communities have existed
in the recent past that have no modern counterparts in terms of composition.
The underlying causes of these peculiar biotic assemblages have stimulated
debate in the ecological and paleoecological communities for the past
four decades. In their paper, Williams, Shuman, and Webb address the
problem using an elegant combination of numerical analyses, mapping
techniques, paleoclimate simulations, and the extensive North American
Pollen Database. They used the spatial and temporal patterns of vegetation
dissimilarity during the period to evaluate alternative hypotheses
concerning the underlying causes of the peculiar vegetation. Hypothesis-testing
of this kind is difficult, but the authors developed and applied an
ingenious approach, comparing maps of vegetation dissimilarities with
maps of climate dissimilarity from present (using simulated paleoclimates,
which are the only existing non-circular means for doing this). The
spatial and temporal patterns are revealing and provocative, indicating
that vegetation composition is contingent on climate, and that unique
biotic assemblages will arise when unique climatic combinations occur.
The study represents an important step forward in our understanding
of vegetational responses to environmental change at broad spatial
and temporal scales, and sets a new standard for paleoecological syntheses
in other regions and time periods. It is highly relevant to global
change concerns, because climatic gradients of the future may be very
different from those of the past few thousand years, and so we may
expect many existing biotic assemblages to disappear as new assemblages
emerge under new climates. The paper developed from research done while Williams and Shuman were graduate students in Webbs lab at Brown University, where Webb is Professor of Geological Sciences. Williams is currently an Assistant Professor of Geography at the University of Wisconsin, and Shuman is an Assistant Professor of Geography at the University of Minnesota. W.S. Cooper Award Subcommittee: Judie Bronstein (chair), Laura Hyatt, Sara Hotchkiss, Miles Silman, Scott Collins, and David Peterson |
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Dicks
students know themselves as Rootlets. One former student
even wrote about his experience with Dick as being the Root
Cause for his enjoyment and success as an ecologist. Former
students confess that they were not even interested in ecology as
a discipline until they either met and worked with Dick or were in
his Field Ecology class at Cornell. Then, after as few as two lectures,
they found themselves hooked. Many of these students confess
to shamelessly copying Dicks model in the classroom and in the
field in terms of mentoring both graduate and undergraduate students.
With such an ever widening network of deeply devoted and enthusiastic
mentees, it is obvious that Dick Roots impacts on ecological
education are enormous. The deeply
personal and individual relationship that Dick built with each of
his students was vitally important to them. One former student wrote,
Almost as if we were his biological children, Dick doted on
us and, I am certain, lost sleep over our inevitable shortcomings,
wondering where he might have gone wrong. Today I find myself treating
my own students with similar regard. Another former student
writes, Believing I was a pretty good writer, I proudly presented
Dick with the first draft of my dissertation. He wrote just one comment
on the Introduction: Yech! That one word (and several
analogues later on in the draft) served me as a one-trial learning
experience in how to write ecology papers without either fluff or
excessive dryness. Dick Root
also shines as a classroom teacher. His course, Field Ecology, at
Cornell has received the highest student evaluation possible. The
teaching model for this course emphasizes a cooperative and relaxed
learning environment that still conveys the rigor of ecological inquiry.
One student wrote on their evaluation form I learned to think
critically about ecological questions, and I even learned important
life skills. Former students conveyed story after story about
how Dicks enthusiasm and joy would be evident in all lectures,
regardless of the subject. It is impossible
to enumerate the impact that Dick Root has had on the field of ecology
and ecological education. Countless former students and their students
and so on are being influenced by the model that he has laid out in
which he encourages students to first observe in the field and from
those observations commence further inquiry. His lab housed students
involved in a wide range of ecological work, and therefore inculcated
a curiosity and respect for ecology in the broadest possible terms. Eugene P. Odum Award Subcommittee: Linda Wallace (Chair), Charlene DAvanzo, Margaret Carreiro, Bruce Grant, Peter Feinsinger, and Kathy Winnett-Murray |
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The ESA Corporate Award Committee has awarded the 2004 corporate Award to the Taylor Guitar company in El Cajon, California, based on their innovative process of applying finishes to their guitars as well as their sustainable use of wood. The company has made significant efforts to reduce the amount of pollutants released into the air during the finishing process. Taylor Guitars is a leader in the acoustic guitar industry. The company is known for revolutionizing the design and manufacture of high-end acoustic guitars with significant innovations that produce superior instruments. These innovations are the brainchild of luthier/inventor/company president and co-owner, Bob Taylor, who pioneered the use of CNC (Computer Numerically Controlled) milling machines, Ultraviolet-cured finishes, laser cutters and various other high-tech procedures in the acoustic guitar building process. Their central innovation and demonstration of commitment to environmental responsibility was the groundbreaking development of a more environmentally friendly finish for guitars. Taylor was the first acoustic guitar manufacturer to develop a guitar finish curable with Ultraviolet-light. Prior to 1995, UV-curable finishes were available only for metal or plastic, not wood. Collaborating with a chemist, Taylor worked for years to develop a finish that was more resilient, more environmentally friendly, and more aesthetically pleasing than the lacquers commonly used on wooden instruments. The company also had to design and build its own curing ovens to accommodate the new, fume-reducing spray formula. In 1999, the San Diego Air Pollution Control District presented Taylor Guitars with an award for developing a system that greatly reduces the emission of volatile organic compounds into the air stream. Other examples of their commitment to environmental responsibility: A current project is developing a robotic spraying system that is much more efficient than hand spraying, to minimize waste of materials. Another new project in the development stages will allow them to procure an important wood Honduran Mahogany by purchasing large quantities of storm-felled trees under the auspices of the C.I.T.E.S. treaty. In the past, in order to get Hawaiian koa they have worked with landowners who have the blessings of Greenpeace, The Nature Conservancy, and The Hawaiian Island Forestry Association. Occasionally they buy African ebony when the African government auctions a load that was felled during the construction of a road or something similar. In 2001, they donated a portion of sales for the Limited Edition Liberty Tree Guitars to American Forests, the nations oldest conservation organization. Corporate Award Subcommittee: Kate Lajtha (Chair), Joan Ehrenfeld, Greg Aplet, Laura Huenneke and Scott Stoleson |
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The Sustainability
Science Award of the Ecological Society of America recognizes the
authors of the peer reviewed paper published in the past five years
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. Unprecedented directional changes in climate, human population, technology and social and economic institutions alter the structure and functioning of current ecological and social systems. The Sustainability Science Award recognizes the role that science can contribute to addressing these challenges. This is the first year that the award is being given, and it will continue to be given annually. The subcommittee
has selected Marten Scheffer, Steve Carpenter, Jonathan Foley, Carl
Folke, and Brian Walker as the 2004 Sustainability Science Award winners
for their paper: This review paper was selected because it clearly and succinctly presented the theoretical basis for conditions that would give rise to alternative steady states in ecosystems and evidence from multiple field studies that was consistent with this theory. For each of these studies the authors describe a range of factors that led to loss of resilience prior to the shift to a new state. By focusing on the determinants of resilience rather than the specific triggers that caused the change, it is likely that the results can be generalized more broadly.
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The
winner of the Murray F. Buell award in 2004 is Cynthia Hays for
her paper Ecological consequences of gene flow in an intertidal
alga, which is based on her doctoral research at the University
of California, Santa Cruz under the supervision of Ingrid Parker
and Pete Raimondi. The Buell judges noted that in her outstanding
presentation, Cynthia addressed ecological and evolutionary aspects
of gene flow and local adaptation to a strong environmental gradient
using an intertidal alga as a model system. Cynthia linked her
research appropriately to theory, developed novel methodologies
to address the idiosyncrasies of performing mating and transplant
manipulations on an alga, and addressed complicated questions
thoroughly in a data-rich presentation. Cynthia clearly explained
her work, which included a series of well-designed experiments
all designed to get at the question of whether there could be
local adaptation to tidal height in her system. Cynthia was able
to show strong evidence of local adaptation (e.g. significant
interactions between home and outplant
height for adults and embryos), and heritable differences in embryo
desiccation resistance, at some sites but not others. Cynthia
received her M.S. from Florida State University in 1998, and her
B.S. from Duke University in 1992. The Buell-Braun Award Selection Committee also selected three students for Honorable Mention for the Buell Award. This recognition was given to: Jennifer Lau of the University of California-Davis for her paper, What happens to native communities when exotic plants and their enemies invade together?, to Jason S. McLachlan of Duke University for his paper co-authored by J. S. Clark and P. S. Manos entitled, The importance of small populations in the postglacial dynamics of eastern forests and to Louie H. Yang of the University of California-Davis for his paper, Do resource pulses link aboveground and belowground communities? Some evidence from 17-year periodical cicadas. |
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The 2004 winner of the E. Lucy Braun Award is Pedro Flombaum for his poster The role of biodiversity on ecosystem functioning: a removal experiment in the Patagonian steppe, Argentina. This work is based on Pedros doctoral research at the University of Buenos Aires under the supervision of O. E. Sala. Pedro presented results from species removal experiments in natural ecosystems in the Patagonian Steppe that showed that the effects of biodiversity on aboveground net primary production in natural ecosystems are larger than reported using artificial communities. The Braun judges were impressed with Pedros poster in that it included new creative work, he described earlier reconstructive studies and departed from those earlier studies using plant removals from natural systems to understand the relationship between biodiversity and productivity, and the poster exhibited work based on a strong experimental design and included a sophisticated analysis. Judges commented that in discussing the poster with Pedro, he effectively guided them through the elements of the project as presented on the poster, explained the design and analysis clearly, and showed a strong grasp of prior related studies. Pedro received his B.Sc. in Biology from Buenos Aires University in 1997. 2004 Student Awards Selection Committee: Christopher F. Sacchi (Chair), Nancy Eyster-Smith, Paul Marino, J. Alan Yeakley |
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Members present: Members of the 20042005 Board present: Staff present: Monday, 24 May 2004 I. ROLL CALL II. DINNER MEETING Guest speaker: Jim Turner (Minority Counsel, House Science Committee) discussed the dynamics of science policy and funding in Congress. The current stalemate in appropriation bills is unprecedented in his (almost 30 years) experience. In response to questions he also discussed the politicization of science, how to move science into policy making, climate change, and the demise of the OTA. III. RATIFICATION OF VOTES TAKEN SINCE THE NOVEMBER, 2003 MEETING A. Minutes of the November, 2003 meeting: moved, seconded,
adopted unanimously. The nominees were: IV. REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT President Schlesinger reported that this has been a busy period,
including activities such as testimony before Congress. Schlesinger
signed a letter coordinated by the UCS on global warming. ESA weighed
in on the peer review issue through comments to OMB. ESA was not invited
to sign the letter about visa difficulties for international scientists
initiated by the National Academy of Sciences. However the Society
is aware of this issue. Information about this issue is available
at www7.nationalacademies.org/visas
and there is a link to this site on the ESA Portland meeting web site.
He wrote to Mary Clutter at NSF to support renewal of NCEAS. V. REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND STAFF. (Only three issues are discussed here; the full report was distributed in writing before the meeting.) A. Marketing Director of Finance Elizabeth Biggs noted that ESA needs to make
Frontiers self-sufficient over the next 810 years. ESA
has initiated a number of marketing efforts to promote sales and attract
advertising revenue. This spring a consultant was hired to help with
this. About 70 libraries subscribe to Frontiers (vs. about
2000 for other ESA journals). To help increase that percentage, there
is a form in each issue of Frontiers for subscribers to send to their
libraries. ESA is also trying some direct-mail initiatives, and working
with subscription agents. One goal of Frontiers is to increase ESA membership, and indeed, membership is still growing (will probably be up about 300 this year, and was up about 300 last year). The Society is doing advertising at other professional meetings, and contacting authors who are not members. B. NEON Schlesinger reported on a February meeting at NSF that McCarter, Duke, and Schlesinger attended to express ESAs interest in a partnership between ESA and NEON coordinators. Two groups have responded to a RFP for a NEON Coordinating Consortium. Schlesinger and staff met with a team developing a NEON proposal in connection with AIBS and conveyed ESAs interest in being involved. AIBS subsequently indicated that they did not see a role for ESA at this time in the process. National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE) is the other group that put in a proposal, and they were enthusiastic about involving ESA; Cliff Duke worked with them to develop the community engagement aspect of the proposal. There was some discussion about the history of ESAs involvement in NEON. The Governing Board includes representatives of both groups submitting proposals to NSF, so discussion was limited in scope because of conflicts of interest.
Although Board members had committed to help increase the number of donors, it appears that there has been no success yet, so McCarter reminded Board members about their commitment. The fund currently contains $52,000. The fund generally receives contributions from the same group of traditional donors. She will send Board members a list of current donors and some cards to use to help solicit new ones. Tuesday, 25 May 2004 VI. FINANCIAL UPDATES McCarter presented the third-quarter financial report that shows a positive bottom line with some excess revenue over expense. A. ESA Long-term Investments Vice President for Finance Christensen reported that the endowment
is currently about $855,000; part is restricted, set up by individuals
for particular purposes (e.g., awards), part is Board-restricted (quasi-endowment,
principal could be spent by decision of the Governing Board), and
part is unrestricted. About $573,000 is invested in a value fund through
Townley, in a relatively conservative way. About 3 years ago the Board
voted to move about $500,000 to a growth fund with Riggs and Company;
what is left of this fund is now valued at about $270,000. Christensen
noted that it may be appropriate to move this money to Townley at
some point. Vice President for Finance Christensen wants guidance on spending
policy. A conservative policy might be to spend about 5% of the endowment/year
(about $40,000/yr). He suggests that a rolling 3-year average of 5%
would be better policy, allowing some adjustments for annual variation
in income. Another option suggested is that on 31 December we calculate
a moving 3-year 5% average of the endowment principal, which can be
considered available for the following year. The Board asked that
a recommendation be brought back in August. Christensen believes that
it is probably not appropriate to try and grow the endowment through
investments. Christensen raised the issue of the role of the Finance and Investments
Committee. The Board agreed that this group needed to continue its
oversight of investment policy. Additional discussion raised the need for a development committee
to work on increasing the endowment. It was suggested that the dormant
Fund Raising Committee could be reactivated, perhaps with new members,
to function as a development committee. We currently have a $163,000 rainy day fund (unrestricted reserves); target is $250,000. VII. PRESENTATION OF PROPOSED FY 20042005 BUDGET McCarter reviewed the budgeting process that begins in April with staff reviewing the income and expenses, consulting with the VP for Finance. A draft budget is presented to the Board in May. Any additions or changes are reviewed by the Board in August and then presented to the Council for approval. McCarter provided an overview of assumptions, calculations of revenues and expenses, adjustments to the previous years budget, program adjustments, and activities not funded. There was considerable discussion about the costs of library subscriptions since the office must provide price changes to libraries in June. Motion: That the print subscription rates for libraries be increased by 7%, with a similar consideration for online subscriptions. Seconded and approved unanimously. A. Discussion of proposed program budget adjustments Motion: That we spend up to $10,000 to provide printed copies of Frontiers to members in developing countries. Seconded and approved unanimously. The Board of Professional Certification has requested $3050 in addition to the funds provided each year for a meeting. This would make it possible, for example, to recruit at meetings of other societies. Motion: That the request from the Board of Professional Certification for a $3050 increase in their annual budget be approved for 2 years, during which time we would like some evaluation of the effectiveness of the Certification program. Seconded and approved unanimously. Carol Brewer brought a recommendation from the Women and Minorities in Ecology committee that the Society conduct a membership survey to update the 1992 survey. (M. M. Holland, D. M. Lawrence, D. J. Morin, C. Hunsaker, D. Inouye, A. Janetos, H. R. Pulliam, W. Robertson, and J. Wilson. 1992. Profiles of ecologists: results of a survey of the membership of the Ecological Society of America.) Motion: That up to $10,000 be provided to plan and conduct a survey of our membership. McCarter was asked to find the most appropriate place to find this funding, including using the Millennium Fund. Motion seconded and approved unanimously. IX. DISCUSSION OF FURTHER IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ECOLOGICAL VISIONS REPORT A. Development of the draft plan for a Rapid Response Team A plan to develop teams of ESA members who would be available to respond quickly to topical issues was reviewed. A suggested list of topics was presented. The Board proposed an additional area: Ecological implications of international conflicts and military activities (Duke has a long-standing interest in this area). It was also suggested that ESA institutionalize meetings of the rapid response teams during the annual meeting. Staff will proceed with implementation for the Rapid Response teams. B. Fostering international collaborations among societies President-Elect Melillo just returned from China, where he spoke with the current and upcoming presidents of the Chinese Ecological Society. They were enthusiastic about the idea of exchanging representatives to annual meetings, and about translating of selected ESA publications into Chinese. They have about 6000 members, and the Society is quite active (e.g., 16 committees). There is also |