Inspire Session
Alison Agneray
University of Nevada, Reno
Reno, NV, United States
Mandy Slate
University of Colorado, Boulder
Boulder, CO, United States
Julie Larson, PhD
Research Ecologist
USDA-ARS (Eastern Oregon Agricultural Research Center, Burns, OR)
Boulder, Colorado, United States
Marina LaForgia
UC Davis
Davis, CA, United States
Magda Garbowski
University of Wyoming
Laramie, Wyoming, United States
Caroline Havrilla
Colorado State University, United States
Mandy Slate
University of Colorado, Boulder
Boulder, CO, United States
Ecologists use plant functional traits, or physiological, chemical, and morphological characteristics of plants, to understand and predict core ecological processes, such as community assembly and ecosystem function. Traits possessed during the earliest stages of life are crucial to understanding vulnerable life stage transitions but remain understudied in trait-based ecology. Our goal for this session is to introduce ecologists to early plant life stages and how this critical period shapes individuals, populations, and communities, how (and what) to measure, and their application to trait-based plant ecology. The session will open with an introduction to the field, a discussion of seeds, germination, and seedlings, and how plant traits change through a plant’s lifetime. We will then review several research projects focused on early life stage traits and the applications of these traits to restoration and conservation. The presentation portion of the session will close with a talk on how early plant traits are critical to understanding plant regeneration in a rapidly changing world. Following the talks, we will host an open panel to provide an opportunity for the audience to join the conversation and to, as a group, identify gaps in knowledge that remain concerning early trait-based ecology. This session will appeal to a wide range of ESA participants working both in conceptual and applied ecological subdisciplines by covering a broad range of topics including population dynamics, community assembly, restoration, and global change, all in the context of trait-based ecology.
Presenting Author: Julie Larson, PhD – USDA-ARS (Eastern Oregon Agricultural Research Center, Burns, OR)
Co-author: Julie Larson, PhD – USDA-ARS (Eastern Oregon Agricultural Research Center, Burns, OR)
Presenting Author: Jennifer R. Gremer – University of California, Davis
Co-author: Johanna Schmitt – University of California, Davis
Co-author: Elena R. Suglia – University of California, Davis
Co-author: Alec J. Chiono – University of Colorado Boulder
Co-author: Lauren Okafor – Howard University
Presenting Author: Marina LaForgia – UC Davis
Presenting Author: Leah Prescott – University of Nevada, Reno
Presenting Author: Alicia Foxx – USDA-ARS (Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE))
Co-author: Andrea T. Kramer, Doctorate – The Chicago Botanic Garden
Presenting Author: Daniel Winkler – USGS Southwest Biological Science Center
Co-author: Sasha C. Reed – U.S. Geological Survey
Presenting Author: Alison Agneray – University of Nevada, Reno
Co-author: Elizabeth A. Leger – University of Nevada, Reno
Presenting Author: Magda Garbowski – University of Wyoming
Presenting Author: Caroline Havrilla – Colorado State University