Richard B. Gump South Pacific Research Station

04 Mar, 04 PM - 30 May, 05 PM

The goal of my sabbatical is to write a series of papers on genetic-based ecosystem engineering/restoration. The combined challenges of habitat destruction, human population growth, exotic invasions, and climate change require the integration of ecology, genetics, engineering, restoration biology and other disciplines to develop the tools of a new trade, genetic-based ecosystem engineering. Island systems of the world represent the best and worst case scenarios of the potential community and ecosystem trajectories following disturbance, so we can learn a great deal from their successes and failures. Based on ?community provenance trials? of foundation plant species ranging from giant kelp to lodgepole pine, we can identify the source populations and genotypes that have the greatest potential to survive future conditions and support a relatively rich community with their associated ecosystem processes. Just as genetics has played a major role in agro-ecosytems to feed growing human populations, a genetics approach can be used in degraded or destroyed ecosystems to save a little to a lot. The goal of my sabbatical is to bring this literature together to develop a clear strategy to mitigate the effects of the worst case scenarios, which are becoming increasingly common. This project is an outgrowth of the following four publications: Whitham, T.G., et al. 2012. Community specificity: life and afterlife effects of genes. Trends in Plant Science 17:271-281. Whitham, T.G., et al. 2010. A community and ecosystem genetics approach to conservation biology and management. Pages 50-73 in Molecular Approaches in Natural Resource Conservation and Management (A. DeWoody, J. Bickham, C. Michler, K. Nichols, G. Rhodes and K. Woeste, eds.). Cambridge University Press. Whitham, T.G, et al. 2008. Extending genomics to natural communities and ecosystems. Science 320:492-495. Whitham, T.G, et al. 2006. A framework for community and ecosystem genetics: From genes to ecosystems. Nature Reviews Genetics 7:510-523.

Visit #28994 @Richard B. Gump South Pacific Research Station

Approved

Under Project # 25523 | Research

Genetic-Based Ecosystem Engineering/Restoration

faculty - Northern Arizona University

Reservation Members(s)

Thomas Whitham Mar 4 - May 30, 2013 (88 days)

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