54th Annual Meeting of the Association of Tropical Biology and Conservation
MERIDA · YUCATAN · MEXICO
July 9-14, 2017
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More than a decade ago the influential paper “Beyond Paradise—Meeting the Challenges in Tropical Biology in the 21st Century” [Biotropica, 2004, 36(4): 437-446] was published. In that paper major research challenges and gaps in tropical biology and conservation were identifies, including the understanding of (1) the evolution, structure and functioning of tropical ecosystems; (2) the nature and magnitude of anthropogenic effects on tropical ecosystems; and (3) the socio-economic drivers of these anthropogenic effects. It was envisaged that in order to reach effective strategies for conservation, restoration, and sustainable management of tropical ecosystems, scientific perspectives must be integrated with social necessities, under three principles: (1) broadening the set of social and biological concerns; (2) integrating biological knowledge with the social sciences and traditional knowledge; and (3) linking science to policy and action. Four broad recommendations were proposed for immediate action in tropical biology and conservation that were thought to be fundamental to all biological and social disciplines in the tropics: (1) assemble and disseminate information on life’s diversity in the tropics; (2) enhance tropical field stations and build a worldwide network to link them with tropical field biologists at their field sites; (3) bring the field of tropical biology to the tropics by strengthening institutions in tropical countries through novel partnerships between tropical and temperate zone institutions and scientists; and (4) create concrete mechanisms to increase interactions between tropical biologists, social scientists, and policy makers. In this discussion panel these research challenges, principles and recommendations will be revisited by senior scientific researchers, economists and policy makers from different disciplines to assess the degree to which tropical biology, conservation, and major social and economic issues have develop during the last decade.
In this panel a group of senior researchers from different disciplines, organizations, and countries, will address the research challenges, principles, and recommendations for tropical ecosystems, biodiversity conservation, and human cultures first presented in the influential paper “Beyond Paradise”. The aim is to revisit the core messages of this conceptual paper, address major advances during the last decade, and point out the emerging challenges for biologists, social scientists, and citizens with the arrival of the Anthropocene.
Participants
The future beyond paradise:
Frintiers in tropical ecology, conservation, and society in the Anthropocene
Panel Discussion
Dr Rodolfo Dirzo
My scientific work examines the study of species interactions in tropical ecosystems from Latin America and Africa. Recent research highlights the decline of animal life (“defaunation”), and how this affects ecosystem processes/services. I teach ecology, natural history, and conservation science at undergraduate and postgraduate levels at Stanford, and conducts science education programs with underserved children in the Bay Area and in Mexico. My lab includes undergrads, graduate students, postdocs and visiting scholars from US, Latin America and Spain. I have coauthored the new Framework for K-12 Science Education.
Dr Sandy Andelman
Sandy Andelman currently is Vice President and Director of the Tropical Ecology, Assessment and Monitoring (TEAM) Network, based at Conservation International. She previously served as Deputy Director of the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Through her work on TEAM, she has pioneered the creation of a global biodiversity monitoring and forecasting system – an early warning system for the state of tropical forests worldwide. The TEAM Network is providing real time data to understand how tropical forest ecosystems are being impacted by global climate change and land cover change and to improve conservation decisions. Traditionally, ecological studies have involved one or a few scientists working at a single site, making very focused measurements over only a few years. This scientific model is losing relevance in today’s rapidly changing world, where environmental threats made by people happen across very large geographic and temporal scales – magnitudes too large for a single scientist at one site to comprehend. Ecology needs to scale up to provide the knowledge needed to address global climate change and other environmental threats. Andelman wants to help create a new culture of ecology; one that is relevant to our increasingly connected world. She envisions dynamic, diverse networks of scientists that transcend organizational and national boundaries, collaborating across the globe. Using unified methods and innovative informatics and mobile technologies, she aims to create global public data resources and forecasting and problem-solving tools to tackle some of the world’s most important environmental problems.
José Sarukhán is an expert in plant biology and ecology and currently serves as the National Coordinator for Mexico’s National Commission for Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity (CONABIO). He graduated with a degree in biology from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) in 1964 and holds a Master's in Agricultural Botany from the Postgraduate College (Chapingo) and a Ph.D. in Ecology from the University of Wales. Dr. Sarukhán’s main areas of academic interests include tropical ecology, plant population ecology, systems ecology of both temperate and tropical ecosystems, and training and education. He has published more than 110 research papers and authored and co-authored several books, among them Arboles Tropicales de México (1st, 2nd, & 3rd Eds.), Las Musas de Darwin, Manual de Malezas del Valle de México, Patrimonio Natural de México: 100 casos de éxito, and Cambio Climático. Dr. Sarukhán was elected as director of the Biology Institute at UNAM for two consecutive periods, in both 1979 and 1987. In 1987, he was appointed Vice Chancellor for Science at UNAM, and in 1988, was elected as Rector (President) for the period 1989-1997. He was a professor in the Institute of Ecology since 1988, and has been Emeritus since 2006.
Dr. Sarukhán has served as president of the Botanical Society of Mexico and the Mexican Academy of Sciences, president of the Association for Tropical Biology, president of the Latin American Union of Universities (UDUAL), and Coordinator of the Red Latinoamericana de Botánica. Additionally, Dr. Sarukhán was instrumental in proposing the creation of the National Commission on Biodiversity of México and was subsequently appointed as National Coordinator of CONABIO in 1992 by Mexican President Carlos Salinas. In December 2000, the President also appointed Dr. Sarukhán as the Commissioner of the Social and Human Development Cabinet, a position he held until January, 2002. Dr. Sarukhán is a member of many professional societies, including El Colegio Nacional, the Third World Academy of Sciences, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Academia de Ciencias de América Latina, the Association for Tropical Biology, the California Academy of Sciences, the Royal Society, and the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. He has received honorary doctorates from nine Mexican and foreign universities.
Dr. José Sarukhán
Dr. Lucia Lohmann
Lúcia graduated from University of São Paulo with a Bachelor's degree in Biology (1995), and obtained her Master's and Doctorate degrees in Ecology, Evolution and Systematics from the University of Missouri-St. Louis (1998, 2003) with a specialization in Tropical Biology and Conservation. She then conducted a one-year post-doc at the Center for Conservation and Sustainable Development (CCSD) at the Missouri Botanical Garden (2004). She is currently a professor in the Department of Botany at the University of São Paulo (since 2004), as well as a research associate at the Missouri Botanical Garden and New York Botanical Garden.
Her primary research interest is to understand patterns of plant diversification and biogeography in the Tropics. Her research is highly integrative, combining components of classic taxonomy, phylogenetics, molecular biology, ecology, evolutionary biology, and conservation. Most of her research focuses on the plant family Bignoniaceae, a key component of Tropical forests.
Patricia Balvanera graduated as a Biologist, graduated from the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana Iztapala, with a Master's Degree in Biological Sciences and a Doctorate in Ecology from the National Autonomous University of Mexico. She completed her postdoctoral studies on Ecosystem Services at Stanford University. To date she has generated 130 products derived from its research, with articles in leading journals such as Science, Nature, book chapters and technical reports. Her work has been quoted more than 4500 times. She is a member of the Scientific Committee of an international research program, coordinator of an international monitoring program, coordinator of several activities related to the Intergovernmental Platform for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, and associate editor of 3 journals on Socioecosystems and Sustainability.
Dr. Patricia Balvanera
(Moderator)