OOS 20 - Living on the Edge: Resilience, Vulnerability and Ecosystem Feedbacks in Epiphyte Communities

Organizer(s)

• SG

  Sybil Gotsch

  Associate Professor of Forest Ecology
  University of Kentucky, United States

Co-Organizer(s)

• LL

  Lauren Lowman, PhD

  Assistant Professor
  Wake Forest University, North Carolina, United States
• JV

  John Van Stan, II

  Associate Professor
  Cleveland State University, United States

Epiphytes comprise a substantial proportion of the biodiversity in many forests and these communities also play important roles in ecosystem function. Though emblematic components of temperate and tropical cloud forests, these plant communities may be among the most vulnerable to changes in climate given their disassociation from soil resources and their dependence on consistent atmospheric moisture. Despite their importance and abundance in many habitats, epiphytes remain among the least studied of plant groups given the difficulty in accessing and working in tree crowns. In this session, presenters will share recent findings from diverse ecosystems, ranging from tropical to boreal, to help us understand how these communities cope with variation in microclimate and the influence that epiphytes have on larger-scale processes.

Presentations:

• 10:00 AM – 10:15 AM PDT

  High and dry: How do plants that generally exist as terrestrial shrubs and trees live as facultative epiphytes in the Coast Redwood forest canopy?
  

  Presenting Author: Sybil G. Gotsch – University of Kentucky

  Co-author: Todd Dawson, PhD – University of California-Berkeley

  Co-author: Cameron Williams – Channel Islands National Park
• 10:15 AM – 10:30 AM PDT

  Can vascular epiphytes acclimate to a drier microclimate?: Results from a cloud exclusion experiment in a Peruvian Tropical Montane Cloud Forest
  

  Presenting Author: Emily Anders – University of New Hampshire

  Co-author: Heidi Asbjornsen – University of New Hampshire

  Co-author: Matthew Vadeboncoeur – University of New Hampshire

  Co-author: Sybil G. Gotsch – University of Kentucky

  Co-author: Daniel Metcalfe – Umeå University

  Co-author: Aline Horwath – University of Cambridge
• 10:30 AM – 10:45 AM PDT

  A novel model for epiphytes as canopy water tanks
  

  Presenting Author: Lauren Lowman, PhD – Wake Forest University

  Co-author: P. David Carchipulla-Morales – Wake Forest University

  Co-author: Haley Corbett – Wake Forest University

  Co-author: Sybil G. Gotsch – University of Kentucky

  Co-author: Todd Dawson, PhD – University of California-Berkeley

  Co-author: Nalini Nadkarni – University of Utah
• 10:45 AM – 11:00 AM PDT

  Drought stress decreases water interception capacity of two arboreal epiphytes with differing ecohydrological traits
  

  Presenting Author: Althea F. P. Moore – University of Georgia

  Co-author: Jalayna Antoine – Franklin and Marshal College

  Co-author: Laura I. Bedoya – Franklin and Marshal College

  Co-author: Clifton S. Buck – Skidaway Institute of Oceanography, University of Georgia

  Co-author: John T. Van Stan, II – Cleveland State University

  Co-author: Sybil G. Gotsch – University of Kentucky
• 11:00 AM – 11:15 AM PDT

  CANCELLED - Rain and condensation capture by a mixed epiphyte community in coastal Georgia (USA)
  

  Presenting Author: John T. Van Stan, II – Cleveland State University

  Co-author: Akosh Raffai – Cleveland State University

  Co-author: Sybil G. Gotsch – University of Kentucky

  Co-author: Althea F. P. Moore – University of Georgia

  Co-author: Clifton S. Buck – Skidaway Institute of Oceanography, University of Georgia
• 11:15 AM – 11:30 AM PDT

  Epiphyte removal alters host tree microclimate and physiological processes in a Costa Rican tropical montane cloud forest
  

  Presenting Author: Damon Vaughan – University of Kentucky

  Co-author: Nalini Nadkarni – University of Utah

  Co-author: Lauren Lowman, PhD – Wake Forest University

  Co-author: Todd Dawson, PhD – University of California-Berkeley

  Co-author: Robyn Dudrick – Virginia Commonwealth University

  Co-author: Hannah Connuck – Franklin and Marshall College

  Co-author: Glory Edioma – Franklin and Marshall College

  Co-author: Whitney Wyche – Franklin and Marshall College

  Co-author: Elenter Cubero – University of Kentucky

  Co-author: Pablo Gutierrez – University of Kentucky

  Co-author: Sybil G. Gotsch – University of Kentucky