Organized Oral Session
Hybrid Session
Jeffery B. Cannon
Landscape Ecologist
The Jones Center at ICHAUWAY
Newton, Georgia, United States
Nicole Zampieri
Post Doctoral Research Scientist
Tall Timbers Research Station, United States
Tropical storms and hurricanes—or tropical cyclones—have shaped the evolutionary history and biogeography of the southeastern U.S. However, storms of increasing intensity and frequency due to climate change pose a threat these ecosystems. These ecosystems hold some of the highest biodiversity in North America and are globally endangered due to anthropogenic stressors. A recent unprecedented major hurricane in North America showed that even single storms can have a substantial impact on not only susceptible coastal ecosystems, but at such scales and intensities, inland ecosystems have become increasingly vulnerable. The ecological and economic risk posed by hurricanes to southeastern ecosystems is important but is nevertheless difficult to quantify and predict because wind damage is driven by processes that occur at global, regional, stand-level, and individual tree scales. The goal of this session is to present recent ecological research on tropical cyclones across a broad range of scales, perspectives, and geographic range, emphasizing the critical role they play in formation and maintenance of the longleaf pine ecosystem. Talks within the organized session begin with large scale phenomenon at global scales such as climatological and meteorological factors driving risk, and effects of interactions among ecological disturbances. The session will also examine multiple studies that investigate drivers of wind damage vulnerability and mortality at scales from the entire landscape to individual trees. The session will conclude with progress on development of an approach for understanding wind risk that integrates multiple scales. The aggregation of these broad and multi-scale perspectives represents a significant step towards an understanding of hurricane ecology that integrates mechanisms at multiple scales. For community and population ecologists, the session will emphasize the role of wind damage in structuring natural communities. For land managers and conservationists, the session will provide a framework for considering and evaluating risk to important natural resources.
Presenting Author: Frank S. Gilliam – Select One
Presenting Author: William J. Platt, Ph.D. – Louisiana State University
Presenting Author: Christine C. Fortuin – Mississippi State University
Co-author: Chelsea N. Miller, PhD – Holden Forests and Gardens
Co-author: Seth Spinner, M.S. – University of Kentucky, Office of the State Entomologist
Co-author: Cristian R. Montes, PhD – University of Georgia, D.B. Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources
Co-author: James T. Vogt, PhD – USDA Forest Service Southern Research Station
Co-author: Kamal J.K. Gandhi, PhD – University of Georgia, D.B. Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources
Presenting Author: Nicole E. Zampieri – Tall Timbers Research Station
Co-author: Stephanie Pau – Florida State University
Co-author: Dan Okamoto, PhD – Florida State University
Presenting Author: Ajay Sharma – Auburn University
Co-author: Adam Polinko – Mississippi State University
Co-author: John L. Willis, PhD – Southern Research Station, U.S.D.A. Forest Service
Co-author: James Guldin – USDA Forest Service Southern Research Station
Presenting Author: Jeffery B. B. Cannon – The Jones Center at ICHAUWAY
Co-author: Chris J. Peterson, PhD – University of Georgia
Co-author: Christopher M. Godfrey, PhD – University of North Carolina Asheville
Co-author: Andrew W. Whelan, M.S. – The Jones Center at Ichauway