Symposium: Trait-based ecology, climate change research and conservation: an environmental space perspective
Date:
Location:
WSL Birmensdorf, Englersaal
Organised by:
Biodiversity Center, WSL
Speakers:
Various speakers (see below)
Moderators:
Catherine H. Graham, Elisa Barreto
Languages:
English
Type of event:
Presentations and colloquia
Audience:
Anyone interested in the topics
The WSL-Eawag Biodiversity Center is pleased to announce the half-day symposium on the intersection of trait-based ecology, climate change research, and conservation through the lens of climate space. This is a public event, open to all interested participants.
Ever since Humboldt travelled the world observing dramatic differences in species richness across different climatic zones, scientists have been keenly aware that the environment strongly influences the distribution of species on earth. Given the central role of environment in many ecological and evolutionary hypotheses, why is biodiversity studied predominantly using geographical locations as units of analyses? An alternative approach, studying diversity patterns directly in environmental space and using environmental bins instead of geographic grid cells, is starting to yield new and unexpected insights [1,2]. Studying biodiversity in environmental space is in its infancy and we believe there is much still to be learned.
This symposium features a series of 12-minute presentations exploring the intersection of trait-based ecology, climate change research, and conservation through the lens of climate space.
[1] Coelho, M. T. P., Barreto, E., Rangel, T. F., Diniz-Filho, J. A. F., Wüest, R. O., Bach, W., Skeels, A., McFadden, I. R., Roberts, D. W., Pellissier, L., Zimmermann, N. E., & Graham, C. H. (2023). The geography of climate and the global patterns of species diversity. Nature, 622(7983), 537–544.
[2] Coelho, M. T. P., Barreto, E., Diniz-Filho, J. A. F., Rangel, T. F., Bohdalková, E., Storch, D., Jang, Y.-T., Pontarp, M., Cassemiro, F., de Araujo, M. L., Hull, P. M., & Graham, C. H. (2025). Consistent energy-diversity relationships in terrestrial vertebrates. Science, 389(6755), 53–57.
Confirmed speakers ¶
Additional speakers will be announced in the coming weeks.
Swiss Federal Institute for Forest Snow and Landscape Research WSL
Talk: Biodiversity patterns redefined in environmental space
Stonybrook University, USA
Talk: A time-integrated view of climate contiguity and its role in shaping species communities
University of Texas, USA
Talk: Ecometric perspectives on biodiversity structure in environmental space
Thiago Rangel
Universidade Federal de Goiás, BR
Talk: A perspective on mechanistic models and enviromental space
University College London, UK
Talk: TBA
Sofía Galván
Universidade de Vigo, ES
Talk: Classic hypotheses of area, time, and climatic stability fall short in explaining high tropical species richness
Iñigo Rubio
Institute of Microbiology, CZ
Talk: Do climate and its geography explain tetrapod functional diversity?
Swiss Federal Institute for Forest Snow and Landscape Research WSL
Talk: Trait-environment relationships in environmental space
Registration ¶
The event will be held in a hybrid format and is open to everyone (WSL/EAWAG staff members & external participants).
* This symposium is part of a workshop bringing together international experts to explore trait-based ecology, climate change, and conservation through the lens of environmental space. We have up to five positions available for researchers at all career stages from WSL and EAWAG. More information available here.
The symposium is supported by the WSL-Eawag Biodiversity Center and the Swiss National Science Foundation.