90-Minute Symposium

090-057

Global Integration, Local Ecosystems: Frontiers of Science for Biodiversity Policy

Session Start/End Time:

Friday, Feb 13, 2009, 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM

HRC Columbus AB

The integration of biodiversity and ecosystem service considerations into critical policy issues poses a particularly complex challenge because biodiversity contributes to human well-being on a variety of scales -- from spatially constrained freshwater provisioning to global carbon sequestration. Policy decisions made within one jurisdiction often have profound consequences for those living elsewhere. At the same time, integration of global economic systems has linked distant ecosystems, with an accompanying “homogenization” of the world’s biodiversity and a consequent erosion of the resilience that comes with a more diverse ecological portfolio. Scientific understanding of the ecological linkages that contribute to the delivery of ecosystem services, and our capacity to attach values to those services across governance scales, cultures, and economic conditions, is advancing, but more needs to be done. In particular, scientists cooperating across natural and social sciences must engage more actively with policy-makers to assess their needs and help inform decision-making. Speakers will focus on three key policy issues as they relate directly to biodiversity: climate change, trade and invasive species, and food security. Talks will address scientific understanding and uncertainty; critical near-term policy issues facing nations, regions, and the globe; and proposals for improving the science-policy dialogue.

Organized by:

Ann Kinzig, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ;Margaret R Collins, National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC

Presentations:

  Symposium Organizer--Ann Kinzig, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ

  Symposium Co-Organizer--Margaret R. G. Collins, National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC

  Moderator--Peter Crane, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL

  Climate Change and Biodiversity: Observing Impacts, Increasing Resilience--Yadvinder Malhi, Oxford University, Oxford, United Kingdom

  Globalization and the Dispersion of Species: The Economic Problem--Charles Perrings, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ

  Food Security, Agricultural Systems, and the Provision of Diverse Services--Alison G. Power, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

  Discussant--Michael J. Donoghue, Yale University, New Haven, CT

  Discussant--Ann Kinzig, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ