Special Symposia
The following organized symposia will be included in the program at the 2025 IALE-North American Annual Meeting.
An Organized Symposium is a series of integrated presentations that address aspects of a single topic or theme. Symposia are the scientific centerpiece of the meeting and will run concurrently with other technical sessions.
Symposia listed as "open" below will be accepting proposals through the general call for abstracts. Symposia listed as "invite only" will not, but the invited speakers are still required to use the abstract submission form to provide the details on their talk.
An Organized Symposium is a series of integrated presentations that address aspects of a single topic or theme. Symposia are the scientific centerpiece of the meeting and will run concurrently with other technical sessions.
Symposia listed as "open" below will be accepting proposals through the general call for abstracts. Symposia listed as "invite only" will not, but the invited speakers are still required to use the abstract submission form to provide the details on their talk.
1. Analysis of change and data quality in a time series of maps
Type: Open
Organizer: Robert Gilmore Pontius Jr, Clark University, [email protected]
Co-Organizers: Tanner Honnef, Clark University; Aiyin Zhang, Clark University
This symposium explores frontiers concerning methods to analyze change and data quality in a time series of maps. Popular methods to describe change and data quality often remain an obstacle to the effective use or creation of time series datasets. Some conventions apply misleading metrics, such as reporting spatial patterns or accuracy at time points when the research question concerns change during the time intervals. Other conventions have yet to address features such as objects or patches in a time series of maps. This session focuses on methods to address existing challenges and establish future practices. Interested presenters should send their titles and abstracts to the symposium chair, Robert Gilmore Pontius Jr, at [email protected].
Type: Open
Organizer: Robert Gilmore Pontius Jr, Clark University, [email protected]
Co-Organizers: Tanner Honnef, Clark University; Aiyin Zhang, Clark University
This symposium explores frontiers concerning methods to analyze change and data quality in a time series of maps. Popular methods to describe change and data quality often remain an obstacle to the effective use or creation of time series datasets. Some conventions apply misleading metrics, such as reporting spatial patterns or accuracy at time points when the research question concerns change during the time intervals. Other conventions have yet to address features such as objects or patches in a time series of maps. This session focuses on methods to address existing challenges and establish future practices. Interested presenters should send their titles and abstracts to the symposium chair, Robert Gilmore Pontius Jr, at [email protected].
2. Co-production through Science Partnerships
Type: Open
Organizer: Kate Jones, North Carolina State University, [email protected]
Co-Organizers: Jelena Vukomanovic; Rachel Layko
Science partnerships are necessary to address the imminent, climate-driven environmental problems that transcend disciplinary and spatial boundaries. In landscape ecology, these partnerships are crucial to tackle complex questions that require expertise in multiple research domains and representation of diverse perspectives from managers and practitioners, policymakers, researchers, tribal partners, and community stakeholders. Specifically, collaborative teams foster unique perspectives and discussions about the dynamic connections between people and landscapes, the relevant spatial and temporal scales of analysis and management, and they pave the way for transitioning research to practice. However, these partnerships can be complicated by many factors including differing timelines and funding sources, disparate resource management mandates, various uncertainties (scientific, budgetary, etc.), administrative barriers (data sharing, understaffing, etc.), and the general challenge of speaking a common ‘language’ across sectors and disciplines. We invite conversation about science partnerships that span academic, non-profit, government agencies (federal, state, and local), tribal partners, and other sectors that are using team science to study and manage changing landscapes. We want to hear your success stories, challenges, and lessons learned while cultivating partnerships to address interdisciplinary challenges in landscape ecology.
This symposia contributes to the annual theme of “Landscapes of Change: Dynamic Interactions between Nature and People”, as science partnerships are at the foundation of identifying approaches to better study, understand, and respond to the evolving landscape connections between nature and people. We invite submissions from:
Type: Open
Organizer: Kate Jones, North Carolina State University, [email protected]
Co-Organizers: Jelena Vukomanovic; Rachel Layko
Science partnerships are necessary to address the imminent, climate-driven environmental problems that transcend disciplinary and spatial boundaries. In landscape ecology, these partnerships are crucial to tackle complex questions that require expertise in multiple research domains and representation of diverse perspectives from managers and practitioners, policymakers, researchers, tribal partners, and community stakeholders. Specifically, collaborative teams foster unique perspectives and discussions about the dynamic connections between people and landscapes, the relevant spatial and temporal scales of analysis and management, and they pave the way for transitioning research to practice. However, these partnerships can be complicated by many factors including differing timelines and funding sources, disparate resource management mandates, various uncertainties (scientific, budgetary, etc.), administrative barriers (data sharing, understaffing, etc.), and the general challenge of speaking a common ‘language’ across sectors and disciplines. We invite conversation about science partnerships that span academic, non-profit, government agencies (federal, state, and local), tribal partners, and other sectors that are using team science to study and manage changing landscapes. We want to hear your success stories, challenges, and lessons learned while cultivating partnerships to address interdisciplinary challenges in landscape ecology.
This symposia contributes to the annual theme of “Landscapes of Change: Dynamic Interactions between Nature and People”, as science partnerships are at the foundation of identifying approaches to better study, understand, and respond to the evolving landscape connections between nature and people. We invite submissions from:
- Multidisciplinary and multistakeholder teams
- Community-based science teams
- Policy work
- Practitioners and managers
- Teams involved in co-production
3. A Celebration of David Mladenoff and His Lab
Type: Invite Only
Organizer: Robert Scheller, North Carolina State University, [email protected]
Co-Organizers: Julia Burton, Michigan Tech; Jane Foster, US Forest Service
Dr. David Mladenoff was faculty at the University of Wisconsin at Madison from 1994 - 2019, where he continues in an Emeritus role. David’s research interests are wide and varied although always rooted in the principles, theories, and concepts of landscape ecology. He has always been particularly passionate about the regional ecology of the landscapes of the upper Great Lakes region. His interests include landscape ecology, forest ecology, wildlife ecology, disturbance ecology, forest biogeochemistry, remote sensing, GIS, botany, historical archives, climate change, sustainable forest management, and forest forecasting! He excelled within these disciplines by recruiting and mentoring excellent students, postdocs and staff from across the globe to join his lab in Madison. The collaborative, collegial, intellectually stimulating, and driven environment David fostered has served as a model for the modern lab group. From 2005-2010 he was the Beers-Bascom Professor of Conservation. David received the UW Romnes Research Award, Kellet Mid-Career Award, and the Pound Research Award. In 2011 he was named a Distinguished Ecologist by the US chapter of the IALE (now IALE-North America). He has authored over 150 publications, and was co-editor of two books. He was Editor-in-Chief of the journal Landscape Ecology - IALE’s flagship journal - from 2000-2005. Our symposium will serve as a forum for the many students, staff, postdocs, and colleagues influenced by his work - and their students, staff, and postdocs - to reflect on how their research and careers have built upon and expanded David’s research agenda and how we continue to make contributions to the discipline of landscape ecology and beyond.
Type: Invite Only
Organizer: Robert Scheller, North Carolina State University, [email protected]
Co-Organizers: Julia Burton, Michigan Tech; Jane Foster, US Forest Service
Dr. David Mladenoff was faculty at the University of Wisconsin at Madison from 1994 - 2019, where he continues in an Emeritus role. David’s research interests are wide and varied although always rooted in the principles, theories, and concepts of landscape ecology. He has always been particularly passionate about the regional ecology of the landscapes of the upper Great Lakes region. His interests include landscape ecology, forest ecology, wildlife ecology, disturbance ecology, forest biogeochemistry, remote sensing, GIS, botany, historical archives, climate change, sustainable forest management, and forest forecasting! He excelled within these disciplines by recruiting and mentoring excellent students, postdocs and staff from across the globe to join his lab in Madison. The collaborative, collegial, intellectually stimulating, and driven environment David fostered has served as a model for the modern lab group. From 2005-2010 he was the Beers-Bascom Professor of Conservation. David received the UW Romnes Research Award, Kellet Mid-Career Award, and the Pound Research Award. In 2011 he was named a Distinguished Ecologist by the US chapter of the IALE (now IALE-North America). He has authored over 150 publications, and was co-editor of two books. He was Editor-in-Chief of the journal Landscape Ecology - IALE’s flagship journal - from 2000-2005. Our symposium will serve as a forum for the many students, staff, postdocs, and colleagues influenced by his work - and their students, staff, and postdocs - to reflect on how their research and careers have built upon and expanded David’s research agenda and how we continue to make contributions to the discipline of landscape ecology and beyond.
4. Integrating dynamic human impacts into landscape ecology: advances and future directions
Type: Invite Only
Organizer: Katherine Zeller, Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute, [email protected]
Co-Organizers: Mark Ditmer, USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station
Anthropogenic impacts on wildlife and ecosystems have traditionally been modeled using estimates of land use change or the footprint of our infrastructure on the landscape. However, anthropogenic effects are often more nuanced and dynamic than we can infer from static data layers. For example, anthropogenic light and noise pollution - the occurrence of which is dynamic and dependent on our presence and activities - has been shown to mask natural sensory cues of wildlife and can lead to negative fitness consequences. In fact, some studies have shown that sometimes it isn’t necessarily human infrastructure that negatively impacts wildlife, but the associated human presence. Humans are both inhabiting and traveling throughout a greater proportion of the globe than ever before, and the ebb and flow of our presence on the landscape within both urban areas and natural areas once considered to have minimal human impacts, are an important emerging component of landscape ecological studies on wildlife. With the advent and increasing availability of dynamic datasets, observational and experimental studies of sensory pollution and human disturbance, and expanding computational capabilities, we are better poised to integrate dynamic human impacts into landscape ecological analyses and advance our understanding of anthropogenic impacts on wildlife and ecosystems. This symposium will offer talks ranging from the effects of recreation noise on wildlife behavior and space use, to new methods and data streams that aim to incorporate the dynamic human footprint across broad scales - such as the latest remotely sensed products and human mobility data collected from GPS smartphone applications. Through our talks, we will discuss recent advances and future needs in this field.
Type: Invite Only
Organizer: Katherine Zeller, Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute, [email protected]
Co-Organizers: Mark Ditmer, USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station
Anthropogenic impacts on wildlife and ecosystems have traditionally been modeled using estimates of land use change or the footprint of our infrastructure on the landscape. However, anthropogenic effects are often more nuanced and dynamic than we can infer from static data layers. For example, anthropogenic light and noise pollution - the occurrence of which is dynamic and dependent on our presence and activities - has been shown to mask natural sensory cues of wildlife and can lead to negative fitness consequences. In fact, some studies have shown that sometimes it isn’t necessarily human infrastructure that negatively impacts wildlife, but the associated human presence. Humans are both inhabiting and traveling throughout a greater proportion of the globe than ever before, and the ebb and flow of our presence on the landscape within both urban areas and natural areas once considered to have minimal human impacts, are an important emerging component of landscape ecological studies on wildlife. With the advent and increasing availability of dynamic datasets, observational and experimental studies of sensory pollution and human disturbance, and expanding computational capabilities, we are better poised to integrate dynamic human impacts into landscape ecological analyses and advance our understanding of anthropogenic impacts on wildlife and ecosystems. This symposium will offer talks ranging from the effects of recreation noise on wildlife behavior and space use, to new methods and data streams that aim to incorporate the dynamic human footprint across broad scales - such as the latest remotely sensed products and human mobility data collected from GPS smartphone applications. Through our talks, we will discuss recent advances and future needs in this field.
5. New insights into the feasibility, sustainability, and cumulative benefits of climate resilient design at the landscape scale
Type: Open
Organizer: Kristin Byrd, U.S. Geological Survey Western Geographic Science Center, [email protected]
Co-Organizers: Tamara Wilson, USGS Western Geographic Science Center; Melissa Foley, San Francisco Estuary Institute
Intensifying heat, extreme precipitation events, tropical storms and sea level rise associated with climate change pose risks to human health, property, and the economy in urban and suburban areas throughout North America. Infrastructure improvements using climate resilient design and Nature-based Solutions (NbS) are increasingly deployed to improve community resilience to these climate-related hazards. The American Society of Landscape Architects’ Resilient Design Guide emphasizes a multi-layered design approach to enable communities to recover more quickly from extreme events, provide multiple benefits and mitigate risk of failure. Resilient design has the capacity to reduce heat exposure, reduce urban stormwater runoff and reduce flooding hazards. Implementing NbS provides opportunities to meet these goals. NbS use natural features and processes to increase resilience to climate impacts while also providing benefits to biodiversity and human well-being. Some design solutions, as described in the Department of the Interior Nature-based Solutions Roadmap include living shorelines, urban forests, green roofs, pollinator gardens, rain gardens, and bioswales. The use of vegetation, vegetation management, and maintenance play a key role in the resilience outcomes of these designs. A primary consideration of climate resilient design and NbS is ensuring equity in who receives project benefits, particularly overburdened and under-resourced populations who have been disproportionately affected by climate change and are less resilient to climate exposure impacts. While projects are often implemented at individual sites, cumulatively they have the potential to provide broad benefits when planned strategically at the landscape scale. This symposium will feature new insights into the feasibility and potential cumulative benefits of implementing climate resilient design at the landscape scale. The symposium will address the sustainability of climate resilient design strategies, particularly given future climate change uncertainty. The symposium will also discuss strategies for equitable distribution of design benefits and inclusion of community input in strategies and designs.
Type: Open
Organizer: Kristin Byrd, U.S. Geological Survey Western Geographic Science Center, [email protected]
Co-Organizers: Tamara Wilson, USGS Western Geographic Science Center; Melissa Foley, San Francisco Estuary Institute
Intensifying heat, extreme precipitation events, tropical storms and sea level rise associated with climate change pose risks to human health, property, and the economy in urban and suburban areas throughout North America. Infrastructure improvements using climate resilient design and Nature-based Solutions (NbS) are increasingly deployed to improve community resilience to these climate-related hazards. The American Society of Landscape Architects’ Resilient Design Guide emphasizes a multi-layered design approach to enable communities to recover more quickly from extreme events, provide multiple benefits and mitigate risk of failure. Resilient design has the capacity to reduce heat exposure, reduce urban stormwater runoff and reduce flooding hazards. Implementing NbS provides opportunities to meet these goals. NbS use natural features and processes to increase resilience to climate impacts while also providing benefits to biodiversity and human well-being. Some design solutions, as described in the Department of the Interior Nature-based Solutions Roadmap include living shorelines, urban forests, green roofs, pollinator gardens, rain gardens, and bioswales. The use of vegetation, vegetation management, and maintenance play a key role in the resilience outcomes of these designs. A primary consideration of climate resilient design and NbS is ensuring equity in who receives project benefits, particularly overburdened and under-resourced populations who have been disproportionately affected by climate change and are less resilient to climate exposure impacts. While projects are often implemented at individual sites, cumulatively they have the potential to provide broad benefits when planned strategically at the landscape scale. This symposium will feature new insights into the feasibility and potential cumulative benefits of implementing climate resilient design at the landscape scale. The symposium will address the sustainability of climate resilient design strategies, particularly given future climate change uncertainty. The symposium will also discuss strategies for equitable distribution of design benefits and inclusion of community input in strategies and designs.
6. Connecting Conservation Geneticists to Meet Conservation Management Challenges for the Anthropocene
Type: Open
Organizer: Heather Evans, NCWRC, [email protected]
Co-Organizers: Helen Bothwell, University of Georgia; Elizabeth Kierepka, North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences/North Carolina State University
This symposium aims to connect conservation geneticists, landscape ecologists, and managers using landscape genetic and genomic applications to support species conservation management. The symposium will be organized into three sessions: (1) Landscape genetics of environmental epidemiology, (2) Methodological advancements in landscape genetics/genomics, and (3) Connecting conservation geneticists. Climate change, globalization, and over-population are having profound impacts on habitat and species interactions. These factors are increasing connectivity for many species, including invasives and disease vectors, while fragmenting other species, leading to bottlenecked populations with less power to withstand environmental pressures. The study of vector-borne disease epidemiology poses a unique challenge in the field of landscape genetics, for example modeling hosts as ‘landscapes’. Session I will address these issues and highlight research applying landscape genetics to model disease emergence, spread, and control, with particular emphasis on emerging challenges related to modeling gene flow and disease spread in highly connected species (e.g., CWD in deer). Session II will focus on methodological advancements in the field. Modeling population genetic processes in highly fragmented versus highly connected populations requires careful consideration of model assumptions and performance under these very different scenarios. Furthermore, the field has seen a shift from genetic to genomic sequencing technologies that enable increased power of detection (e.g., from MSATs to SNPs and whole genome datasets). This session will consequently highlight new machine learning tools and workflows for high throughput processing of large landscape genomic datasets. Session III will address the need for a working group or network to share emerging technologies, improve collaboration, provide mentoring, and avoid duplicative efforts among landscape geneticists. This session will be interactive and engage the community in discussions on these topics, with the aim of bringing together researchers and managers from diverse backgrounds working towards the common goal of species conservation management.
Type: Open
Organizer: Heather Evans, NCWRC, [email protected]
Co-Organizers: Helen Bothwell, University of Georgia; Elizabeth Kierepka, North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences/North Carolina State University
This symposium aims to connect conservation geneticists, landscape ecologists, and managers using landscape genetic and genomic applications to support species conservation management. The symposium will be organized into three sessions: (1) Landscape genetics of environmental epidemiology, (2) Methodological advancements in landscape genetics/genomics, and (3) Connecting conservation geneticists. Climate change, globalization, and over-population are having profound impacts on habitat and species interactions. These factors are increasing connectivity for many species, including invasives and disease vectors, while fragmenting other species, leading to bottlenecked populations with less power to withstand environmental pressures. The study of vector-borne disease epidemiology poses a unique challenge in the field of landscape genetics, for example modeling hosts as ‘landscapes’. Session I will address these issues and highlight research applying landscape genetics to model disease emergence, spread, and control, with particular emphasis on emerging challenges related to modeling gene flow and disease spread in highly connected species (e.g., CWD in deer). Session II will focus on methodological advancements in the field. Modeling population genetic processes in highly fragmented versus highly connected populations requires careful consideration of model assumptions and performance under these very different scenarios. Furthermore, the field has seen a shift from genetic to genomic sequencing technologies that enable increased power of detection (e.g., from MSATs to SNPs and whole genome datasets). This session will consequently highlight new machine learning tools and workflows for high throughput processing of large landscape genomic datasets. Session III will address the need for a working group or network to share emerging technologies, improve collaboration, provide mentoring, and avoid duplicative efforts among landscape geneticists. This session will be interactive and engage the community in discussions on these topics, with the aim of bringing together researchers and managers from diverse backgrounds working towards the common goal of species conservation management.
7. Addressing equitable access to clean air, water and the environment
Type: Invite Only
Organizer: Megan Mehaffey, US EPA, [email protected]
The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) mission is to protect human health and the environment through the best-available science. Recent research efforts at EPA have been focused on addressing questions around equitable access to clean air, water and the environment for some of the most vulnerable populations. Unequal spatial distribution of environmental exposures and accessibility to the natural environment has been tied to a wide variety of health disparities. The importance of ensuring healthy lives and promoting wellbeing for all has been reflected in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, a suite of U.S. Presidential Mandates expanding support and grants to advance equitable access to natural environment to protect public health and tackle the climate crisis, and active non-profits and grassroots action to expand green infrastructure to offset extreme weather impacts on vulnerable populations. Over the past several years EPA’s Office of Research and Development has conducted studies to evaluate the effects of historical zoning, infrastructure planning, and land management concepts on human health with a consideration of environmental justice across the urban and rural landscapes. There has also been conscious effort to develop modeling approaches and frameworks that enable holistic evaluation of human exposure that incorporate the natural environment. In this symposium we will focus on recent research efforts that investigate spatial disparities in accessibility and availability of recreational resources, impacts of past and current governmental choices on equitable distribution of ecosystem services and demonstrate the relationships found between human health and wellbeing.
Type: Invite Only
Organizer: Megan Mehaffey, US EPA, [email protected]
The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) mission is to protect human health and the environment through the best-available science. Recent research efforts at EPA have been focused on addressing questions around equitable access to clean air, water and the environment for some of the most vulnerable populations. Unequal spatial distribution of environmental exposures and accessibility to the natural environment has been tied to a wide variety of health disparities. The importance of ensuring healthy lives and promoting wellbeing for all has been reflected in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, a suite of U.S. Presidential Mandates expanding support and grants to advance equitable access to natural environment to protect public health and tackle the climate crisis, and active non-profits and grassroots action to expand green infrastructure to offset extreme weather impacts on vulnerable populations. Over the past several years EPA’s Office of Research and Development has conducted studies to evaluate the effects of historical zoning, infrastructure planning, and land management concepts on human health with a consideration of environmental justice across the urban and rural landscapes. There has also been conscious effort to develop modeling approaches and frameworks that enable holistic evaluation of human exposure that incorporate the natural environment. In this symposium we will focus on recent research efforts that investigate spatial disparities in accessibility and availability of recreational resources, impacts of past and current governmental choices on equitable distribution of ecosystem services and demonstrate the relationships found between human health and wellbeing.
8. Human migration and landscape change
Type: Open
Organizer: Jelena Vukomanovic, NC State University, [email protected]
Co-Organizers: Georgina Sanchez, NC State University; Christina Perella, NC State University
Landscapes influence human migration and in turn, human choices and preferences shape and impact landscapes. Historically, migration has been driven in large part by push and pull factors such as economic opportunity, political oppression, social networks, and environmental hazards. Recently, with rising incomes and fewer barriers to relocation, pull factors increasingly include amenities that enhance quality of life, such as access to outdoor recreation and “nice weather”—milder summers and winters. However, as climate change escalates the severity and frequency of weather-related disasters like hurricanes and wildfires, and slower environmental changes like sea-level rise and extreme heat take hold, human migration will become an increasingly common and often essential climate adaptation strategy. Both amenity migration and climate migration can have wide-ranging impacts, from increased development near areas of conservation concern to socioeconomic strain on regions receiving an influx of climate migrants. This open symposium will explore the drivers of human migration and their impacts on landscapes, conservation goals, and receiving communities. We welcome submissions from speakers working to understand global environmental change and inextricably linked human systems and their perspectives on human migration in dynamic landscapes.
Type: Open
Organizer: Jelena Vukomanovic, NC State University, [email protected]
Co-Organizers: Georgina Sanchez, NC State University; Christina Perella, NC State University
Landscapes influence human migration and in turn, human choices and preferences shape and impact landscapes. Historically, migration has been driven in large part by push and pull factors such as economic opportunity, political oppression, social networks, and environmental hazards. Recently, with rising incomes and fewer barriers to relocation, pull factors increasingly include amenities that enhance quality of life, such as access to outdoor recreation and “nice weather”—milder summers and winters. However, as climate change escalates the severity and frequency of weather-related disasters like hurricanes and wildfires, and slower environmental changes like sea-level rise and extreme heat take hold, human migration will become an increasingly common and often essential climate adaptation strategy. Both amenity migration and climate migration can have wide-ranging impacts, from increased development near areas of conservation concern to socioeconomic strain on regions receiving an influx of climate migrants. This open symposium will explore the drivers of human migration and their impacts on landscapes, conservation goals, and receiving communities. We welcome submissions from speakers working to understand global environmental change and inextricably linked human systems and their perspectives on human migration in dynamic landscapes.
9. Biodiversity in the anthropogenic landscapes: Patterns, Drivers, and Implications for conservation
Type: Open
Organizer: Tong Qiu, Duke University, [email protected]
Co-Organizers: Xiao Feng, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Note that lab members, including 3 Ph.D. students and 2 postdocs of the Qiu lab and Feng lab, will also help organize and host this special symposium. Duke and UNC-Chapel Hill is only 20 mins away from the conference center so this workshop will be well supported.
The proposed symposium aims to address one of the most pressing issues in modern landscape ecology. As the Anthropocene unfolds, human activities continue to exert profound influences on biodiversity and reshape landscapes across different scales. This symposium will bring together researchers working on various aspects of biodiversity change, offering a platform to discuss the patterns, drivers, consequences, and potential solutions for conserving biodiversity within rapidly transforming landscapes.
The symposium will focus on several key themes. One primary area of interest is the impact of novel climatic conditions on biodiversity, such as extreme climatic events, greening-induced changes in microclimate, and urban heat islands. Another focus will be on the current and legacy effects of anthropogenic factors, particularly urbanization and agricultural expansion, and how these processes intervene spatial layout of species’ habitats and altered spatial connectivity and configuration. Presentations will also explore how novel communities are shaped across different scales, as well as the emerging species interactions that occur across anthropogenic landscapes. The symposium will consider the implications of human activities and land use changes for conservation strategies. This could include approaches that integrate functional connectivity, land-use planning, green infrastructure, and habitat restoration. We will also encourage discussions of new tools and methods, including advances in artificial intelligence, Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), hyperspectral remote sensing, and ecological modeling, which are crucial for monitoring and predicting biodiversity trends in rapidly changing environments.
This symposium will include a mixture of invited speakers and presentations from the general call for abstracts. We will select presenters from a wide range of career stages to more established scientists. The importance of this symposium lies in its relevance to both the scientific community and practitioners involved in landscape management and biodiversity conservation. This symposium will contribute to advancing the field of landscape ecology and offer actionable insights for addressing the challenges that lie ahead.
Type: Open
Organizer: Tong Qiu, Duke University, [email protected]
Co-Organizers: Xiao Feng, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Note that lab members, including 3 Ph.D. students and 2 postdocs of the Qiu lab and Feng lab, will also help organize and host this special symposium. Duke and UNC-Chapel Hill is only 20 mins away from the conference center so this workshop will be well supported.
The proposed symposium aims to address one of the most pressing issues in modern landscape ecology. As the Anthropocene unfolds, human activities continue to exert profound influences on biodiversity and reshape landscapes across different scales. This symposium will bring together researchers working on various aspects of biodiversity change, offering a platform to discuss the patterns, drivers, consequences, and potential solutions for conserving biodiversity within rapidly transforming landscapes.
The symposium will focus on several key themes. One primary area of interest is the impact of novel climatic conditions on biodiversity, such as extreme climatic events, greening-induced changes in microclimate, and urban heat islands. Another focus will be on the current and legacy effects of anthropogenic factors, particularly urbanization and agricultural expansion, and how these processes intervene spatial layout of species’ habitats and altered spatial connectivity and configuration. Presentations will also explore how novel communities are shaped across different scales, as well as the emerging species interactions that occur across anthropogenic landscapes. The symposium will consider the implications of human activities and land use changes for conservation strategies. This could include approaches that integrate functional connectivity, land-use planning, green infrastructure, and habitat restoration. We will also encourage discussions of new tools and methods, including advances in artificial intelligence, Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), hyperspectral remote sensing, and ecological modeling, which are crucial for monitoring and predicting biodiversity trends in rapidly changing environments.
This symposium will include a mixture of invited speakers and presentations from the general call for abstracts. We will select presenters from a wide range of career stages to more established scientists. The importance of this symposium lies in its relevance to both the scientific community and practitioners involved in landscape management and biodiversity conservation. This symposium will contribute to advancing the field of landscape ecology and offer actionable insights for addressing the challenges that lie ahead.
10. Remote Sensing of Landscape Change and Disturbance
Type: Open
Organizer: Jitendra Kumar, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, [email protected]
Co-Organizers: Jitendra Kumar, Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Steven P. Norman, USDA Forest Service; William W. Hargrove, USDA Forest Service; Forrest M. Hoffman, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Remote sensing has been a foundational tool for landscape ecology for decades, and it has been critical for tracking disturbance and change over time. From providing national products and datasets, to monitoring landscape dynamics in near-real-time, to the integration with other datasets, remote sensing has carved out a pivotal role. Development of new platforms and sensors having increasing spatial, temporal and spectral resolution and new sensor modalities offers unprecedented opportunities to better understand the locations, severity and rates of disturbance and change that are increasingly reshaping landscapes in both predictable and novel ways. Emerging machine learning and big data analytics algorithms, computational methods and improved access to high performance and cloud computing resources have enabled novel use and application of voluminous remote sensing datasets. Technical and methodological advances have led to a substantial increase in data availability, to the extent that the sheer abundance of data products can create a challenge. While routine adoption of tools, approaches and technologies continues to lag cutting edge research, this application divide itself presents opportunities for further research and collaboration. This open IALE-NA symposium invites all practitioners to share their approaches and experiences using remote sensing methods to understand, detect, describe and monitor landscape change and disturbances through time.
Type: Open
Organizer: Jitendra Kumar, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, [email protected]
Co-Organizers: Jitendra Kumar, Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Steven P. Norman, USDA Forest Service; William W. Hargrove, USDA Forest Service; Forrest M. Hoffman, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Remote sensing has been a foundational tool for landscape ecology for decades, and it has been critical for tracking disturbance and change over time. From providing national products and datasets, to monitoring landscape dynamics in near-real-time, to the integration with other datasets, remote sensing has carved out a pivotal role. Development of new platforms and sensors having increasing spatial, temporal and spectral resolution and new sensor modalities offers unprecedented opportunities to better understand the locations, severity and rates of disturbance and change that are increasingly reshaping landscapes in both predictable and novel ways. Emerging machine learning and big data analytics algorithms, computational methods and improved access to high performance and cloud computing resources have enabled novel use and application of voluminous remote sensing datasets. Technical and methodological advances have led to a substantial increase in data availability, to the extent that the sheer abundance of data products can create a challenge. While routine adoption of tools, approaches and technologies continues to lag cutting edge research, this application divide itself presents opportunities for further research and collaboration. This open IALE-NA symposium invites all practitioners to share their approaches and experiences using remote sensing methods to understand, detect, describe and monitor landscape change and disturbances through time.
11. Dynamic Human-Nature Interactions in a Telecoupled and Metacoupled World
Type: Open
Organizer: Jonathan Rhodes, Queensland University of Technology, [email protected]
Co-Organizer: Jianguo (Jack) Liu, Michigan State University
The dynamics of humans and nature are driven strongly by the way they interact. Yet, these interactions operate at a range of scales from the local scale, such as how urban residents interact with city green spaces, up to the global scale such as long-distance linkages driven by trade, migration, species invasion, tourism, knowledge transfer, etc. These multi-scaled connections and feedbacks at a range of distances lead to telecoupled and metacoupled human and natural systems. Telecoupled systems are those in which two or more coupled systems influence each other across large distances, while metacoupled systems extend this idea to connections and feedbacks at a range of nested scales and distances (within as well as across adjacent and distant systems). Understanding the implications of telecoupling and metacoupling processes is critical for addressing many questions related to Landscape Ecology including the conservation of biodiversity, managing ecosystem services for human well-being, meeting sustainable development goals, and quantifying cross-scale interactions. This symposium will explore the implications of telecoupling and metacoupling from fundamental understanding to applications to advance and expand Landscape Ecology. We invite talks that demonstrate the applications of telecoupling and metacoupling frameworks to specific questions related to Landscape Ecology from both theoretical and applied perspectives. This symposium will advance our understanding of interactions within and among coupled systems from global to local scales and provide new insights into how policy, management, governance, and planning can integrate concepts from telecoupling and metacoupling frameworks.
Type: Open
Organizer: Jonathan Rhodes, Queensland University of Technology, [email protected]
Co-Organizer: Jianguo (Jack) Liu, Michigan State University
The dynamics of humans and nature are driven strongly by the way they interact. Yet, these interactions operate at a range of scales from the local scale, such as how urban residents interact with city green spaces, up to the global scale such as long-distance linkages driven by trade, migration, species invasion, tourism, knowledge transfer, etc. These multi-scaled connections and feedbacks at a range of distances lead to telecoupled and metacoupled human and natural systems. Telecoupled systems are those in which two or more coupled systems influence each other across large distances, while metacoupled systems extend this idea to connections and feedbacks at a range of nested scales and distances (within as well as across adjacent and distant systems). Understanding the implications of telecoupling and metacoupling processes is critical for addressing many questions related to Landscape Ecology including the conservation of biodiversity, managing ecosystem services for human well-being, meeting sustainable development goals, and quantifying cross-scale interactions. This symposium will explore the implications of telecoupling and metacoupling from fundamental understanding to applications to advance and expand Landscape Ecology. We invite talks that demonstrate the applications of telecoupling and metacoupling frameworks to specific questions related to Landscape Ecology from both theoretical and applied perspectives. This symposium will advance our understanding of interactions within and among coupled systems from global to local scales and provide new insights into how policy, management, governance, and planning can integrate concepts from telecoupling and metacoupling frameworks.
12. Black Ecologies and Geographies: Tracing Blackness and Nature across Landscapes
Type: Invite Only
Organizer: Erin Buchholtz, US Geological Survey - South Carolina Co-op Research Unit & Clemson University, [email protected]
Co-Organizers: Ty Tobias; Kusum Naithani
Black ecologies and geographies, as disciplines, elucidate the unique perspectives, forms of relating, histories and present-day dynamics of African diasporic nature relations. These fields simultaneously refer to a body of scholarship, a collection of frameworks and methodologies, and an ontological condition which center on Blackness as it relates to nature and the landscape -- and as the relationship reveals knowledge necessary to a holistic, contextual understanding of ecological dynamics. Western science frameworks underlying landscape ecology have not only historically excluded alternative approaches but have actively erased and subjugated different research strategies and products, especially those given by Black-Indigenous communities. The result has been a lack of acknowledgement -- and, indeed, knowledge -- of Black-Indigenous environmental epistemologies and methods and the many ways we can leverage them to bolster our current understandings of our field.
This symposium will support the 2025 conference theme by exploring the interconnections of the Black diaspora and the broader environment.
During this symposium, we will present information and facilitate dialogue concerning human-nature interactions between Black communities and landscapes in the context of various systems and lenses. We will explore themes such as defining Black ecologies and geographies, Black ecological methods and methodologies, mappings and spatiality of Blackness, and the role of these in future work. By integrating insights from landscape and spatial ecology, this gathering aims to enrich discourse by centering Black experiences and knowledge systems. We hope to broaden our understanding of cultural socio-ecological systems, emphasizing interdisciplinary methodologies that bridge Black ecological knowledge and ontologies with critical physical environmental studies. Attendees will learn about (1) the importance of critically interrogating the theoretical underpinnings of our research, (2) the study of landscape dynamics using qualitative, mixed, and non-normative approaches, and (3) the ways of engaging with the projects of Black ecologies and geographies.
Type: Invite Only
Organizer: Erin Buchholtz, US Geological Survey - South Carolina Co-op Research Unit & Clemson University, [email protected]
Co-Organizers: Ty Tobias; Kusum Naithani
Black ecologies and geographies, as disciplines, elucidate the unique perspectives, forms of relating, histories and present-day dynamics of African diasporic nature relations. These fields simultaneously refer to a body of scholarship, a collection of frameworks and methodologies, and an ontological condition which center on Blackness as it relates to nature and the landscape -- and as the relationship reveals knowledge necessary to a holistic, contextual understanding of ecological dynamics. Western science frameworks underlying landscape ecology have not only historically excluded alternative approaches but have actively erased and subjugated different research strategies and products, especially those given by Black-Indigenous communities. The result has been a lack of acknowledgement -- and, indeed, knowledge -- of Black-Indigenous environmental epistemologies and methods and the many ways we can leverage them to bolster our current understandings of our field.
This symposium will support the 2025 conference theme by exploring the interconnections of the Black diaspora and the broader environment.
During this symposium, we will present information and facilitate dialogue concerning human-nature interactions between Black communities and landscapes in the context of various systems and lenses. We will explore themes such as defining Black ecologies and geographies, Black ecological methods and methodologies, mappings and spatiality of Blackness, and the role of these in future work. By integrating insights from landscape and spatial ecology, this gathering aims to enrich discourse by centering Black experiences and knowledge systems. We hope to broaden our understanding of cultural socio-ecological systems, emphasizing interdisciplinary methodologies that bridge Black ecological knowledge and ontologies with critical physical environmental studies. Attendees will learn about (1) the importance of critically interrogating the theoretical underpinnings of our research, (2) the study of landscape dynamics using qualitative, mixed, and non-normative approaches, and (3) the ways of engaging with the projects of Black ecologies and geographies.
13. Artificial intelligence (AI) and landscape ecology: tools, perspectives, and complementarities
Type: Open
Organizer: Li An, Auburn University, [email protected]
Co-Organizers: Christopher Lepczyk, Auburn University; Fang Qiu, University of Texas at Dallas; Conghe Song, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill;
Zutao (Ou)Yang, Auburn University
Artificial intelligence (AI) and landscape ecology bear many linkages and mutual benefits, stemming from their complementary capabilities. AI, particularly machine learning (ML), offers powerful tools for spatial pattern recognition, data analysis, and predictive modeling of key ecological processes at various scales. This symposium welcomes presentations related to the following topics and beyond:
Type: Open
Organizer: Li An, Auburn University, [email protected]
Co-Organizers: Christopher Lepczyk, Auburn University; Fang Qiu, University of Texas at Dallas; Conghe Song, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill;
Zutao (Ou)Yang, Auburn University
Artificial intelligence (AI) and landscape ecology bear many linkages and mutual benefits, stemming from their complementary capabilities. AI, particularly machine learning (ML), offers powerful tools for spatial pattern recognition, data analysis, and predictive modeling of key ecological processes at various scales. This symposium welcomes presentations related to the following topics and beyond:
- Data Analysis and Interpretation: what and how AI algorithms can help landscape ecologists analyze large datasets from remote sensing, GIS, and environmental monitoring networks quickly and efficiently, uncovering patterns that might not be apparent using traditional methods.
- Predictive Modeling: how AI has been applied to predict future changes in landscape patterns, habitat suitability, and biodiversity based on past data.
- Automation: How AI techniques have been/can be used to automate classifying land cover types from satellite imagery or detecting changes in landscape features over time.
- Spatial Analysis: how AI can enhance the analysis of spatial heterogeneity and spatial configuration in landscapes, improving the accuracy and efficiency of ecological connectivity assessments, habitat fragmentation studies, and landscape pattern analysis.
- AI’s power in enhancing the predictive capabilities of landscape ecological models: through integrating multiple data sources and improving model accuracy.
- AI’s capability to help with decision support in conservation planning, land management, and ecosystem restoration. Examples include providing real-time data analysis, scenario testing, and optimal solutions for complex landscape-level problems.
- Biodiversity Monitoring and Conservation: How AI-powered tools such as deep learning can be/have been used for species identification, monitoring wildlife populations, detecting illegal activities like poaching or deforestation, analyzing feedback from ecosystems in real-time, and developing adaptive management strategies.
14. Innovating forest health indicators: New approaches for tracking broad-scale status and trends in a rapidly changing world
Type: Open
Organizer: Kevin Potter, USDA Forest Service, Southern Research Station, [email protected]
Co-Organizers: Frank Koch, USDA Forest Service; Kurt Riitters, USDA Forest Service
Forests provide a broad range of goods and services for current and future generations, safeguard biological diversity, and contribute to the resilience of ecosystems, societies, and economies. Many threats, including insect and disease infestation, fragmentation and conversion, catastrophic fire, invasive species, weather events, and climate change, threaten the ecological integrity of forests and their capacity to provide ecosystem and socioeconomic benefits. Systematic monitoring of forest health over time increases our understanding of how these disturbances are changing forest conditions and better informs land management and policy decisions. Advances in machine learning, remote sensing, analysis, and communication tools have the potential to enhance the effectiveness of monitoring across a variety of scales, but challenges remain to harnessing these developments. This open symposium will showcase innovative efforts to apply new tools to quantify the status of, changes to, and trends in a wide variety of broadly defined indicators of forest health across a variety of scales, using both established and newer datasets. It will include, but not be limited to, members of the Forest Health Monitoring Research Team of the USDA Forest Service and its partners.
Type: Open
Organizer: Kevin Potter, USDA Forest Service, Southern Research Station, [email protected]
Co-Organizers: Frank Koch, USDA Forest Service; Kurt Riitters, USDA Forest Service
Forests provide a broad range of goods and services for current and future generations, safeguard biological diversity, and contribute to the resilience of ecosystems, societies, and economies. Many threats, including insect and disease infestation, fragmentation and conversion, catastrophic fire, invasive species, weather events, and climate change, threaten the ecological integrity of forests and their capacity to provide ecosystem and socioeconomic benefits. Systematic monitoring of forest health over time increases our understanding of how these disturbances are changing forest conditions and better informs land management and policy decisions. Advances in machine learning, remote sensing, analysis, and communication tools have the potential to enhance the effectiveness of monitoring across a variety of scales, but challenges remain to harnessing these developments. This open symposium will showcase innovative efforts to apply new tools to quantify the status of, changes to, and trends in a wide variety of broadly defined indicators of forest health across a variety of scales, using both established and newer datasets. It will include, but not be limited to, members of the Forest Health Monitoring Research Team of the USDA Forest Service and its partners.
15. High-resolution Land Use/Land Cover Change Production and Dynamics
Type: Open
Organizer: Peter Claggett, U.S. Geological Survey, [email protected]
High-resolution, ~ 1-meter cells, land cover data have been created by NOAA for all coastal counties in the conterminous United States of America (USA). The Environmental Protection Agency has created high-resolution land use/land cover (LULC) data for 30 urbanized community areas throughout the USA and for 98 counties in the Mid-Atlantic Region. In addition, comparable and consistent high-resolution LULC data with 56 unique classes have been developed for all counties intersecting the Chesapeake Bay watershed (256,000 km2) for three dates in time. Hyper-resolution, ~1:2000 scale, hydrography data have also been generated for the Chesapeake Bay watershed that enable characterization of LULC dynamics relative to streams and water bodies. These data inform many components of the Chesapeake Bay restoration and conservation program. This session explores the dynamics of LULC change observable with high-resolution LULC data in the Chesapeake and elsewhere and focuses on the unique challenges associated with characterizing landscape patterns and dynamics at high-resolution compared with using 30-meter, Landsat-derived LULC data products. Additional high-resolution LULC topics that may be covered by invited presentations include riparian land use change, timber harvest dynamics, impervious surface connectivity, and habitat fragmentation.
Type: Open
Organizer: Peter Claggett, U.S. Geological Survey, [email protected]
High-resolution, ~ 1-meter cells, land cover data have been created by NOAA for all coastal counties in the conterminous United States of America (USA). The Environmental Protection Agency has created high-resolution land use/land cover (LULC) data for 30 urbanized community areas throughout the USA and for 98 counties in the Mid-Atlantic Region. In addition, comparable and consistent high-resolution LULC data with 56 unique classes have been developed for all counties intersecting the Chesapeake Bay watershed (256,000 km2) for three dates in time. Hyper-resolution, ~1:2000 scale, hydrography data have also been generated for the Chesapeake Bay watershed that enable characterization of LULC dynamics relative to streams and water bodies. These data inform many components of the Chesapeake Bay restoration and conservation program. This session explores the dynamics of LULC change observable with high-resolution LULC data in the Chesapeake and elsewhere and focuses on the unique challenges associated with characterizing landscape patterns and dynamics at high-resolution compared with using 30-meter, Landsat-derived LULC data products. Additional high-resolution LULC topics that may be covered by invited presentations include riparian land use change, timber harvest dynamics, impervious surface connectivity, and habitat fragmentation.