Special Symposia
The following organized symposia will be included in the program at the 2026 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.
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.
1. Understanding Dynamic Change and Opportunities for Enhanced Resilience of Coastal Landscapes
Type: Open
Organizer: Sara Zeigler, U.S. Geological Survey
Co-Organizers: Matthew Bilskie, University of Georgia College of Engineering
Description: Barrier islands and other coastal landscapes offer varied ecosystem services, from habitats to recreational opportunities to storm protection. Changes to these landscapes, therefore, can have profound socioeconomic and environmental consequences, and studies and models that assess change are important for informing adaptation and risk mitigation strategies. However, understanding change on inherently dynamic coastal landscapes is challenging and requires transdisciplinary approaches that integrate knowledge from oceanography, geology, ecology, geography, engineering, and social sciences. For example, external hydrodynamic forces—such as wave run-up driven by storms and sea-level rise—shape landforms, while the response of those landforms is controlled by, among other factors, sediment availability and ecological-geomorphological feedbacks. Human activities further drive change and influence how landscapes respond to external forces.
Transdisciplinary studies that integrate knowledge from these varied disciplines are necessary to inform vital management questions in the coastal zone, such as (i) how do we define detect change on inherently dynamic landscapes; (ii) can we detect early warning signs of irreversible change; (iii) how do humans drive coastal landscape change and how do their behaviors shift in response to that change; and (iv) how can we enhance the resilience of these valuable landscapes? This symposium will include a mixture of invited speakers and presentations from the general abstract call and welcomes presentations broadly focused on change and resilience of coastal landscapes.
Type: Open
Organizer: Sara Zeigler, U.S. Geological Survey
Co-Organizers: Matthew Bilskie, University of Georgia College of Engineering
Description: Barrier islands and other coastal landscapes offer varied ecosystem services, from habitats to recreational opportunities to storm protection. Changes to these landscapes, therefore, can have profound socioeconomic and environmental consequences, and studies and models that assess change are important for informing adaptation and risk mitigation strategies. However, understanding change on inherently dynamic coastal landscapes is challenging and requires transdisciplinary approaches that integrate knowledge from oceanography, geology, ecology, geography, engineering, and social sciences. For example, external hydrodynamic forces—such as wave run-up driven by storms and sea-level rise—shape landforms, while the response of those landforms is controlled by, among other factors, sediment availability and ecological-geomorphological feedbacks. Human activities further drive change and influence how landscapes respond to external forces.
Transdisciplinary studies that integrate knowledge from these varied disciplines are necessary to inform vital management questions in the coastal zone, such as (i) how do we define detect change on inherently dynamic landscapes; (ii) can we detect early warning signs of irreversible change; (iii) how do humans drive coastal landscape change and how do their behaviors shift in response to that change; and (iv) how can we enhance the resilience of these valuable landscapes? This symposium will include a mixture of invited speakers and presentations from the general abstract call and welcomes presentations broadly focused on change and resilience of coastal landscapes.
2. Remote Sensing of Landscape Change and Disturbance
Type: Open
Organizer: Jitendra Kumar, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Co-Organizers: Steven P. Norman, USDA Forest Service; William W. Hargrove, USDA Forest Service (retired); Forrest M. Hoffman, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Description: 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, and 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 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
Co-Organizers: Steven P. Norman, USDA Forest Service; William W. Hargrove, USDA Forest Service (retired); Forrest M. Hoffman, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Description: 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, and 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 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.
3. Innovative Approaches to Connectivity Modeling and Analysis
Type: Open
Organizer: Morgan Rogers, University of California, Santa Barbara
Co-Organizers: Dr. Amy Frazier, University of California, Santa Barbara; Wenxin Yang, University of California, Santa Barbara
Description: The United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity’s Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework identifies enhancing connectivity—the degree to which a landscape facilitates species movement—as a key conservation strategy. Connectivity is important for species migrations, nesting, breeding, and establishing food sites as well as increasing individual fitness by supporting reproduction. Widely applied in landscape ecology, connectivity modeling methods are rapidly advancing in order to tackle new challenges and disruptive forces. Example innovations include 3D connectivity, connectivity under climate change scenarios/across multiple time steps, connectivity methods designed for specific ecosystems (e.g., urban), and integrating artificial intelligence approaches into connectivity analysis. This symposium will showcase diverse methods to model connectivity using both structural and functional methods, and facilitate meaningful conversations for moving forward. We also welcome submissions on landscape metrics more broadly, including their extension into the 3D realm.
Type: Open
Organizer: Morgan Rogers, University of California, Santa Barbara
Co-Organizers: Dr. Amy Frazier, University of California, Santa Barbara; Wenxin Yang, University of California, Santa Barbara
Description: The United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity’s Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework identifies enhancing connectivity—the degree to which a landscape facilitates species movement—as a key conservation strategy. Connectivity is important for species migrations, nesting, breeding, and establishing food sites as well as increasing individual fitness by supporting reproduction. Widely applied in landscape ecology, connectivity modeling methods are rapidly advancing in order to tackle new challenges and disruptive forces. Example innovations include 3D connectivity, connectivity under climate change scenarios/across multiple time steps, connectivity methods designed for specific ecosystems (e.g., urban), and integrating artificial intelligence approaches into connectivity analysis. This symposium will showcase diverse methods to model connectivity using both structural and functional methods, and facilitate meaningful conversations for moving forward. We also welcome submissions on landscape metrics more broadly, including their extension into the 3D realm.
4. Resilient Infrastructure and Nature-based Solutions: Planning and Practice
Type: Open
Organizer: Alec Nelson, University of Georgia - Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resourcess
Co-Organizers: Brock Woodson, University of Georgia - College of Engineering
Description: Planning for resilience in civil infrastructure against emerging compound natural hazards requires modern engineering and landscape management approaches across spatially heterogeneous systems. Nature-based solutions offer many advantages over traditional infrastructure planning, including preserving and enhancing natural ecological functions, buffering against extreme weather events, and supporting cultural and human health benefits. Resilience-focused planning that incorporates natural and nature-based features is a well-established field and has been adopted across multiple communities, agencies, installations, and practitioner groups. In this symposium, we showcase a broad range of nature-based solutions that support resilient infrastructure planning and practice. These innovative interdisciplinary approaches feature spatially explicit methods to adapt conventional infrastructure planning to meet the evolving needs of people and nature amid changing environmental, climatic, and social disturbances.
Type: Open
Organizer: Alec Nelson, University of Georgia - Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resourcess
Co-Organizers: Brock Woodson, University of Georgia - College of Engineering
Description: Planning for resilience in civil infrastructure against emerging compound natural hazards requires modern engineering and landscape management approaches across spatially heterogeneous systems. Nature-based solutions offer many advantages over traditional infrastructure planning, including preserving and enhancing natural ecological functions, buffering against extreme weather events, and supporting cultural and human health benefits. Resilience-focused planning that incorporates natural and nature-based features is a well-established field and has been adopted across multiple communities, agencies, installations, and practitioner groups. In this symposium, we showcase a broad range of nature-based solutions that support resilient infrastructure planning and practice. These innovative interdisciplinary approaches feature spatially explicit methods to adapt conventional infrastructure planning to meet the evolving needs of people and nature amid changing environmental, climatic, and social disturbances.
5. Human-Nature Dynamics across Telecoupled and Metacoupled Landscapes
Type: Open
Organizer: Jianguo Liu, Michigan State University
Co-Organizers: Jincheng Huang and Joris Van Zeghbroeck, Michigan State University
Description: Landscapes are coupled human and natural systems. Their dynamics are shaped by natural and anthropogenic forces within and across adjacent and distant systems. Furthermore, landscapes near and far are socioeconomically and ecologically connected through processes such as trade, migration, species invasion, disease spread, tourism, investment, technology transfer, and knowledge transfer. These multi-scaled interactions and feedbacks at a range of distances result in telecoupled and metacoupled human and natural systems. Telecoupled systems consist of two or more coupled systems that influence each other across large distances, while metacoupled systems consist of human-nature interactions within as well as across adjacent and distant systems. Understanding the causes, agents, and effects of telecoupling and metacoupling processes is crucial for addressing many important issues related to Landscape Ecology, including biodiversity conservation, ecosystem services, landscape restoration, sustainable development, and cross-scale human-nature interactions. This symposium will examine the applications of telecoupling and metacoupling frameworks for fundamental understanding, scientific advancement, and solutions to real-world challenges. It will advance our understanding of interactions, sustainability, and resilience within and among coupled systems from global to local scales. It will also provide new insights into how policy, conservation, restoration, management, governance, design, and planning can benefit from telecoupling and metacoupling frameworks.
Type: Open
Organizer: Jianguo Liu, Michigan State University
Co-Organizers: Jincheng Huang and Joris Van Zeghbroeck, Michigan State University
Description: Landscapes are coupled human and natural systems. Their dynamics are shaped by natural and anthropogenic forces within and across adjacent and distant systems. Furthermore, landscapes near and far are socioeconomically and ecologically connected through processes such as trade, migration, species invasion, disease spread, tourism, investment, technology transfer, and knowledge transfer. These multi-scaled interactions and feedbacks at a range of distances result in telecoupled and metacoupled human and natural systems. Telecoupled systems consist of two or more coupled systems that influence each other across large distances, while metacoupled systems consist of human-nature interactions within as well as across adjacent and distant systems. Understanding the causes, agents, and effects of telecoupling and metacoupling processes is crucial for addressing many important issues related to Landscape Ecology, including biodiversity conservation, ecosystem services, landscape restoration, sustainable development, and cross-scale human-nature interactions. This symposium will examine the applications of telecoupling and metacoupling frameworks for fundamental understanding, scientific advancement, and solutions to real-world challenges. It will advance our understanding of interactions, sustainability, and resilience within and among coupled systems from global to local scales. It will also provide new insights into how policy, conservation, restoration, management, governance, design, and planning can benefit from telecoupling and metacoupling frameworks.
6. Acoustic and Soundscape Ecology in Landscape Analyses
Type: Open
Organizer: John Quinn, Furman University
Co-Organizers: TBA
Description: This symposium will explore the rapidly advancing fields of bioacoustic, ecoacoustic, and soundscape ecology, offering a novel dimension to the study of landscape patterns and processes. As our planet grows louder and landscapes become increasingly fragmented, the acoustic environment is undergoing clear changes. The sounds animals use for communication, navigation, and survival are being masked by anthropogenic noise, and the natural acoustic signatures of ecosystems are being altered. This symposium will bring together leading and new researchers to discuss how sound-based methodologies can be used to monitor biodiversity, assess habitat quality, and understand the ecological integrity of landscapes.
The theoretical foundations of acoustic ecology have matured significantly in recent years, moving beyond simple species detection towards a more systems-level understanding of the soundscape. The proliferation of low-cost, long-term passive acoustic monitoring has generated unprecedented volumes of ecological data. Consequently, the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning has become indispensable, enabling researchers to analyze these vast datasets to identify complex ecological patterns. We will explore how these analytical approaches provide new insights into landscape change and the pervasive impacts of anthropogenic noise. By focusing on the intersection of ecological theory and technology, this symposium will showcase the transformative potential of sound in understanding and managing complex landscapes.
Type: Open
Organizer: John Quinn, Furman University
Co-Organizers: TBA
Description: This symposium will explore the rapidly advancing fields of bioacoustic, ecoacoustic, and soundscape ecology, offering a novel dimension to the study of landscape patterns and processes. As our planet grows louder and landscapes become increasingly fragmented, the acoustic environment is undergoing clear changes. The sounds animals use for communication, navigation, and survival are being masked by anthropogenic noise, and the natural acoustic signatures of ecosystems are being altered. This symposium will bring together leading and new researchers to discuss how sound-based methodologies can be used to monitor biodiversity, assess habitat quality, and understand the ecological integrity of landscapes.
The theoretical foundations of acoustic ecology have matured significantly in recent years, moving beyond simple species detection towards a more systems-level understanding of the soundscape. The proliferation of low-cost, long-term passive acoustic monitoring has generated unprecedented volumes of ecological data. Consequently, the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning has become indispensable, enabling researchers to analyze these vast datasets to identify complex ecological patterns. We will explore how these analytical approaches provide new insights into landscape change and the pervasive impacts of anthropogenic noise. By focusing on the intersection of ecological theory and technology, this symposium will showcase the transformative potential of sound in understanding and managing complex landscapes.
7. Restoration Through Indigenous Knowledge: Designing through Story, Science, and Reciprocity
Type: Open
Organizer: Jennifer Mahan, Wenk Associates, Project Manager
Co-Organizers: Gordon Yellowman, Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes; Darin Delay, City of Arvada Parks & Urban Design
Description: This symposium explores how ecological restoration can move beyond repairing ecosystems to restoring relationships among people, place, and living systems. Across North America and beyond, Indigenous communities, ecologists, and designers are re-imagining restoration as both a cultural and ecological practice that weaves traditional knowledge, contemporary science, and local narratives into living, adaptive landscapes.
Presentations will highlight approaches that center Indigenous worldviews and ecological processes in the design and stewardship of restored sites. Topics may include riparian and wetland corridor re-patterning; layered habitat mosaics; adaptive management of ecological design; scaling connectivity across patch-corridor-matrix structures; community-led restoration with Indigenous partners; and frameworks connecting story, structure, and ecological function across landscape scales. Together, these topics show how cultural narratives and ecological processes shape the patterns, connections, and functions that define healthy ecosystems.
As a case study example, restoration at Gold Strike Park (Arvada, Colorado) repositions an urban riparian corridor as a living system where ecological design and Indigenous knowledge co-create the landscape. Along Ralston Creek, traditional teachings of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes—centered on beings such as buffalo, cottonwood, and water—inform spatial organization and restoration strategies. The project uses phased grading and soil renewal, native riparian establishment, and the story of the land to rebuild ecological relationships while embedding cultural narratives directly into the design.
The symposium will feature presentations followed by a collective discussion to identify shared challenges, emerging methods, and opportunities for collaboration across research and practice. We welcome contributions from ecologists, Indigenous knowledge holders, designers, and community practitioners engaged in co-creation and collaborative restoration. Others working in similar partnerships are encouraged to select this symposium when submitting abstracts. By bringing together multiple perspectives, this session aims to foster dialogue on co-creation, reciprocity, and the evolving ethics of restoration within the broader framework of landscape ecology.
Type: Open
Organizer: Jennifer Mahan, Wenk Associates, Project Manager
Co-Organizers: Gordon Yellowman, Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes; Darin Delay, City of Arvada Parks & Urban Design
Description: This symposium explores how ecological restoration can move beyond repairing ecosystems to restoring relationships among people, place, and living systems. Across North America and beyond, Indigenous communities, ecologists, and designers are re-imagining restoration as both a cultural and ecological practice that weaves traditional knowledge, contemporary science, and local narratives into living, adaptive landscapes.
Presentations will highlight approaches that center Indigenous worldviews and ecological processes in the design and stewardship of restored sites. Topics may include riparian and wetland corridor re-patterning; layered habitat mosaics; adaptive management of ecological design; scaling connectivity across patch-corridor-matrix structures; community-led restoration with Indigenous partners; and frameworks connecting story, structure, and ecological function across landscape scales. Together, these topics show how cultural narratives and ecological processes shape the patterns, connections, and functions that define healthy ecosystems.
As a case study example, restoration at Gold Strike Park (Arvada, Colorado) repositions an urban riparian corridor as a living system where ecological design and Indigenous knowledge co-create the landscape. Along Ralston Creek, traditional teachings of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes—centered on beings such as buffalo, cottonwood, and water—inform spatial organization and restoration strategies. The project uses phased grading and soil renewal, native riparian establishment, and the story of the land to rebuild ecological relationships while embedding cultural narratives directly into the design.
The symposium will feature presentations followed by a collective discussion to identify shared challenges, emerging methods, and opportunities for collaboration across research and practice. We welcome contributions from ecologists, Indigenous knowledge holders, designers, and community practitioners engaged in co-creation and collaborative restoration. Others working in similar partnerships are encouraged to select this symposium when submitting abstracts. By bringing together multiple perspectives, this session aims to foster dialogue on co-creation, reciprocity, and the evolving ethics of restoration within the broader framework of landscape ecology.
8. Integrative Approaches to Social-Ecological Systems Resilience
Type: Open
Organizer: Susan Kotikot, Geography, Sustainability, Community, and Urban Studies (GSCU), University of Connecticut
Co-Organizers: TBA
Description: Social-Ecological Systems (SES) are inherently complex, shaped by dynamic interactions between ecological processes and human decisions and actions across space and time. In a rapidly changing world marked by climate disruptions, land-use transformations, and shifting social-political contexts, understanding and managing SES has become both critical and increasingly complex. These systems are characterized by feedback loops, cross-scale interactions, and emergent behaviors that challenge conventional disciplinary boundaries and analytical tools. Researchers face persistent difficulties in integrating diverse data types and reconciling spatial, temporal, and operational scales. Practitioners, meanwhile, often struggle to translate SES insights into actionable strategies due to limited tools for navigating complexity, engaging stakeholders, and balancing competing priorities across sectors and scales.
There is an urgent need for interdisciplinary collaboration and the co-production of knowledge to address the complexity of SES challenges. Landscape ecology offers a uniquely spatial and integrative framework for bridging ecological and social dimensions and is thus well-positioned to contribute to SES research. Its focus on spatial heterogeneity, connectivity, and scale enables a deeper understanding of coupled human-natural systems. Methodological innovations such as spatially explicit modeling, mixed-methods integration, participatory mapping, and scenario planning, when grounded in landscape ecological principles, can be powerful tools for exploring SES processes. These approaches not only deepen theoretical understanding but also equip researchers and practitioners with spatially grounded tools to design, evaluate, and implement more regenerative and resilient landscape interventions.
Drawing from diverse case studies, this symposium will synthesize lessons learned, with the goal of consolidating knowledge to inform research practice in ways that support the operationalization of SES resilience in planning and policy. This symposium aims to foster interdisciplinary dialogue and identify best practices for addressing SES challenges. It will contribute to a growing body of work that makes SES research more spatially grounded, methodologically robust, and responsive to the ever-emerging needs of both ecosystems and communities.
Type: Open
Organizer: Susan Kotikot, Geography, Sustainability, Community, and Urban Studies (GSCU), University of Connecticut
Co-Organizers: TBA
Description: Social-Ecological Systems (SES) are inherently complex, shaped by dynamic interactions between ecological processes and human decisions and actions across space and time. In a rapidly changing world marked by climate disruptions, land-use transformations, and shifting social-political contexts, understanding and managing SES has become both critical and increasingly complex. These systems are characterized by feedback loops, cross-scale interactions, and emergent behaviors that challenge conventional disciplinary boundaries and analytical tools. Researchers face persistent difficulties in integrating diverse data types and reconciling spatial, temporal, and operational scales. Practitioners, meanwhile, often struggle to translate SES insights into actionable strategies due to limited tools for navigating complexity, engaging stakeholders, and balancing competing priorities across sectors and scales.
There is an urgent need for interdisciplinary collaboration and the co-production of knowledge to address the complexity of SES challenges. Landscape ecology offers a uniquely spatial and integrative framework for bridging ecological and social dimensions and is thus well-positioned to contribute to SES research. Its focus on spatial heterogeneity, connectivity, and scale enables a deeper understanding of coupled human-natural systems. Methodological innovations such as spatially explicit modeling, mixed-methods integration, participatory mapping, and scenario planning, when grounded in landscape ecological principles, can be powerful tools for exploring SES processes. These approaches not only deepen theoretical understanding but also equip researchers and practitioners with spatially grounded tools to design, evaluate, and implement more regenerative and resilient landscape interventions.
Drawing from diverse case studies, this symposium will synthesize lessons learned, with the goal of consolidating knowledge to inform research practice in ways that support the operationalization of SES resilience in planning and policy. This symposium aims to foster interdisciplinary dialogue and identify best practices for addressing SES challenges. It will contribute to a growing body of work that makes SES research more spatially grounded, methodologically robust, and responsive to the ever-emerging needs of both ecosystems and communities.
9. Hurricanes and derechos and droughts, oh my: Assessing the ecological impacts of large-scale extreme weather events
Type: Open
Organizer: Kevin Potter, USDA Forest Service, Southern Research Station
Co-Organizers: Steve Norman, USDA Forest Service, Southern Research Station; Lars Pomara, USDA Forest Service, Southern Research Station; JT Vogt, USDA Forest Service, Southern Research Station
Description: Large-scale weather events have the potential to cause dramatic changes to natural systems. For example, Hurricane Helene in 2024 left a path of destruction across much of the South, including extensive flooding, forest blowdowns and landslides in the Southern Appalachian region. A 1999 derecho in the northern US and southern Canada resulted in more than 100,000 hectares of forest windthrow. An extended drought from 2011 to 2017 killed millions of trees in California. Evidence indicates that the frequency, intensity, and duration of extreme weather events are increasing. The spatial patterns of ecosystem damage associated with such severe weather events are complex and likely associated with an array of abiotic and biotic factors including topography and aspect, community composition, and land use history. Landscape ecology provides tools to assess the potential existence of ecosystem resistance and resilience to extreme weather events, the primary and secondary impacts of such disturbances, and the subsequent recovery of the affected ecosystems, all across geographic space and time. This open symposium will showcase innovative efforts to understand the ecological effects of extreme weather events using both remotely sensed and field-collected data. The findings can help advance our collective understanding of the susceptibility of natural ecosystems to extreme weather disturbance, the ecological consequences of these events, and the ways in which management actions can assist in the recovery of natural systems and the economic and ecological services they provide.
Type: Open
Organizer: Kevin Potter, USDA Forest Service, Southern Research Station
Co-Organizers: Steve Norman, USDA Forest Service, Southern Research Station; Lars Pomara, USDA Forest Service, Southern Research Station; JT Vogt, USDA Forest Service, Southern Research Station
Description: Large-scale weather events have the potential to cause dramatic changes to natural systems. For example, Hurricane Helene in 2024 left a path of destruction across much of the South, including extensive flooding, forest blowdowns and landslides in the Southern Appalachian region. A 1999 derecho in the northern US and southern Canada resulted in more than 100,000 hectares of forest windthrow. An extended drought from 2011 to 2017 killed millions of trees in California. Evidence indicates that the frequency, intensity, and duration of extreme weather events are increasing. The spatial patterns of ecosystem damage associated with such severe weather events are complex and likely associated with an array of abiotic and biotic factors including topography and aspect, community composition, and land use history. Landscape ecology provides tools to assess the potential existence of ecosystem resistance and resilience to extreme weather events, the primary and secondary impacts of such disturbances, and the subsequent recovery of the affected ecosystems, all across geographic space and time. This open symposium will showcase innovative efforts to understand the ecological effects of extreme weather events using both remotely sensed and field-collected data. The findings can help advance our collective understanding of the susceptibility of natural ecosystems to extreme weather disturbance, the ecological consequences of these events, and the ways in which management actions can assist in the recovery of natural systems and the economic and ecological services they provide.
10. Now what? Science partnerships under uncertainty and change
Type: Open
Organizer: Jelena Vukomanovic, NC State University/Center for Geospatial Analytics
Co-Organizer: Kate Jones, NC State University; Rachel Layko, NC State University
Description: Science partnerships are essential to better study, understand, and respond to the evolving landscape connections between nature and people. In landscape ecology, science partnerships are crucial to tackle complex questions that require expertise in multiple research domains and representation of perspectives from managers and practitioners, researchers, policymakers, tribal rights holders, and community partners.
At the 2025 IALE-NA meeting we organized a session on “Co-production through Science Partnerships” to share success stories, challenges, and lessons learned while cultivating partnerships. We felt the loss of our federal scientist colleagues who were unable to attend the meeting and present. Starting in January 2025, through executive actions and other means, federal government reductions in force and furloughs have reduced scientific expertise, cut funding for critical scientific research, limited roles of scientists in government decision-making processes, and constrained government data collection. With federal scientists and agencies as key partners in many collaborations, the impacts of these actions have yet to be fully realized.
In this follow-up session, we are interested in exploring where science partnerships go from here. We welcome presentations from teams involved in science co-production and discussion of impacts and changing partnerships. We also welcome prospective presentations that explore opportunities for academics and other partnerships to fill key gaps or explore new ways to organize.
Type: Open
Organizer: Jelena Vukomanovic, NC State University/Center for Geospatial Analytics
Co-Organizer: Kate Jones, NC State University; Rachel Layko, NC State University
Description: Science partnerships are essential to better study, understand, and respond to the evolving landscape connections between nature and people. In landscape ecology, science partnerships are crucial to tackle complex questions that require expertise in multiple research domains and representation of perspectives from managers and practitioners, researchers, policymakers, tribal rights holders, and community partners.
At the 2025 IALE-NA meeting we organized a session on “Co-production through Science Partnerships” to share success stories, challenges, and lessons learned while cultivating partnerships. We felt the loss of our federal scientist colleagues who were unable to attend the meeting and present. Starting in January 2025, through executive actions and other means, federal government reductions in force and furloughs have reduced scientific expertise, cut funding for critical scientific research, limited roles of scientists in government decision-making processes, and constrained government data collection. With federal scientists and agencies as key partners in many collaborations, the impacts of these actions have yet to be fully realized.
In this follow-up session, we are interested in exploring where science partnerships go from here. We welcome presentations from teams involved in science co-production and discussion of impacts and changing partnerships. We also welcome prospective presentations that explore opportunities for academics and other partnerships to fill key gaps or explore new ways to organize.
11. Landscape Genetics & Genomics Symposium – Modeling solutions for conservation genetics, natural resource management, and public health in a landscape of change
Type: Open
Organizer: Helen Bothwell, University of Georgia -- Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources
Co-Organizers: John Robinson, UGA
Description: Since its inception in 2003, landscape genetics has become a staple of the International Association for Landscape Ecology Meetings. Exponential increases in genomic sequencing technology and GIS computational power have fueled a co-evolution of ever more complex and creative synergies between these two fields. For the 40th anniversary of IALE-NA, we aim to celebrate the history of landscape genetics as well as highlight exciting new directions and methodological advancements. The symposium is organized into three sessions: (1) Conservation genetic management in changing landscapes, (2) Landscape genetics applications for epidemiology and disease modeling, and (3) Methodological advancements in landscape genetics, genomics, and transcriptomics. Session I will showcase research primarily focused on the core workhorses of the field, namely case studies investigating landscape drivers of gene flow, adaptation, and consequences of fragmentation for conservation genetic management of species of concern. Session II will address exciting new synergies between landscape genetics, epidemiology, disease modeling, and public health. Talks in this session will highlight research applying landscape genetics to model disease emergence, spread, and control, with particular emphasis on emerging challenges related to modeling connectivity, gene flow and disease spread between hosts and pathogens. Session III will focus on methodological advancements in the field. Topics will include multi-scale modeling and non-stationarity of landscape genetic relationships, as well as advances in landscape transcriptomics to support conservation and management. Widespread land use change, habitat fragmentation, and over-population are having profound impacts on species-habitat relationships. This symposium aims to bring together researchers and managers from diverse backgrounds working towards the common goal of providing solutions to these challenges in support of conservation genetic management of species threatened by global change.
Type: Open
Organizer: Helen Bothwell, University of Georgia -- Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources
Co-Organizers: John Robinson, UGA
Description: Since its inception in 2003, landscape genetics has become a staple of the International Association for Landscape Ecology Meetings. Exponential increases in genomic sequencing technology and GIS computational power have fueled a co-evolution of ever more complex and creative synergies between these two fields. For the 40th anniversary of IALE-NA, we aim to celebrate the history of landscape genetics as well as highlight exciting new directions and methodological advancements. The symposium is organized into three sessions: (1) Conservation genetic management in changing landscapes, (2) Landscape genetics applications for epidemiology and disease modeling, and (3) Methodological advancements in landscape genetics, genomics, and transcriptomics. Session I will showcase research primarily focused on the core workhorses of the field, namely case studies investigating landscape drivers of gene flow, adaptation, and consequences of fragmentation for conservation genetic management of species of concern. Session II will address exciting new synergies between landscape genetics, epidemiology, disease modeling, and public health. Talks in this session will highlight research applying landscape genetics to model disease emergence, spread, and control, with particular emphasis on emerging challenges related to modeling connectivity, gene flow and disease spread between hosts and pathogens. Session III will focus on methodological advancements in the field. Topics will include multi-scale modeling and non-stationarity of landscape genetic relationships, as well as advances in landscape transcriptomics to support conservation and management. Widespread land use change, habitat fragmentation, and over-population are having profound impacts on species-habitat relationships. This symposium aims to bring together researchers and managers from diverse backgrounds working towards the common goal of providing solutions to these challenges in support of conservation genetic management of species threatened by global change.
12. Ecological niche and species distribution modeling in a world of pervasive human impacts and rapidly evolving technologies: advances in theory, methodology, and applications
Type: Open
Organizer: Xiao Feng, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Co-Organizers: Monica Papeş, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Description: Ecological niche modeling (ENM) and species distribution modeling (SDM) are among the most widely used tools in landscape ecology, biogeography, conservation biology, and beyond. They provide essential insights into species’ ecological requirements and how geographic distributions respond to environmental changes. Yet, the accelerating pace of human-driven transformations of the Earth’s surface, such as urbanization, pollution, habitat fragmentation, and invasive species, poses profound challenges to traditional modeling assumptions. Simultaneously, advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and data science are greatly influencing how ENMs and SDMs are conceptualized, implemented, and applied. This symposium will bring together emerging and established scholars to explore the frontier of ENM/SDM research in a world defined by pervasive human impacts and rapidly evolving technologies. We invite contributions spanning theory, methods, and applications, and encourage critical discussion of best practices, uncertainties, and future directions. Central themes include: (1) development of ecological theory and modeling framework for ENM/SDM in the dynamic, human-impacted landscapes; (2) emerging computational innovations (e.g., deep learning, computer vision, LLM, explainable AI) that are transforming ENM/SDM methodology; and (3) novel applications of ENM/SDM, including but not limited to, invasion and disease modeling, renewable energy and sustainability planning, urban biodiversity assessment, niche dynamics across space and time, and forecasting range shifts under global changes. Through a combination of invited talks and contributed presentations, the symposium will highlight how technical and conceptual innovations are advancing ENM/SDM to deepen ecological understanding and improve ecological forecasting in a rapidly changing world. This symposium will foster cross-disciplinary dialogue between ecologists, geographers, data scientists, and conservation practitioners. Participants will gain new perspectives on how AI and human impact can be responsibly harnessed to improve the predictive power, interpretability, and utility of ENM/SDM, advancing both the science and practice of landscape ecology in an era of unprecedented global change.
Type: Open
Organizer: Xiao Feng, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Co-Organizers: Monica Papeş, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Description: Ecological niche modeling (ENM) and species distribution modeling (SDM) are among the most widely used tools in landscape ecology, biogeography, conservation biology, and beyond. They provide essential insights into species’ ecological requirements and how geographic distributions respond to environmental changes. Yet, the accelerating pace of human-driven transformations of the Earth’s surface, such as urbanization, pollution, habitat fragmentation, and invasive species, poses profound challenges to traditional modeling assumptions. Simultaneously, advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and data science are greatly influencing how ENMs and SDMs are conceptualized, implemented, and applied. This symposium will bring together emerging and established scholars to explore the frontier of ENM/SDM research in a world defined by pervasive human impacts and rapidly evolving technologies. We invite contributions spanning theory, methods, and applications, and encourage critical discussion of best practices, uncertainties, and future directions. Central themes include: (1) development of ecological theory and modeling framework for ENM/SDM in the dynamic, human-impacted landscapes; (2) emerging computational innovations (e.g., deep learning, computer vision, LLM, explainable AI) that are transforming ENM/SDM methodology; and (3) novel applications of ENM/SDM, including but not limited to, invasion and disease modeling, renewable energy and sustainability planning, urban biodiversity assessment, niche dynamics across space and time, and forecasting range shifts under global changes. Through a combination of invited talks and contributed presentations, the symposium will highlight how technical and conceptual innovations are advancing ENM/SDM to deepen ecological understanding and improve ecological forecasting in a rapidly changing world. This symposium will foster cross-disciplinary dialogue between ecologists, geographers, data scientists, and conservation practitioners. Participants will gain new perspectives on how AI and human impact can be responsibly harnessed to improve the predictive power, interpretability, and utility of ENM/SDM, advancing both the science and practice of landscape ecology in an era of unprecedented global change.
13. Integrative Conservation in a Fragmented World: Bridging Spatial Science and Human Experience Across Landscapes
Type: Open
Organizer: Kristie Gill, University of Georgia -- Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources
Co-Organizers: TBA
Description: Conservation in the 21st century demands not only ecological insight but also the recognition that wildlife and human systems are often inevitably intertwined. This session, “Integrative Conservation in a Fragmented World”, brings together scholars and practitioners exploring the human dimensions of landscape ecology through both social and spatial lenses. Landscape ecology has long excelled at mapping pattern and process, but the field now faces the challenge of integrating human experience, local knowledge, and cultural values into its frameworks. This session highlights research that bridges natural and social sciences to address pressing conservation issues ranging from habitat connectivity and resource governance to co-adaptation in coupled human-natural systems. Maps should be an integral element in the presentation, not only to provide context on the study areas, but also to communicate methods and outcomes. Each presentation must include a prominent spatial component, using tools such as participatory mapping, remote sensing, or spatial modeling to visualize how socio-ecological systems function across landscapes. Topics may also include landscape connectivity informed by Traditional Ecological Knowledge, mapping power dynamics, participatory spatial modeling, and visualizing socio-ecological trade-offs, alongside other constructivist methods that connect social context with spatial analysis. By juxtaposing spatial data with diverse knowledge systems, this session invites critical dialogue on how conservation landscapes are imagined, governed, managed, and inhabited. The goal is to move beyond “integration” as a metaphor and toward genuine co-production of spatial knowledge where maps, models, and lived experience together inform more effective conservation practices.
Type: Open
Organizer: Kristie Gill, University of Georgia -- Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources
Co-Organizers: TBA
Description: Conservation in the 21st century demands not only ecological insight but also the recognition that wildlife and human systems are often inevitably intertwined. This session, “Integrative Conservation in a Fragmented World”, brings together scholars and practitioners exploring the human dimensions of landscape ecology through both social and spatial lenses. Landscape ecology has long excelled at mapping pattern and process, but the field now faces the challenge of integrating human experience, local knowledge, and cultural values into its frameworks. This session highlights research that bridges natural and social sciences to address pressing conservation issues ranging from habitat connectivity and resource governance to co-adaptation in coupled human-natural systems. Maps should be an integral element in the presentation, not only to provide context on the study areas, but also to communicate methods and outcomes. Each presentation must include a prominent spatial component, using tools such as participatory mapping, remote sensing, or spatial modeling to visualize how socio-ecological systems function across landscapes. Topics may also include landscape connectivity informed by Traditional Ecological Knowledge, mapping power dynamics, participatory spatial modeling, and visualizing socio-ecological trade-offs, alongside other constructivist methods that connect social context with spatial analysis. By juxtaposing spatial data with diverse knowledge systems, this session invites critical dialogue on how conservation landscapes are imagined, governed, managed, and inhabited. The goal is to move beyond “integration” as a metaphor and toward genuine co-production of spatial knowledge where maps, models, and lived experience together inform more effective conservation practices.