Symposia
Broader Impact: Tying Basic Research
with Education
Organizer: Stokes Baker
Abstract: The broader impact of basic research has taken on greater
importance by funding agencies. However, many basic researchers do
not have experience in developing educational materials from the products
created by basic research. This symposium focus will be on exemplary
examples of effective integration of basic research with K-16 education.
Proposed Speakers:
Elizabeth Kellogg, University of Missouri- St. Louis, Former NSF program
officer
Karen Sue Renzaglia: Southern Illinois University, Ceratopteris richardii:
From model system to classroom organism
Dennis Wm. Stevenson, Vice President for Botanical Science, Taxonomy
research and education (9-16)
D. Tim Gerber, University of Wisconsin - La Crosse, Department of Biology,
Connecting teacher to basic research
Paul Williams: University of Wisconsin - Madison, Rapid cycling Brassica
rapa: Model system to classroom organism (K-12)
Anne W. Sylvester, University of Wyoming, Genetics workshop at Little
Bighorn tribal college
Stokes Baker - “Outreach: Melding the research efforts
of four year institutions with research universities”
History of Botany in the Rhode Island Area
Organizers: Marissa C. J. Grant, Janelle M.
Burke, Lee B. Kass, Carol Kelloff, Rainer Bussman
Abstract: The Historical Section
of the Botanical Society of America wishes to continue its
sponsorship of Symposia and/or Special Lectures
to highlight the importance of Botany in the Americas. In 2007
the BSA Historical Section sponsored a Symposium on "A Historical
Perspective on Chicago Area Botany". This year we wish to
highlight Rhode Island area botanists and institutions, and how
each has contributed
to the development of the field of botany. This proposed symposium
will be in conjunction with the annual meeting of Botany 2010,
in Providence, RI. We propose the following schedule of speakers
(30 minutes each)
along with an Introduction, a 10-15 minute break, and time for
discussion and questions.
We have the sponsorship in name
only of the BSA Physiological Section and Ecological Section,
and name and funding from BSA Developmental
and Structural Section and Economic Botany. The Historical section
plans to sponsor coffee & drinks during the break and the
open discussion period afterwards.
Proposed Speakers:
Dennis Stevenson, “Rhode Island: A historical perspective
on its Botany and Botanists.”
Susan Danforth, “Botany at the John Carter Brown Library,”
Rainer Bussman, “’I know every tree, every single tree
one can see…’ – The life and legacy of Richard
E. Schultes,”
Angela Todd, “George H. M. Lawrence (1910-1978) and his
international impact on botany,”
Gordon Tucker "Irene
Stuckey: a life well spent with plants and people,”
Philip Marshall “Pinus strobus L. and the historical utilization
and management of southern New England forests, 1600-1938.,”
Natalie Uhl and Ray Evert* “Thoughts on Vernon I. Cheadle,”
Annette Colemon, "Vignettes from the history of Brown botany”
Leveraging the use of herbarium collections
in modern systematics—examples
from Pteridology
Organizers: Michael Sundue, Erin Sigel
Abstract: Herbaria have long been
the corner stone of botanical research; they are the basis
for classical taxonomy and systematics. With increased
utilization of molecular techniques over the past 30 years, the
perceived importance of herbaria has declined. This opinion is
only reinforced
by declining funds for the maintenance and expansion of natural
history collections, exemplified by the recent closing of the Utrecht
Herbarium
(U), a major European collection. We argue that rapid development
and enthusiastic adoption of molecular techniques has only created
more
opportunities for answering novel questions in systematics in
concert with the ecological, morphological, physiological, and
genetic data
acquired from herbarium specimens. This symposium will expand
upon earlier attempts (American Fern Journal Vol. 76(3), 1986)
to highlight
the continuing importance of herbarium specimens in botanical
research, with special focus on pteridology. It is intended to
address biosystematic
questions in pteridology where molecular techniques alone are
insufficient. These include determinations of sexuality and ploidy,
investigations
of morphological evolution, analyzing distributional and ecological
shifts of taxa over time, use of GIS and habitat niche modeling,
and tracking of invasive species. The topic is particularly timely
as pteridology
embraces the genomic age with the initiation of several fern
studies utilizing next generation high throughput sequencing technologies.
In response, we ask how data gathered from herbarium specimen
have
the potential to contextualize and broaden the impact of molecular
and genomic research. Moving forward, herbaria will only persist
as cornerstones of botany if we continue to demonstrate that they
provide
the data necessary for integrated approaches to addressing multifaceted
systematic questions.
Proposed Speakers:
Nathalie Nagalingum, “The age of heterosporous ferns: reconciling
molecular estimates with paleontological data.”
Michael Sundue, “Morphology and evolution of the Bolbitidoid
ferns”
David Barrington, “Phylogeny and revisionary study of
Adiantopsis”
Monique McHenry, “Using morphometrics to identify previously
unrecognized taxa of Andean Polystichum”
Erin Sigel, M.S. “Reassessing biodiversity in the cheilanthoid
ferns: using spore data to infer sexuality and ploidy.
Michael Barker, "Insights into the biogeography of North
American ferns from Flora of North America data.”
Alejandra Vasco, "Databasing herbarium
specimens and presenting metadata on websites."
Plant invasions in a time of environmental change
Organizers: Rebecca Drenovsky, Brenda Grewell
Abstract: Invasion by exotic species is one of the greatest threats
to native organisms and plant communities worldwide. Compounding the
effects of invasive species are environmental functional traits of
invasive species, phenotypic plasticity and plant invasion, invasive
species and ecosystem impacts, human disturbance and plant invasions,
and restoration of invaded systems.stressors such as climate change,
nitrogen deposition, and desertification. Understanding how native
plants respond to this array of stressors is key to protecting and
restoring native plant communities and habitats. Our tentative symposium
speakers will highlight the following major thematic areas: This symposium
will be of broad interest to the members of BSA, as these talks span
multiple disciplines: invasion biology, ecophysiology, plant ecological
genetics, population biology, evolutionary biology, community ecology,
restoration ecology, and global change biology.
Confirmed Speakers:
Jennifer Funk (Chapman University): Functional traits of invasive species
in the context of environmental change
Christina Richards (University of South Florida): Phenotypic plasticity of
invasive plants in changing environments
Ingrid Parker (UC Santa Cruz): Population biology of invasive species
Jeremy James (USDA-ARS): Restoration of invaded systems
Carla D’Antonio (UC Berkeley): Linking invasive species traits with
ecosystem impacts in changing environments
Joan Ehrenfeld (Rutgers University): Belowground impacts of invasive species
Plant/Pollinator Interactions in Fragmented
Landscapes
Organizers: Diane Byers, Krissa Skogen, Suzanne
Koptur
Abstract: Natural areas around the world have become highly fragmented
due to land use changes associated with human activities. This habitat
fragmentation has often resulted in multiple patches of natural areas
that vary in size and are separated by a matrix of unsuitable environment
for native species. Mutualistic interactions between plants and their
pollinators are essential for seed production and outcrossing for many
species. We propose that these mutualistic interactions will be disrupted
by the negative consequences of these highly fragmented landscapes,
compared to more pristine situations. Pollinators, particularly bees,
have recently significantly declined in abundance. As the abundance
of all species is predicted to decline in fragmented environments,
the focus on pollinators is particularly timely.We propose to bring
together researchers from different parts of the Americas to present
their current research and share ideas on the consequences of habitat
fragmentation for the plant-pollinator interactions in their system.
We propose a formal symposium of six invited speakers, plus a session
of contributed papers, and posters.
Proposed Speakers:
Diane Byers & Krissa Skogen “ Hawkmoth pollination of Oenothera
in a fragmented landscape – variation in scent, floral
morphology, nectar and neutral genetic markers”
John H. Geiger & Suzanne Koptur,” A shift in pollinator
guilds of the pineland petunia (Ruellia succulenta Sm. Acanthaceae)
in rocklands
of south Florida.”
Elizabeth Elle, “Pollinator diversity and wildflower pollen
limitation in a fragmented oak-savannah ecosystem.”
Steve
Hendrix, “Determinants of bee diversity in fragmented
landscapes and its importance in plant reproduction.”
Rachael Winfree, “Does plant phenology structure bee communities
in fragmented landscapes?”
Mauricio Quesada, “Effects of forest fragmentation on pollination,
reproduction and gene flow of tropical dry forest plants”
Emerging Results from Studies of Gymnosperms on the Tree of Life II
Organizers: Sarah Mathews
Abstract: The phylogeny
of seed plants has remained controversial due in part to the
need for more data from gymnosperms. To address that need, the
National Science Foundation’s Assembling the Tree of Life
program funded the project: “Gymnosperms on the Tree of
Life: Resolving the Phylogeny of Seed Plants”, starting
in October of 2006. This funding has supported advances in our
understanding of living gymnosperms on several phylogenetic levels:
within genera, among genera and families, and among major groups.
Additionally, a significant effort has been devoted to expanding
morphological sampling of fossil and living taxa to facilitate
the integration of insights from extinct taxa, which comprise
the majority of seed plant lines. Finally, the project has promoted
new relationships with colleagues not funded by the project.
The Tree of Life project is now in its fourth and final year
(end date October 2010) and many exciting results are emerging.
Simultaneously, colleagues not funded by the project are making
significant advances in understanding gymnosperms and/or are
exploring new approaches such as comparative transcriptomics
and using dated phylogenies to guide conservation. To discuss
these results, identify future directions, and stimulate input
from the larger community of systematists, we propose to bring
together a set of speakers to highlight these emerging results.
Proposed Speakers:
Damon Little, New York Botanical Garden “DNA barcoding
gymnosperms: a tool for automated plant identification”
Felix Forest, Jodrell Laboratory, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew “Identifying
the evolutionary distinct and globally endangered species of
gymnosperms: The EDGE-Gymnosperm project”
Leyla Sefullah, University of Birmingham, UK “The position
of pteridosperms as the backbone to seed plant evolution”
Gar W. Rothwell, The Ohio University “The role of morphology
in contemporary analyses of seed plant phylogeny”
Linda Raubeson, Central Washington University “Seed plant
phylogeny based on whole plastome data from 180 taxa”
Sarah Mathews, Harvard University “Seed plant phylogeny:
A synthesis of nuclear, plastid, and morphological data”
The Scientific Research of Barry Tomlinson
Organizers: David Lee, Dennis Stevenson
Abstract: In his 65 year and ongoing
research career, Barry Tomlinson has expanded our understanding
of tropical plants, particularly many
of its iconic representatives in the monocots. He has worked
in many research areas, including but not limited to: the anatomy
and morphology
of monocots (particularly the palms), the biology of marine plants
(including seagrasses and mangrove), the developmental morphology
and reproductive biology of gymnosperms, the architecture of tropical
trees,
and the biology of plants of the Everglades. In addition to research,
he has revealed the world of tropical plants (and his unique
hands-on approach to studying them) to generations of graduate
students through
his Harvard summer course in Miami. This symposium, with talks
by experts who have had connections with Barry’s research
and made personal connections with him over this time, will celebrate
aspects of his
remarkable career.
Proposed Speakers:
Noel Michele Holbrook, "Structure and function of monocot
vascular systems; "
Dennis Stevenson, “Plant Architecture: Non-seed Plants; ”
Cary Pirone, “An Amazing Story of Pigment Chemistry in
the Strelitziaceae;”
Jennifer Richards, “Extending the Tomlinson legacy in south Florida:
The morphology and ecology of Everglades slough species.”;
James W. Horn, “Anatomy, systematics, and evolution of fan palms
and relatives (Arecaceae: Coryphoideae)”;
Patrick von Aderkas, “The role of proteins in pollen-ovule
interactions in gymnosperms”
The Stress of Life with Light: a Graeme Berlyn Tribute
Organizers: Anitra Thorhaug, Graeme Berlyn
Abstract: The benefits of spectral
reflectance and other non-invasive measures are that repeated
measurements of plant health can be made.
Several reflective indices are highly correlated with C02 uptake,
but the measurements are much more rapid and many more leaves may
be studied
with non-destructive and non-intrusive techniques so the same
plant can be used repeatedly (making statistics and results more
definable).
Spectral reflectance provides measures of various types of environmental
stress through the use of differing reflective indices. Photosynthesis
measurements of carbon uptake cannot do this. Reflective indices
also offer the possibility of integration with, and enhancement
of, remote
sensing data. The development of the spectral reflectance approach
in the Berlyn Lab has had a long gestation period. In 1968 Berlyn
published a paper on the microspectrophotometry of the cell walls
of red pine
tracheids. By measuring the light passing through thin sections
of the wood it was possible to determine quantitatively many structural
and chemical properties of the cell walls, by using various cytochemical
stains By installing a second monochromator above the specimen
it was
possible to measure the properties of the fluoresced light. Berlyn
further modified the instrument to measure light reflected from
leaves using incident light optics. Berlyn, Anoruo, Boyce , and
Silver (1993)
showing how acid rain affected the health of spruce needles on
trees growing on Whiteface Mountain and that the light reflected
off leaves
penetrated into the leaf mesophyll before reemerging from the
surface. Early reflectance studies along elevational gradients
Carlson and Rourke
in 1992, as part of Berlyn’s research methods course. At this
point the first commercial instruments at affordable prices became
available for analyzing plant leaves, rapidly scanning from ultraviolet
to near infrared wavelengths and computing reflective indices, some
of which are identical to those used in remote sensing. The instrument
used in Berlyn’s lab was designed by John Gamon. Richardson employed
spectral reflectance as one technique he used to study the balsam fir
and red spruce along elevational and canopy light gradients mountainous
northeastern United States greatly expanding the Berlyn Lab’s
use of reflective indices (Richardson et al. 2001; Richardson,2003).
Thorhaug , Richardson and Berlyn in 2001 began to explore marine
macro plants with this technique. Subsequently Ellum ( 2007),
Poulos (2007),
and Marek (2009) studied a variety of terrestrial systems in
North America The spectral signatures gathered to date of important
terrestrial
pines, spruce, birch, herbs and shrubs, and marine species including
subtropical/tropical dominant seagrasses (Thalassia testudinum,
Halodule wrightii, and Syringodium filiforme), marine algae of
several phyla
Fucus vesiculosus, Ulva lactuca, Halimeda incrassata, Udotea
flabellum, Penicillus capitatus, Porphyra leucastica, Grennelia
Americana,Palmaria
palmata , Chondrus crispus ,Ascophylum nodosum, Laminaria saccharin,
Fucous vesiculousus , Enteromorpha lindula, Codium fragile, and
Ulva lactuca.
Proposed Speakers:
Graeme Berlyn - "Introduction to spectral reflectance measurements
in a wide variety of plant species and phyla"
Anitra Thorhaug. "Comparing spectral responses of colored
diminishing light among four major Atlantic seagrasses Zostera
marinea, Thalassia
testudinum, Haoldule wrightii , and Syringodium filiforme and
red, green and brown macroalgae"
Helen Mills Poulos (Wesleyan University). "Using reflectance
to measure the drought response of two mexican oak species, Quercus
laceyi
and Q. sideroxyla (Fagaceae), in relation to elevational position"
David Ellum, (North Carolina State University) "Spectral
reflectance measurements of acclimation of shade-adapted understory
herbs to seasonal
canopy disturbances in managed forests of southern New England"
Andrew Richardson (Harvard University). Spectral reflectance,
florescence, and absorption measurements of several tree species
on a vertical gradient
in northern Appalachian Mountains”
David W. Lee (Florida International University) "Spectral
measurements of tropical -subtropical shade plants: light background
and plant responses
to changing light”
Uromi Goodale (University of California, San Diego). "Meta-analysis
of spectral reflectance measurements in plants"
Colloquia
Emerging Results from Studies of Gymnosperms on the
Tree of Life II
Organizers: Sarah Mathews
Abstract: The phylogeny
of seed plants has remained controversial due in part to the
need for more data from gymnosperms. To address that need, the
National Science Foundation’s Assembling the Tree of Life
program funded the project: “Gymnosperms on the Tree of
Life: Resolving the Phylogeny of Seed Plants”, starting
in October of 2006. This funding has supported advances in our
understanding of living gymnosperms on several phylogenetic levels:
within genera, among genera and families, and among major groups.
Additionally, a significant effort has been devoted to expanding
morphological sampling of fossil and living taxa to facilitate
the integration of insights from extinct taxa, which comprise
the majority of seed plant lines. Finally, the project has promoted
new relationships with colleagues not funded by the project.
The Tree of Life project is now in its fourth and final year
(end date October 2010) and many exciting results are emerging.
Simultaneously, colleagues not funded by the project are making
significant advances in understanding gymnosperms and/or are
exploring new approaches such as comparative transcriptomics
and using dated phylogenies to guide conservation. To discuss
these results, identify future directions, and stimulate input
from the larger community of systematists, we propose to bring
together a set of speakers to highlight these emerging results.
Proposed Speakers:
Catarina Rydin, University of Zurich Studies of seed coats in living
and extinct Ephedra;
Dean Kelch, California Department of Food and Agriculture “Multigene
approaches to resolving deep branches in Podocarpaceae phylogeny”;
Matthew Parks, Oregon State University “Reaching the first finish
line: A whole-plastome phylogeny for the entire genus Pinus”;
Garth Holman, University of Maine-Orono "Resolving relationships
among closely related species of western North American Abies";
Nathan Havill, US Forest Service, Northern Research Station,
Hamden, CT “Phylogeny and biogeography of Tsuga”;
Andrea E. Schwarzbach, University of Texas at Brownville “Evolution
of terpenes in the genus Juniperus (Cupressaceae)”; Hardeep S.
Rai, Harvard University “Phytochrome phylogenies in gymnosperms”;
Michael S. Barker, University of British Columbia “Comparative
gymnosperm transcriptomics”
The power of model mosses in plant research
Organizers: Matt Geisler, Jane Geisler-Lee
Abstract: The model moss Phycomitrella patens with its sequenced and
annotated genome has brought bryophytes to the forefront of biological
research. To know how this model organism helps us understand fundamental
evolutionary questions necessitates knowledge of bryophyte phylogeny.
The development processes, hormonal regulation, abiotic stress tolerance
can be approached by comparing the model moss to higher plants, other
moss species or even variation within Physcomitrella. The availability
of the P. patens genome and microarray gene expression data, and now
a predicted interactome allows a comprehensive (systems biology) comparative
study of bryophytes to other model plants, fungi and animals. By bringing
P. patens into the toolbox of model organisms, bryophytes may now become
a biotechnological tool, for example a moss production of TAXOL, a
trademark anticancer drug, instead of harvesting the Pacific Yew tree
to extinction.
Proposed Speakers:
Bernard Goffinet - Current understanding of phylogeny and phylogenetic
diversity in bryophyte tree of life
Lloyd Stark - Sex ratio differentiation in three mosses.
Stuart McDaniel - Natural variation of Physcomitrella,
Mattias Thelander - Auxin biosynthesis, growth and development in Physcomitrella
patens,
Matt Geisler - Predicted protein-protein interaction in Physcomitrella
patens,
Aldwin Anterola - Using Physcomitrella patens to produce anticancer
drug, taxol
SERNEC: Four years of development of a herbarium
Research Coordination Network
Organizers: Zack Murrell
Abstract: The development of a
cyberinfrastructure for the taxonomic community is an ongoing
and vibrant enterprise.
The issues facing the
taxonomy/systematics community are great and it is critical that
we share methods and results of our efforts to avoid "re-creating
wheels." The SouthEast Regional Network of Expertise and Collections
(SERNEC) is a 5-year NSF funded Research Coordination Network designed
to mobilize the 215 herbaria in the southeast US to digitize collections
and make this information available to the public, researchers and
decision-makers. We are currently in year 4 of this effort and several
state and sub-regional groups have organized and developed various
models of cyberinfrastructure development. The focus ranges from efforts
directed toward the researchers to those aimed at k-12 education and
outreach. Ongoing projects vary from the development of methods to
streamline data entry to methods of portraying herbarium and taxonomic
data to multiple levels of scientific "expertise".
This colloquium is designed to highlight the projects that have
developed within the
SERNEC community. This information will be of interest to the
greater systematic community and would also help inform the curatorial
community
and herbarium affiliates. This symposium was written into the
SERNEC NSF proposal and we will have funding from the National
Science Foundation
to bring participants to the meeting
Proposed Speakers:
Zack Murrell - SERNEC overview and progress – lessons for
a national effort,
Alan Weakley & Robert Peet - Building a regional database
of taxonomic concepts
Austin Mast – Building social and software interoperability
in the Deep South Imaging and Morphbank projects
Bruce Kirchoff and Steve Baskauf– Who, I ask, in their
right mind would condemn a picture? - The effective use of standardized
plant
images in keys and instructional software
Chanda Cooper - Kids need Herbaria: Education Outreach at the University
of South Carolina Herbarium
Steve Baskauf Integrating live plant images with other types of biodiversity
records
Michael Denslow – The role of grey literature in Biodiversity
Informatics
Joey Shaw – UTC mapping project
Tom Sasek – CyberFlora Louisiana: a Statewide Digitizing
Project
Wendy Zomlefer – Georgia as a hub and spoke model - Survey
of the Herbaria of Georgia
Mac Alford/Lisa Wallace/Lucile McCook – Magnolia grandiFLORA:
Efforts to develop a digital herbarium of collections in Mississippi
John Nelson/Herrick Brown– Status and Update of the South
Carolina Consortium of Herbaria; Discussion on applicability
of SERNEC efforts
to national efforts to mobilize the herbarium community,
digitize
collections and provide information to various sectors of the
public, corporations
and decision-makers.
Systematic and Evolutionary Perspectives on Apomixis
Organizers: Richard D. Noyes, Christopher
Campbell
Abstract: Apomictic complexes in plants combine hybridization, polyploidy,
and asexual reproduction to yield some of the most challenging problems
that have confronted systematic and evolutionary botanists in both
the 20th and 21st centuries. None-the-less, the field has progressed
significantly since apomicts were dismissed as evolutionary dead-ends
by Stebbins in 1950. Instead, there is now growing recognition that
apomictic groups are dynamic entities with complex but resolvable phylogeographic
and genetic histories but with a unique capacity for hybridization
(See Whitton et al., 2008. The dynamic nature of apomixis in the angiosperms.
(IJPS). For instance, most apomicts (though predominantly asexual through
female function) produce functional reduced pollen that can produce
reticulating patterns among apomictic clones as well as spread the
gene regions linked to apomixis to sexual populations in heretofore
unappreciated ways. The goal of this colloquium is to bring together
researchers veteran and young to discuss recent findings, approaches,
and new perspectives on the biology and taxonomy of apomictic plants.Especially
relevant are insights from molecular studies that have significantly
advanced the field in the last 5-10 years. The proposed list of Colloquium
Speakers includes biologists from diverse regions of the world (South
America (1); Europe (3); Canada (2); US (5)) and emphasizes the taxonomic
diversity of current apomixis research (ferns, Ranunculaceae, Hypericaceae,
Rosaceae, Asteraceae, and Poaceae). It is anticipated that the synergy
from this meeting will foster continued research in apomictic groups,
suggest new ways of addressing apomixis biology, and hopefully spur
future collaborative endeavors.
Proposed Speakers:
Michael Burgess (University of Maine, Orono) - “The frequency
of apomixis in Amelanchier”
Chris Campbell (University of Maine, Orono) - “Species
concepts in apomictic complexes”
Judith Fehrer (Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic) - “Glacial
refugia, hybridization, and extinction in hawkweeds (Hieracium,
Asteraceae)”
Amanda Grusz (Duke University) - “The role of apomixis
in the evolution of desert-adapted ferns”
Elvira Horandl (University of Vienna, Austria) - “Geographical
parthenogenesis and evolution of apomixis in Ranunculus”
Eugenia Lo (Yale University) - "Range distribution of apomicts:
Does it correlate to environmental factors?"
Richard D. Noyes (University of Central Arkansas, Conway) - “Reticulation
in the Erigeron sect. Phalacroloma (Asteraceae) apomictic complex”
Chris Sears (University of British Columbia, Vancouver) - “Complex
patterns of reproduction and relationships in the North American
Crepis agamic complex as inferred from flow cytometry and AFLPs”
Marta Molins (Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant
Research, Gatersleben, Germany) - “Biogeographic variation
for apomixis expression in St. John's wort (Hypericum perforatum L.)”
Pablo Speranza (Universidad de la Republica, Montevideo, Uruguay)
- “The spread of apomixis in Paspalum dilatatum: from apomict
to apomict”
Nadia Talent (University of Toronto) - “Apomixis in Crataegus (Rosaceae): one origin or many?”
