Non-Perennial Ecosystems Chapter
Non-perennial ecosystems (defined as those that experience transitions between the presence and absence of water at various spatial and temporal scales) are globally ubiquitous. Recent studies estimate that 50-60% of the global stream network and nearly half of the global wetland network (46%) experience at least some degree of drying every year. The ecosystem services/functions provided by non-perennial ecosystems are numerous, including habitat provisioning, biogeochemical function and water quality and quantity regulation. Research quantifying, modeling, and predicting how these essential ecosystem functions will respond to global climate change has been expanding in recent years, providing opportunities for collaboration and synthesis.
The Non-Perennial Ecosystems (NPE) chapter will act as a coordination hub to bring together interdisciplinary researchers working in NPEs and advance the state of the science in this sub-discipline. Research in NPEs spans the traditional disciplines of aquatic ecology, biogeochemistry, and hydrology and ecosystem types ranging from streams, wetlands, ponds, and floodplains to human engineered systems. Creating this topical SFS chapter will provide the society with opportunities to grow and expand its membership by creating a home base for interdisciplinary NPE science. Establishing a topical chapter on NPEs will create opportunities to build collaborative teams of researchers working in NPEs, coordinate research activities across NPEs, and envision the future of research in these vital, but climate-imperiled, ecosystems.
Goals
The proposed goals of the Non-Perennial Ecosystem chapter include:
- Advance the scientific study of non-perennial ecosystems.
- Facilitate dissemination of NPE research in diverse formats.
- Promote collaboration amongst interdisciplinary researchers working in NPEs across the globe.
- Promote opportunities to train the next generation of NPE researchers, with a lens of diversifying the discipline to include underrepresented groups.
- Identify pathways for NPE researchers to engage with relevant stakeholder groups.
Activities
The NPE chapter is committed to advancing science and research in non-perennial ecosystems through the following chapter activities:
- Propose and lead special sessions related to non-perennial ecosystem research at the SFS annual meeting.
- Organize an in-person networking event for NPE researchers at the SFS annual meeting. We will create opportunities for researchers to network and socialize that are integrated into the annual meeting schedule, and therefore accessible to a broader group.
- Create publication opportunities, like special series or issues on NPE research, in society journals.
- Engage with regional SFS chapters to broaden the geographic scope of NPE research.
- Build relationships with established SFS programs to engage students from underrepresented groups in NPE research. Several of the projects focused on streams (e.g., DryRivers RCN, Aquatic Intermittency effects on Microbes in Streams [AIMS], StreamCLIMES) from which this chapter request originated have a focus on broadening participation in STEM. Students trained on these projects and in the associated lab groups would benefit from stronger connections to SFS programs and professional development.
- Maintain a list-serve of non-perennial ecosystem researchers that is available to chapter members.
Leadership
As a new chapter of SFS, we are currently in the process of creating a leadership structure and governance policies. For inquiries and questions, please contact the current co-chairs and founding members: Erin Seybold (erinseybold@ku.edu) and Michelle Busch (m.h.busch@ku.edu)