Looking forward through the past: identification of 50 priority research questions in palaeoecology

Alistair W. R. Seddon, Anson W. Mackay, Ambroise G. Baker, H. John B. Birks, Elinor Breman, Caitlin E. Buck, Erle C. Ellis, Cynthia A. Froyd, Jacquelyn L. Gill, Lindsey Gillson, Edward A. Johnson, Vivienne J. Jones, Stephen Juggins, Marc Macias-Fauria, Keely Mills, Jesse L. Morris, David Bravo Nogues, Surangi W. Punyasena, Thomas P. Roland, Andrew J. TanentzapKathy J. Willis, Martin Aberhan, Eline N. van Asperen, William E. N. Austin, Rick W. Battarbee, Shonil Bhagwat, Christina L. Belanger, Keith D. Bennett, Hilary H. Birks, Christopher Bronk Ramsey, Stephen J. Brooks, Mark de Bruyn, Paul G. Butler, Frank M. Chambers, Stewart J. Clarke, Althea L. Davies, John A. Dearing, Thomas H. G. Ezard, Angelica Feurdean, Roger J. Flower, Peter Gell, Sonja Hausmann, Erika J. Hogan, Melanie J. Hopkins, Elizabeth S. Jeffers, Atte A. Korhola, Robert Marchant, Thorsten Kiefer, Mariusz Lamentowicz, Isabelle Larocque-Tobler, Lourdes Lopez-Merino, Lee H. Liow, Suzanne McGowan, Joshua H. Miller, Encarni Montoya, Oliver Morton, Sandra Nogue, Chloe Onoufriou, Lisa P. Boush, Francisco Rodriguez-Sanchez, Neil L. Rose, Carl D. Sayer, Helen E. Shaw, Richard Payne, Gavin Simpson, Kadri Sohar, Nicki J. Whitehouse, John W. Williams, Andrzej Witkowski

    143 Citationer (Scopus)
    53 Downloads (Pure)

    Abstract

    Priority question exercises are becoming an increasingly common tool to frame future agendas in conservation and ecological science. They are an effective way to identify research foci that advance the field and that also have high policy and conservation relevance. To date, there has been no coherent synthesis of key questions and priority research areas for palaeoecology, which combines biological, geochemical and molecular techniques in order to reconstruct past ecological and environmental systems on time-scales from decades to millions of years. We adapted a well-established methodology to identify 50 priority research questions in palaeoecology. Using a set of criteria designed to identify realistic and achievable research goals, we selected questions from a pool submitted by the international palaeoecology research community and relevant policy practitioners. The integration of online participation, both before and during the workshop, increased international engagement in question selection. The questions selected are structured around six themes: human-environment interactions in the Anthropocene; biodiversity, conservation and novel ecosystems; biodiversity over long time-scales; ecosystem processes and biogeochemical cycling; comparing, combining and synthesizing information from multiple records; and new developments in palaeoecology. Future opportunities in palaeoecology are related to improved incorporation of uncertainty into reconstructions, an enhanced understanding of ecological and evolutionary dynamics and processes and the continued application of long-term data for better-informed landscape management.

    OriginalsprogEngelsk
    TidsskriftJournal of Ecology
    Vol/bind102
    Udgave nummer1
    Sider (fra-til)256-267
    Antal sider12
    ISSN0022-0477
    DOI
    StatusUdgivet - jan. 2014

    Fingeraftryk

    Dyk ned i forskningsemnerne om 'Looking forward through the past: identification of 50 priority research questions in palaeoecology'. Sammen danner de et unikt fingeraftryk.

    Citationsformater