Human activities have such a significant global impact on ecological processes that geologists have coined the informal term Anthropocene to mark the evidence and extent of human impact on Earth ecosystems. The Anthropocene and the Holocene are where ecology and paleoecology easily meet. Ecologists are now working with longer and deeper time series of ecological dynamics to understand how current and future changes will affect organisms and ultimately, us. On the other hand, paleoecologists find themselves contributing to the knowledge base that affects policies involving nature protection and ecosystem management. My colleagues in paleoecology and I are soliciting questions that are important to you as an ecologist/evolutionary biologist and you as an individual in society. What are the most important answerable questions that need to be addressed within the following five themes?
1. Human-environment interactions.
2. Ecology over long timescales.
3. Conservation, novel ecosystems and ecological adaptation.
4. Measures of uncertainty within palaeoecology.
5. Approaches to palaeoecology
I hope to promote discussion during this LLT and afterwards as well. Join me for a fun filled half hour.