NAEM 2021 - PROGRAMME

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Netherlands Annual Ecology Meeting

Tuesday 9 & Wednesday 10 February 2021

Programme

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Introduction

The NAEM meeting will he hosted on two digital platforms. Most of the meeting will take place in Zoom (the thematic sessions, the topical hangouts, and the poster pitch sessions), while some elements will take place in "Wonder.me". The first platform by now is presumably known by all and needs no further elaboration. It is strongly advised, though, to install the Zoom App on your computer and to join the meeting from a computer, rather than a phone or tablet. The user experience is usually much improved on a computer as compared to a phone or tablet. Also, when you join the meeting through the desktop app on your computer, you can move freely and independently between breakout rooms. If you join vai the browser or phone, you generally do not have this option (meaning that we need to manually place you in a breakout room). 
The Wonder.me platform is more of a digital meeting platform, comparing a bit to a bar area or lobby at a conference venue. It allows for people to move themselves around in a virtual room consisting of various areas. These areas could represent a certain topic of discussion or group of people, but also just refer to a place in the world, for example. Within the entire space, people can connect and form a circle. people that are in a circle (15 max) can see and hear each other (just like a small group of people clumping together close to the bar). When you'd like to join a circle, you just place yourself in the circle and that's it. When you want to leave, you just move yourself out of the circle and you're gone. You can also lock your circle, if you would like to have a private conversation. Anyway, we will use this platform for the networking drinks and for the social breaks during the meeting. 

Below, you will find the programme for the meeting. You can click on a session to navigate to a page that provides the full programme for that session. Each session is a breakout room in Zoom, so that should be straightforward. In case of trouble accessing Zoom, breakout rooms, or Wonder.me, please do not hesitate to reach out!

Tuesday 9 February 2021

09:15 – 09:30 Drop in and ice-breaker task @ ZOOM
09:30 – 09:55 Opening of the meeting and word of welcome
Hans de Kroon (chair NERN Board) and Dedmer van de Waal (chair NAEM Organising Committee)
09:55 – 10:00 Time for people to move into the breakout room
10:00 – 11:55 Thematic session 1 – Biodiversity Research
Hosted by Hans ter Steege (Naturalis Biodiversity Center) & Yann Hautier (Utrecht University)

Biodiversity is not only an intrinsic value of nature. Biodiversity is also considered to provide ecosystems with productivity and resilience. In this session we deal with above and below ground biodiversity, how can it be measured but far and foremost how biodiversity is important to support and restore ecosystem functions and services.
  Thematic session 2 – Conservation Science 1
Hosted by Emily Strange (Leiden University) & Patrick Jansen (Wageningen University)

Effectively conserving ecosystems and the variety of life forms these host is a major challenge of our time. Conservation science is committed to identifying effective conservation measures, and does so by acknowledging the crucial role of humans. It is thus an interdisciplinary field that recognizes the linkages between social and natural systems. In this session, young investigators share their studies in the field of conservation science across a wide variety of ecosystems and species.
  Thematic session 3 – Global Change Ecology
Hosted by Emily Burdfield Steel (University of Amsterdam)

Humans continue to impact the natural world in a variety of ways, from altering the landscapes through agriculture and urbanization, to changing the air and water quality, noise, and even light levels. All these changes put pressure on species and communities. They can both create rapid species losses and alter the biology and ecology of those species that are able to persist. Understanding the many ways human activities influence other species is crucial if we are to begin to mitigate the damaged caused and predict the future of life on our planet.
  Thematic session 4 – Climate Change Research in terrestrial ecosystems
Hosted by Ciska Veen (Netherlands Institute of Ecology)

Highlight follows soon.
  Thematic session 5 – Disease Ecology
Hosted by Thijs Frenken (Netherlands Institute of Ecology) & Dedmer van de Waal (Netherlands Institute of Ecology)

Diseases are part of our everyday life. Although they are omnipresent, many questions remain on their ecological role in food webs, and how they will react to global change. In this session some of these questions will be answered, with studies ranging from controlled laboratory experiments to models to predict future disease incidence, from viruses to macroparasites, and from scenarios involving global warming to changes in nutrient stoichiometry.
11:55 – 12:00 Back to plenary conference room and general wrap up of the thematic sessions
12:00 – 12:30 Break
12:30 – 13:30 A. Topical Hangouts (one hangout connected to each of the thematic sessions for further discussion + additional hangouts)
  B. Time to go out and stretch your legs + Lunch walk photo competition (Due to the lockdown, organised walks are out of the question)
13:30 – 14:00 Break
14:00 – 14:10 Plenary welcome back and introduction to afternoon programme
14:10 – 15:00 Plenary poster session 1
15:00 – 15:10 Short break
15:10 – 16:00 Plenary poster session 2
16:00 – 16:15 Lunch walk photo competition awards session
16:15 – 17:30 Joint networking drinks and socialising @ Wonder.me Platform

 

Wednesday 10 February 2021

09:30 – 09:45 Drop in and ice-breaker task @ ZOOM
09:45 – 09:55 Opening of the day
Dedmer van de Waal (chair NAEM Organising Committee)
09:55 – 10:00 Time for people to move into the breakout room
10:00 – 11:55 Thematic session 6 – Eco-Evolutionary Research
Hosted by Dries Bonte (Ghent University)

Variation in phenotypes, be it morphology, physiology, behaviour and/or life history is both a driver and consequence of ecological interactions. When the traits that are at basis of the phenotype have a genetic basis, they will be subject to different forms of selection, which play at different levels of organisation. The importance of evolution as a driver of both population, community and ecosystem processes will be presented by a selection of seven speakers, and an equal amount of poster presentations. We will use the session discussion to explore and synthesise the potential feedbacks between evolution and ecology that shape biodiversity at contemporary time scales.
  Thematic session 7 – Microbiome Research
Hosted by Esther van der Ent (Naturalis Biodiversity Center)

Without microbes, there would be no life on Earth. Almost every environment harbors microbes, either free living or in a relationship with a host organism. The development of new techniques has boosted microbiome research and provided revolutionary new insights into our living world. In this session, young scientists share their research on environmental and host-associated microbiomes, using state-of-the-art technologies. We explore new understandings of environmental microbiomes in plant-soils interactions and agriculture, as well as the roles host-associated microbiomes play in conferring ecological traits to their host and providing evolutionary insights into host speciation.
  Thematic session 8 – Conservation Science 2
Hosted by
Emily Strange (Leiden University) & Patrick Jansen (Wageningen University)
Effectively conserving ecosystems and the variety of life forms these host is a major challenge of our time. Conservation science is committed to identifying effective conservation measures, and does so by acknowledging the crucial role of humans. It is thus an interdisciplinary field that recognizes the linkages between social and natural systems. In this session, young investigators share their studies in the field of conservation science across a wide variety of ecosystems and species.
  Thematic session 9 – Climate Change Research in aquatic ecosystems
Hosted by Dedmer van de Waal & Qing Zhan (Netherlands Institute of Ecology)

Climate change is anticipated to change temperature regimes and precipitation patterns across the world, posing an eminent threat to the structure and functioning of aquatic ecosystems. In this session, we have senior and junior researches to share their work and views on how climate change affects ecological processes in different aquatic ecosystems from freshwater lakes and wetlands to costal marine systems.
  Thematic session 10 – Nitrogen Cycling Research
Hosted by Annelies Veraart & Bjorn Robroek (Radboud University)

Nitrogen, an important resource for plant growth, is increasingly abundant as result of anthropogenic influences and is currently seen an a major driver of ecosystem degradation. In this session we will follow nitrogen on its journey from the atmosphere to its cycling in pristine and impacted terrestrial ecosystems, pristine and degraded lakes, and finally back to the atmosphere. The session will start with state-of-the-art research on plant-microbe interactions as a result of nitrogen deposition. Along the way, timely and topical results will be presented, ranging from the use of machine learning to minimize agricultural N-losses, to potential climatic feedbacks in the nitrogen cycle.
11:55 – 12:00 Back to plenary conference room and general wrap up of thematic sessions
12:00 – 12:30 Break
12:30 – 13:30 A. Topical Hangouts (one hangout connected to each of the thematic sessions for further discussion + additional hangouts)
  B. Time to go out and stretch your legs + Lunch walk photo competition (Due to the lockdown, organised walks are out of the question)
13:30 – 14:00 Break
14:00 – 14:10 Plenary welcome back and introduction to afternoon programme
14:10 – 15:00 Plenary poster session 3
15:00 – 15:10 Short break
15:10 – 16:00 Plenary poster session 4
16:00 – 16:15 Lunch walk photo competition awards session
16:15 – 17:30 Pub Quiz in small teams, followed by farewell drinks and wrap up of the meeting

 

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