Each morning will begin with two hour-long plenary talks in the large auditorium of Meany Hall. These will be followed by a coffee break and paper sessions in Kane Hall -- directly across from Meany. The plenary speakers, titles, and topic descriptions or abstracts are as follows (this list will be expanded as talks are finalized over the next few months):

Thursday, August 16

Bob Ricklefs

Department of Biology University of Missouri-St. Louis St. Louis, MO USA

The Physiology-Life History Nexus
Abstract: Life-history theory is based on the optimization of constrained responses to selection. Whereas most constraints are seen as resulting from allocation of time and externally acquired resources or from the acceptance of risk, many other trade-offs influence an individual's life-history strategy. Among these are the organism's development, structure, physiological control mechanisms, immune responses, and parent-offspring conflict. By adopting a broader concept of the organism, evolutionary ecologists interested in the diversification of life histories may discover new ways to interpret natural variation and devise new comparative and experimental approaches to understanding the organism-environment relationship.

Dee Boersma

Department of Zoology University of Washington Seattle, WA USA

Seabird Conservation: What Does the Future Hold?
Like all conservation problems, conservation of seabirds is directly related to how humans use the environment. Harvest, habitat modification, introduced predators, invasive species, pollution, fishery interactions, and climate change are the anthropogenic factors that threaten many of the worlds seabird species. These threats are driven by two fundamental trends- increased human population and increased per capita consumption. Even the most isolated and remote places have been stamped by our human footprint. In the past, harvest for food and feathers took many seabird species to low numbers, as evidenced by the demise of great auks and short-tailed albatross. Because killing of birds is relatively easy to control, most countries have stopped large scale harvest through regulation, and social pressure. The current threats to seabirds are more indirect and complex. Species often face multiple threats, and the spatial scale of interaction has widened from point sources of effect (such as the colony) to basin and even global scales (in the case of global warming). For example, many species of penguins are rapidly declining and even with the best management, climate change may be too rapid for many populations to survive. The challenge before us is how to mitigate human impacts in the face of unprecedented increases in consumption and population. Management is one of the few tools that can help. Because of the scale and rapidity of effect, it is increasingly important to concentrate on improving colony habitats for seabirds as well as zoning large areas of the ocean so as to reduce conflicts with humans.

Friday, August 17

Marion Petrie

Evolution and Behaviour Research Group Department of Psychology University of Newcastle Newcastle, UK

Current issues in mate choice and sexual selection
The aim of this talk is to introduce some of the current areas of debate in the field of sexual selection. In particular, I will concentrate on two questions: How is genetic variation maintained in characters undergoing strong directional selection? And What is the relationship between sexual selection and speciation?

Staffan Bensch

Molecular Population Biology Lab Department of Animal Ecology Lund University Lund, Sweden

Molecular methods to study population divergence - the first steps of speciation
Analysis of mitochondrial DNA often fails to distinguish between populations that otherwise differ in morphology or behaviour, traits that presumably have a genetic basis. I will exemplify how PCR based methods to study multiple genetic regions can be used to identify subtle genetic differences between recently diverged populations. This approach will be particularly useful in 1) evolutionary studies of secondary contact zones between recently differentiated taxa and 2) in ecological studies at migratory stopover sites or in winter quarters where unambiguous identifications of individuals to populations are crucial.

Saturday, August 18

Hubert Schwabl

Center of Reproductive Biology and Graduate Program in Neuroscience Washington State University Pullman, WA USA

Maternal steroid hormones in the egg: functions, mechanisms, and implications
The aim of this talk is to introduce the current state of research on maternal steroid hormones in the avian egg. I will focus on two questions. What is the role of within-clutch variation in yolk androgens in sibling rivalry? Do maternal steroids provide a non-genetic link between the mother and the offspring that functions to adjust offspring phenotypes to environmental conditions?

David S. Wilcove

Ecosystem Restoration Program Environmental Defense Washington, DC USA

 

Putting Woodpeckers in the Bank—And Other Strange, New Approaches to Saving North America’s Endangered Birds
The long-term survival of North America’s endangered birds will require the restoration of their degraded, fragmented habitats and the proper management of those areas following restoration. But if much of that habitat is on privately owned land, how can we elicit the cooperation of landowners? I will discuss the use of safe harbor agreements, habitat conservation banks, direct payments and other incentives to promote bird conservation, and I will highlight the role that scientists can play in making those programs succeed.