Hurricane impacts, invasive species, wildlife disease, and the effect of fire on ecosystems are among the topics that scientists of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) will discuss as they meet with other leading ecological scientists, educators, and policy-makers from around the globe at the 91st Ecological Society of America meeting in Memphis, Tenn. Aug. 6-11. The meeting theme is "Icons and Upstarts in Ecology." All talks unless otherwise indicated, are at the Cook County Convention Center in Downtown Memphis.

Monday, Aug. 7
Hurricane impacts on coastal forests in Louisiana, 9:55 a.m.
Stephen Faulkner, USGS National Wetlands Research Center, Lafayette, La.
Parent session: Symposium 2 - Ecological effects of Gulf Coast hurricanes: short-term impacts and long-term consequences, 8:00-11:30 a.m.
Steamboat, Mezzanine Level

Hurricanes have short- and long-term effects on coastal forest structure, ecosystem processes, and services. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita were particularly destructive to forests of the northern Gulf Coast, damaging or destroying timber on nearly 450,000 hectares in Louisiana. Pearl River floodplain forests suffered 50% mortality in plots not dominated by baldcypress-tupelo gum, while mortality was only 14% in baldcypress-tupelo gum plots. These results are similar to those measured in forests following Hurricane Andrew in 1992, and caused a shift in migratory bird use from Pearl River bottomlands to adjacent upland forests. Hurricane Rita significantly damaged the chenier forests of southwest Louisiana. The author will discuss long-term impacts of these changes on migratory bird habitat, food resources, species composition, and ecosystem processes.

GLORIA in North America, an alpine ecology monitoring network, 5:00-6:30 p.m.
Karen Holzer, USGS Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center Field Station, West Glacier, Mont.
Parent session: Poster Session 7 - Climate and global ch
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Contact: Diane Noserale
dnoseral@usgs.gov
703-648-4333
United States Geological Survey
4-Aug-2006