Session topics

The conference consists of four sessions addressing different frontiers in historical ecology. An extended poster session will be held, organized by the same four session topics.

(A) Relevance of historical information in times of global change

How much does global change put the relevance of historical information into question? Is it of any use to analyze the past, if the future will most likely be dramatically different? In this session, we will look at corresponding questions regarding science and application, and we will determine main fields in land change science / global change research where we anticipate relevant contributions of historical ecology.

• Organizer & keynote: David J Mladenoff, University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA

(B) Beyond case studies in historical ecology - the search for general patterns of ecosystem change

There is discrepancy between the large number of case-studies and the limited efforts to generate general insights on the interconnectedness of societies and their environment. The search for general patterns and processes of ecosystem change is not an easy task, as many studies in historical ecology have spatial and temporal constraints. Furthermore, studies have to meet scientific standards and, at the same time, be valuable for ecosystem planning and management. This session will include good examples of integrated and applied historical ecology studies, which discuss how they contribute to search for general patterns and processes of ecosystem change.

• Organizer: Martin Hermy, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium
• Keynote: Sara AO Cousins, Stockholm University, Sweden

(C) Historical ecology and ecosystem modeling

Historical ecologists tend to underline the importance of their research for ecosystem modeling. But what are the prerequisites for successfully integrating historical data in ecosystem models? What does historical ecology gain from integrating modeling approaches? In this session, case studies of ecosystem modeling including historical data are welcome as well as conceptual approaches discussing limits and strengths of this approach.

• Organizers: Harald Bugmann, ETH Zurich, Switzerland / Urs Gimmi, WSL, Switzerland
• Keynote: Peter H. Verburg, VU University Amsterdam, Netherlands

(D) Problems and possibilities on the border between historical ecology and environmental history/archaeology

How do ecologists use, for example, historic sources, and how is source criticism perceived among ecologists? Are there good examples of cross-disciplinary collaboration, and when does this work out and when does it fail? This frontier will start from the historical ecologist point of view and then examine examples of successful collaboration and methodological innovations across disciplinary boundaries.

• Organizer: Lars Östlund, SLU Umea, Sweden
• Keynote: Nancy Langston, University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA