Hello, We are soliciting contributions in karst ecohydrology for the 2008 Joint Assembly in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, 27-30 May, 2008, an AGU sponsored event. We hope to draw attention to this exciting field of investigation by highlighting its many interdisciplinary research opportunities. Please submit your abstracts by 5 March at the event website: http://www.agu.org/meetings/ja08/ and be sure to sign in for session H08: Karst Ecohydrology. A description of the session is attached below. Do not hesitate to contact us for further information.
Hope to see you in May! Susan Schwinning & Brad Wilcox (conveners) H08: Karst Ecohydrology Karst ecohydrology is an emerging, cross-disciplinary field of study concerned with understanding vegetation-hydrological interactions in karst, a landform underlain by highly soluble rock in which there is significant water movement through gaps in the bedrock. Woody plants in this environment typically extract water not only from the soil but also from the epikarst, the transition zone from the soil to the unweathered bedrock, and possibly from the bedrock itself. Although 25% of the world’s and 40% of the United States’ freshwater comes from karst aquifers, few studies have asked how plants modify the quality and quantity of aquifer recharge. This is beginning to change as plant ecophysiologists team up with hydrologists and geologists to study this fascinating landform and its ecosystem functions and services. To our knowledge, the proposed session on karst ecohydrology is the first dedicated entirely to this topic. We hope to use this session as a spring board for a more extensive, international symposium on karst ecohydrology. The 2008 joint assembly meeting is a particularly fitting venue for this session, first because it provides the opportunity to raise international awareness of karst ecohydrology as an emerging field of investigation and second because the meeting location in Florida coincides with one of the largest karst areas in the United States and should therefore also draw significant local interest. The proposers are a plant ecophysiologist (Susan Schwinning) and a hydrologist (Brad Wilcox) with a shared interest in karst ecohydrology and a record of previous conference collaborations. Conveners: Susan Schwinning Assistant Professor Biology Department Texas State University Phone: + (512) 245-3753 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.bio.txstate.edu/%7eschwinn/labindex.html Brad Wilcox Professor-Rangeland Hydrology and Watershed Management Department of Ecosystem Science and Management MS 2138, Texas A&M University College Station, TX 77843-2126 Phone + (979) 458-1899 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://rangeland.tamu.edu/people/wilcox/
