Dear Colleagues: Please consider submitting an abstract to the session "C4 Photosynthesis in the Earth System" at the AGU Fall Meeting in San Francisco (December 15-19 2014). It should be a diverse and interdisciplinary session on the topic of grasslands and savannas.
Session description: Grasslands and savannas are dynamic, spatially extensive ecosystems that are often composed of plant mixtures using the C3 and C4 photosynthetic pathways. The shifting composition and distribution of C4 grasses affects biogeochemical cycles at multiple scales because of their distinct ecological physiology and function. This session will address the past, present, and future role of C4 grasses in the Earth system to understand and predict their responses to global environmental change. Processes that shape the C3-C4 composition of grasslands and savannas range from biotic and abiotic ecological processes to evolutionary constraints on trait evolution. We invite contributions using paleontological, biogeochemical, ecological, physiological, phylogenetic and other approaches to documenting the role of C4 grasses in the Earth system. Synthesizing patterns from disparate perspectives such as grassland ecosystem ecology, grass phylogeny, ecological modeling, and grassland paleobiology will contribute to understanding the processes underlying the structure and function of grass-dominated systems. Deadline for abstract submissions is August 6th. Submit here: http://fallmeeting.agu.org/2014/scientific-program/ Link to session description here: https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm14/webprogrampreliminary/Session2855.html Sincerely, Stephanie Pau David Fox Christopher Still Caroline Strömberg (Session Conveners)
