Ecosphere (Jan 2023)
Priorities for synthesis research in ecology and environmental science
- Benjamin S. Halpern,
- Carl Boettiger,
- Michael C. Dietze,
- Jessica A. Gephart,
- Patrick Gonzalez,
- Nancy B. Grimm,
- Peter M. Groffman,
- Jessica Gurevitch,
- Sarah E. Hobbie,
- Kimberly J. Komatsu,
- Kristy J. Kroeker,
- Heather J. Lahr,
- David M. Lodge,
- Christopher J. Lortie,
- Julie S. S. Lowndes,
- Fiorenza Micheli,
- Hugh P. Possingham,
- Mary H. Ruckelshaus,
- Courtney Scarborough,
- Chelsea L. Wood,
- Grace C. Wu,
- Lina Aoyama,
- Eva E. Arroyo,
- Christie A. Bahlai,
- Erin E. Beller,
- Rachael E. Blake,
- Karrigan S. Bork,
- Trevor A. Branch,
- Norah E. M. Brown,
- Julien Brun,
- Emilio M. Bruna,
- Lauren B. Buckley,
- Jessica L. Burnett,
- Max C. N. Castorani,
- Samantha H. Cheng,
- Sarah C. Cohen,
- Jessica L. Couture,
- Larry B. Crowder,
- Laura E. Dee,
- Arildo S. Dias,
- Ignacio J. Diaz‐Maroto,
- Martha R. Downs,
- Joan C. Dudney,
- Erle C. Ellis,
- Kyle A. Emery,
- Jacob G. Eurich,
- Bridget E. Ferriss,
- Alexa Fredston,
- Hikaru Furukawa,
- Sara A. Gagné,
- Sarah R. Garlick,
- Colin J. Garroway,
- Kaitlyn M. Gaynor,
- Angélica L. González,
- Eliza M. Grames,
- Tamar Guy‐Haim,
- Ed Hackett,
- Lauren M. Hallett,
- Tamara K. Harms,
- Danielle E. Haulsee,
- Kyle J. Haynes,
- Elliott L. Hazen,
- Rebecca M. Jarvis,
- Kristal Jones,
- Gaurav S. Kandlikar,
- Dustin W. Kincaid,
- Matthew L. Knope,
- Anil Koirala,
- Jurek Kolasa,
- John S. Kominoski,
- Julia Koricheva,
- Lesley T. Lancaster,
- Jake A. Lawlor,
- Heili E. Lowman,
- Frank E. Muller‐Karger,
- Kari E. A. Norman,
- Nan Nourn,
- Casey C. O'Hara,
- Suzanne X. Ou,
- Jacqueline L. Padilla‐Gamino,
- Paula Pappalardo,
- Ryan A. Peek,
- Dominique Pelletier,
- Stephen Plont,
- Lauren C. Ponisio,
- Cristina Portales‐Reyes,
- Diogo B. Provete,
- Eric J. Raes,
- Carlos Ramirez‐Reyes,
- Irene Ramos,
- Sydne Record,
- Anthony J. Richardson,
- Roberto Salguero‐Gómez,
- Erin V. Satterthwaite,
- Chloé Schmidt,
- Aaron J. Schwartz,
- Craig R. See,
- Brendan D. Shea,
- Rachel S. Smith,
- Eric R. Sokol,
- Christopher T. Solomon,
- Trisha Spanbauer,
- Paris V. Stefanoudis,
- Beckett W. Sterner,
- Vitor Sudbrack,
- Jonathan D. Tonkin,
- Ashley R. Townes,
- Mireia Valle,
- Jonathan A. Walter,
- Kathryn I. Wheeler,
- William R. Wieder,
- David R. Williams,
- Marten Winter,
- Barbora Winterova,
- Lucy C. Woodall,
- Adam S. Wymore,
- Casey Youngflesh
Affiliations
- Benjamin S. Halpern
- National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis University of California Santa Barbara California USA
- Carl Boettiger
- Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management University of California Berkeley California USA
- Michael C. Dietze
- Department of Earth & Environment Boston University Boston Massachusetts USA
- Jessica A. Gephart
- Department of Environmental Science American University Washington District of Columbia USA
- Patrick Gonzalez
- Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management University of California Berkeley California USA
- Nancy B. Grimm
- School of Life Sciences Arizona State University Tempe Arizona USA
- Peter M. Groffman
- City University of New York Advanced Science Research Center at the Graduate Center New York New York USA
- Jessica Gurevitch
- Department of Ecology and Evolution Stony Brook University Stony Brook New York USA
- Sarah E. Hobbie
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior University of Minnesota St. Paul Minnesota USA
- Kimberly J. Komatsu
- Smithsonian Environmental Research Center Edgewater Maryland USA
- Kristy J. Kroeker
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology University of California Santa Cruz Santa Cruz California USA
- Heather J. Lahr
- National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis University of California Santa Barbara California USA
- David M. Lodge
- Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability Cornell University Ithaca New York USA
- Christopher J. Lortie
- National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis University of California Santa Barbara California USA
- Julie S. S. Lowndes
- National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis University of California Santa Barbara California USA
- Fiorenza Micheli
- Hopkins Marine Station, Oceans Department Stanford University Pacific Grove California USA
- Hugh P. Possingham
- Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science (CBCS) The University of Queensland Brisbane Queensland Australia
- Mary H. Ruckelshaus
- The Natural Capital Project Stanford University Stanford California USA
- Courtney Scarborough
- National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis University of California Santa Barbara California USA
- Chelsea L. Wood
- School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences University of Washington Seattle Washington USA
- Grace C. Wu
- Environmental Studies University of California Santa Barbara California USA
- Lina Aoyama
- Environmental Studies Program and Department of Biology University of Oregon Eugene Oregon USA
- Eva E. Arroyo
- Department of Ecology Evolution and Environmental Biology New York New York USA
- Christie A. Bahlai
- Department of Biological Sciences Kent State University Kent Ohio USA
- Erin E. Beller
- Real Estate and Workplace Services Sustainability Team Google Inc. Mountain View California USA
- Rachael E. Blake
- Intertidal Agency Oakland California USA
- Karrigan S. Bork
- UC Davis School of Law Davis California USA
- Trevor A. Branch
- School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences University of Washington Seattle Washington USA
- Norah E. M. Brown
- Department of Biology University of Victoria Victoria British Columbia Canada
- Julien Brun
- National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis University of California Santa Barbara California USA
- Emilio M. Bruna
- Department of Wildlife Ecology & Conservation University of Florida Gainesville Florida USA
- Lauren B. Buckley
- Department of Biology University of Washington Seattle Washington USA
- Jessica L. Burnett
- Core Science Systems Science Analytics and Synthesis U.S. Geological Survey, 8th and Kipling, Denver Federal Center Lakewood Colorado USA
- Max C. N. Castorani
- Department of Environmental Sciences University of Virginia Charlottesville Virginia USA
- Samantha H. Cheng
- Center for Biodiversity and Conservation American Museum of Natural History New York New York USA
- Sarah C. Cohen
- Estuary and Ocean Science Center, Biology Department San Francisco State University San Francisco California USA
- Jessica L. Couture
- Conservation International Santa Barbara California USA
- Larry B. Crowder
- Hopkins Marine Station, Oceans Department Stanford University Pacific Grove California USA
- Laura E. Dee
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology University of Colorado Boulder Colorado USA
- Arildo S. Dias
- Department of Physical Geography (IPG) Goethe‐Universität Frankfurt (Campus Riedberg) Frankfurt am Main Germany
- Ignacio J. Diaz‐Maroto
- Department of Agroforestry Engineering University of Santiago de Compostela Lugo Spain
- Martha R. Downs
- National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis University of California Santa Barbara California USA
- Joan C. Dudney
- Department of Plant Sciences UC Davis Davis California USA
- Erle C. Ellis
- Geography & Environmental Systems University of Maryland, Baltimore County Baltimore Maryland USA
- Kyle A. Emery
- Department of Geography UC Los Angeles Los Angeles California USA
- Jacob G. Eurich
- Environmental Defense Fund Santa Barbara California USA
- Bridget E. Ferriss
- Resource Ecology and Fisheries Management Division Alaska Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA Seattle Washington USA
- Alexa Fredston
- Department of Ocean Sciences University of California Santa Cruz California USA
- Hikaru Furukawa
- School of Earth and Space Exploration Arizona State University Tempe Arizona USA
- Sara A. Gagné
- Department of Geography and Earth Sciences University of North Carolina at Charlotte Charlotte North Carolina USA
- Sarah R. Garlick
- Hubbard Brook Research Foundation Thornton New Hampshire USA
- Colin J. Garroway
- Department of Biological Sciences University of Manitoba Winnipeg Manitoba Canada
- Kaitlyn M. Gaynor
- Departments of Zoology and Botany University of British Columbia Vancouver British Columbia Canada
- Angélica L. González
- Department of Biology & Center for Computational and Integrative Biology Rutgers University Camden New Jersey USA
- Eliza M. Grames
- Department of Biology University of Nevada, Reno Reno Nevada USA
- Tamar Guy‐Haim
- National Institute of Oceanography Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research (IOLR) Haifa Israel
- Ed Hackett
- School of Human Evolution & Social Change Arizona State University Tempe Arizona USA
- Lauren M. Hallett
- Environmental Studies Program and Department of Biology University of Oregon Eugene Oregon USA
- Tamara K. Harms
- Institute of Arctic Biology and Department of Biology & Wildlife University of Alaska Fairbanks Fairbanks Alaska USA
- Danielle E. Haulsee
- Hopkins Marine Station, Oceans Department Stanford University Pacific Grove California USA
- Kyle J. Haynes
- Blandy Experimental Farm University of Virginia Boyce Virginia USA
- Elliott L. Hazen
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology University of California Santa Cruz Santa Cruz California USA
- Rebecca M. Jarvis
- School of Science Auckland University of Technology Auckland New Zealand
- Kristal Jones
- JG Research and Evaluation Bozeman Montana USA
- Gaurav S. Kandlikar
- Division of Biological Sciences & Division of Plant Sciences University of Missouri Columbia Missouri USA
- Dustin W. Kincaid
- Vermont EPSCoR and Gund Institute for Environment University of Vermont Burlington Vermont USA
- Matthew L. Knope
- Department of Biology University of Hawai'i at Hilo Hilo Hawaii USA
- Anil Koirala
- Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources University of Georgia Athens Georgia USA
- Jurek Kolasa
- Department of Biology McMaster University Hamilton Ontario Canada
- John S. Kominoski
- Institute of Environment Florida International University Miami Florida USA
- Julia Koricheva
- Department of Biological Sciences Royal Holloway University of London Surrey UK
- Lesley T. Lancaster
- School of Biological Sciences University of Aberdeen Aberdeen UK
- Jake A. Lawlor
- Department of Biology McGill University Montreal Quebec Canada
- Heili E. Lowman
- Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Science University of Nevada, Reno Reno Nevada USA
- Frank E. Muller‐Karger
- College of Marine Science University of South Florida St. Petersburg Florida USA
- Kari E. A. Norman
- Département de sciences biologiques Université de Montréal Montréal Québec Canada
- Nan Nourn
- Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Michigan State University East Lansing Michigan USA
- Casey C. O'Hara
- Bren School of Environmental Science and Management University of California Santa Barbara California USA
- Suzanne X. Ou
- Department of Biology Stanford University Stanford California USA
- Jacqueline L. Padilla‐Gamino
- School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences University of Washington Seattle Washington USA
- Paula Pappalardo
- Marine Invasions Laboratory Smithsonian Environmental Research Center Tiburon California USA
- Ryan A. Peek
- Center for Watershed Sciences University of California Davis California USA
- Dominique Pelletier
- UMR DECOD, HALGO, Département Ressources Biologiques et Environnement Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer Lorient France
- Stephen Plont
- Department of Biological Sciences Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Blacksburg Virginia USA
- Lauren C. Ponisio
- Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology University of Oregon Eugene Oregon USA
- Cristina Portales‐Reyes
- Department of Biology Saint Louis University St. Louis Missouri USA
- Diogo B. Provete
- Instituto de Biociências Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul Campo Grande Brazil
- Eric J. Raes
- Minderoo Foundation, Flourishing Oceans Nedlands Western Australia Australia
- Carlos Ramirez‐Reyes
- DeLaMare Science & Engineering Library University of Nevada Reno Nevada USA
- Irene Ramos
- Comisión Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad (CONABIO) Mexico City Mexico
- Sydne Record
- Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Conservation Biology University of Maine Orono Maine USA
- Anthony J. Richardson
- School of Mathematics and Physics University of Queensland St Lucia Queensland Australia
- Roberto Salguero‐Gómez
- Department of Biology University of Oxford Oxford UK
- Erin V. Satterthwaite
- California Sea Grant Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego La Jolla California USA
- Chloé Schmidt
- Department of Biological Sciences University of Manitoba Winnipeg Manitoba Canada
- Aaron J. Schwartz
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology University of Colorado Boulder Colorado USA
- Craig R. See
- Center for Ecosystem Science and Society Northern Arizona University Flagstaff Arizona USA
- Brendan D. Shea
- Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation Virginia Tech Blacksburg Virginia USA
- Rachel S. Smith
- Department of Environmental Sciences University of Virginia Charlottesville Virginia USA
- Eric R. Sokol
- Battelle, National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) Boulder Colorado USA
- Christopher T. Solomon
- Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies Millbrook New York USA
- Trisha Spanbauer
- Department of Environmental Sciences/Lake Erie Center University of Toledo Toledo Ohio USA
- Paris V. Stefanoudis
- Department of Biology University of Oxford Oxford UK
- Beckett W. Sterner
- School of Life Sciences Arizona State University Tempe Arizona USA
- Vitor Sudbrack
- Department of Ecology and Evolution University of Lausanne Lausanne Switzerland
- Jonathan D. Tonkin
- School of Biological Sciences University of Canterbury Christchurch New Zealand
- Ashley R. Townes
- School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences University of Washington Seattle Washington USA
- Mireia Valle
- AZTI, Marine Research, Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA) Sukarrieta Spain
- Jonathan A. Walter
- Center for Watershed Sciences University of California Davis California USA
- Kathryn I. Wheeler
- Department of Earth & Environment Boston University Boston Massachusetts USA
- William R. Wieder
- Climate and Global Dynamics Laboratory, Terrestrial Sciences Section National Center for Atmospheric Research Boulder Colorado USA
- David R. Williams
- Sustainability Research Institute, School of Earth and Environment University of Leeds Leeds UK
- Marten Winter
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle‐Jena‐Leipzig Leipzig Germany
- Barbora Winterova
- Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science Masaryk University Brno Czech Republic
- Lucy C. Woodall
- School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences University of Washington Seattle Washington USA
- Adam S. Wymore
- Department of Natural Resources and the Environment University of New Hampshire Durham New Hampshire USA
- Casey Youngflesh
- Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior Program Michigan State University East Lansing Michigan USA
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4342
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 14,
no. 1
pp. n/a – n/a
Abstract
Abstract Synthesis research in ecology and environmental science improves understanding, advances theory, identifies research priorities, and supports management strategies by linking data, ideas, and tools. Accelerating environmental challenges increases the need to focus synthesis science on the most pressing questions. To leverage input from the broader research community, we convened a virtual workshop with participants from many countries and disciplines to examine how and where synthesis can address key questions and themes in ecology and environmental science in the coming decade. Seven priority research topics emerged: (1) diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice (DEIJ), (2) human and natural systems, (3) actionable and use‐inspired science, (4) scale, (5) generality, (6) complexity and resilience, and (7) predictability. Additionally, two issues regarding the general practice of synthesis emerged: the need for increased participant diversity and inclusive research practices; and increased and improved data flow, access, and skill‐building. These topics and practices provide a strategic vision for future synthesis in ecology and environmental science.
Keywords
