Paleonet: GSA Paleoecology Session

[Amelinda Webb]

Please consider submitting an abstract for the following technical
session at this year’s GSA in Charlotte:

T142. Topics in Paleoecology: Predation/Biotic Interactions,
Fidelity/Taphonomy, and Community Ecology/Whole Organism Paleoecology
Sponsored by: Paleontological Society; GSA Geobiology & Geomicrobiology Division
Chaired by: Carrie L. Tyler, Amelinda E. Webb, Frank L. Forcino, Emily
S. Stafford, Simon A.F. Darroch, Mary Kosloski
Description: We encourage a variety of studies to highlight the
diversity of research on both modern and ancient systems within
paleoecology. Topics will be organized in a framework of biotic
interactions, community ecology, and taphonomic fidelity.

In previous years at GSA, paleoecological presentations have been
scattered across multiple technical sessions (environmental change,
predation, geochemistry, paleoecology/taphonomy, etc.). Our goal is to
organize a multi-day session set up to prevent overlap of sessions
with similar research, drawing abstracts from submissions to this
session and from the general pool of paleontology abstracts. This
session will centralize the presentation of paleoecological research,
allowing researchers with similar interests to be concentrated in a
single session rather than spread across multiple sessions where they
might miss presentations relevant to their research interests.

In recent years, the number of new paleoecological studies has been
steadily increasing, and we would like to highlight the diversity of
this type of research by organizing a broad session structured to
smoothly transition between the major topics within paleoecology.
Research that focuses on organismal interactions, ranging from biotic
interactions such as predation to community composition to the
evolution of ecosystems, and how those interactions are preserved, is
continually uncovering novel information spanning the history of life
on Earth. We propose a technical session dedicated to the topic of
paleoecology as a way to draw attention to the diversity of this type
of research and its implications for both modern biologists and the
paleontological community.

Thank you for your time,

Amelinda E Webb

PhD Candidate
Geology and Geophysics
Yale University
210 Whitney Ave (KGL)
New Haven, CT 06511

"Seeing, contrary to popular wisdom, isn't believing. It's where
belief stops, because it isn't needed any more." -Terry Pratchett