[Coral-List] Fwd: Reef symposium at GSA

[Scott Fay]

>
> -------------------------
> Notice and call for papers:
>
> The Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, October 5-9,  
> 2008.  Abstracts due June 3, 2008
>
>>> CRISES ON THE REEFS? ANTICIPATING THE EFFECTS OF GLOBAL WARMING  
>>> ON REEFS BY REFERENCE TO THE FOSSIL RECORD: IS THE PAST REALLY  
>>> THE KEY TO THE PRESENT IN THE NEW FIELD OF CONSERVATION  
>>> PALEOBIOLOGY?
>>>
>>> Number in Call for Papers: T9
>>> Title: Crises on the Reefs? Anticipating the Effects of Global  
>>> Warming on Reefs by Reference to the Fossil Record Is the Past  
>>> Really the Key to the Present in the New Field of Conservation  
>>> Paleobiology?
>>> Session Type: Oral
>>>
>>> Scientific Categories: Paleontology, Diversity, Extinction,  
>>> Origination, Sediments, Carbonates, Paleoclimatology/ 
>>> Paleoceanography
>>> Sponsor: Paleontological Society; Society for Sedimentary Geology  
>>> (SEPM); Paleontologic Research Institute; Cushman Foundation;  
>>> Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies
>>> Rationale: Today coral reefs are increasingly degraded so that  
>>> various “crises” have been identified by scientists,  
>>> conservationists and the general public. The factors controlling  
>>> their demise however remain less well known. This symposium  
>>> addresses these problems with the only data available to examine  
>>> them directly--the modern through geologic and paleontologic  
>>> record of reefs. Our speakers will focus on ancient and Holocene  
>>> reefs as a backdrop for recent changes, but will address possible  
>>> connections between recent reefs and their forbearers in deeper  
>>> time. Speakers will identify "crises" predicted in the future of  
>>> reefs with data from the fossil record, in combination with the  
>>> theory and models based on inferences made on-short term modern  
>>> observations. Time matters, and over longer time ranges reefs may  
>>> respond differently than observations based on years or even  
>>> decades. Topics are many; we present seven to illustrate our  
>>> symposium. 1. Uniformitarianism - what are the challenges with  
>>> comparing quantitatively the measurements from modern reefs to  
>>> those preserved in the fossil record? 2. The Holocene reef  
>>> phenomenon ¬ is it really a realistic key to the past? 3. Are the  
>>> projections of an increase in CO2, the subsequent uptake of CO2  
>>> by the oceans, and the predicted acidification of ocean waters  
>>> and decrease in the saturation state of aragonite leading to  
>>> model projections of the general decrease in reef longevity  
>>> across the globe realistic? These dire predictions need testing  
>>> before policy and major decisions are made - the record through  
>>> time may circumscribe some of these fears. 4. What changes in  
>>> reef community lead to diseases - white band, white plague, red  
>>> band, black band and others - attributed, in part, to a host of  
>>> microbiota associated with environmental conditions such as  
>>> increase in temperature and residence time of warm surface  
>>> waters? 5. Are fears of reef collapse due to symbiont bleaching,  
>>> also attributed to warming, justified by longer term  
>>> observations? 6. Are reef recovery methods for example the use of  
>>> artificial "reefs" like shipwrecks, reef balls, tires, and cement  
>>> blocks to provide a substrate upon which corals develop and  
>>> provide incipient reef growth toward regeneration of an ecosystem  
>>> appropriate? The geologic past provides evidence of reef growth  
>>> on a variety of substrata and can bear testament to these as yet  
>>> untested proposals for artificial reef regeneration. 7. Do  
>>> geologic observations indicate that reefs really are fragile? In  
>>> general the geologic record attests to the longevity and  
>>> resilience of reef ecosystems and their persistence through mass  
>>> extinction events, greenhouse and icehouse thermal extremes, huge  
>>> sea level changes, and high levels of atmospheric and within reef  
>>> carbon dioxide. The central theme of this symposium -  
>>> anticipating the effects of global warming on reefs by reference  
>>> to the fossil record - compares and analyzes the recovery and  
>>> demise of the past systems to anticipate future reef changes. It  
>>> will provide empirical data from which a new generation of model  
>>> predictions can be developed, and it will bring to the forefront  
>>> the new field of conservation paleobiology by addressing “what  
>>> does geology bring to the table?” for one of the best known  
>>> ecosystems on the Earth - the shallow-water reefs. This Symposium  
>>> is a Paleontological Society Centennial Celebration contribution  
>>> to the solution of modern problems by using the "past as a key to  
>>> the future".
>>>
>>> Memo or Comment for Technical Program Chair: This symposium  
>>> addresses major anticipated “crises” in the modern oceans by  
>>> examining each crisis with information from the fossil record,  
>>> and investigating its impact on theories and models used to  
>>> proclaim future reef ecosystem viability. The focus of the  
>>> symposium is on the unique perspectives that both paleobiology  
>>> and geology bring to an understanding of long-term ecosystem  
>>> change. This is a topic of enormous concern and interest and is  
>>> especially important now in terms of conservation initiatives and  
>>> policy decisions. We believe that many geologists at the GSA  
>>> meeting will put this symposium high on their list of events to  
>>> observe and participate in, given the interest in global warming  
>>> issues at the 2007 GSA meeting. This Symposium is a  
>>> Paleontological Society Centennial Celebration contribution to  
>>> the solution of modern problems by using the "past as a key to  
>>> the future".
>>>
>>> Convener/Advocate(s): Claudia C. Johnson, claudia at indiana.edu,  
>>> Jere Lipps, jlipps at uclink4.berkeley.edu, George Stanley,  
>>> george.stanley at umontana.edu, Dennis Hubbard,  
>>> dennis.hubbard at oberlin.edu Presentations:
>>>
>>>   ===================================
>>>
>>> Abstracts are due  NO LATER THAN 03 JUNE, please submit the <300- 
>>> word ABSTRACT of your presentation at http://gsa.confex.com/gsa/ 
>>> 2008AM/top/index.epl. This URL will take you directly to the  
>>> Topical Symposium submission page.  You will see the Crisis on  
>>> the reefs as session no. 6.  Click the blue title and the  
>>> submission page comes up.  There are SIX steps on six pages to  
>>> do.  On the first page, please do not change the  
>>> “Breakthroughs . . . “ selection.  For the next "discipline"  
>>> selection drop-down list, select the one you think is most  
>>> appropriate (none may seem right, but select the best ... it does  
>>> not really matter anyway).  Then click Oral Presentation.  Click  
>>> Submit and the next page will appear.  You should see an   
>>> “Abstract No. XXXX” automatically generated for your submission.   
>>> Record this abstract number for future reference and to make  
>>> changes later [Note that the “Abstract No.” becomes the “Paper  
>>> No.” on later pages.].   Then just continue for the all six pages  
>>> and you're done.
>>>
>>> On each submission page, a list of steps and assistance is  
>>> available on the side panel.  It is a fairly simple process.
>>>
>>> GSA Instructions are:
>>> Submitting an Abstract--Important Information
>>> Non-refundable fee of $35 per abstract submission.
>>> Abstracts must be 300 words or less. Do not include your title  
>>> and authors in the abstract.
>>> Use the Printable Receipt Option in Step #4. Print this receipt  
>>> and retain for your records. Receipts will not be available  
>>> through the Annual Meetings Headquarters Office.
>>> Credit Card payment must be made at time of submittal or your  
>>> paper will not be considered for the meeting.
>>> Each presenter is required to register for the Annual Meeting.  
>>> Registration for the Annual Meeting will be available in early  
>>> June. Please note that the abstract fee is not associated with or  
>>> part of the Annual Meeting registration fee.
>>> Registration and hotel reservations will be opened by GSA in the  
>>> first week of June.    See http://www.geosociety.org/meetings/  
>>> for details of meeting, housing and registration.
>>>

-- 
Scott Fay
PhD Candidate
Department of Integrative Biology, University of California Berkeley
3060 Valley Life Sciences Building, #3140
Berkeley, CA 94720