ID: 613 / 103

Category: Symposia

Track: Pending

Proposed Symposium Title: ADVANCES IN FERN ECOLOGY: RESPONSES TO ENVIRONMENTAL AND BIOTIC STRESS FACTORS

Abstract: This symposium aims to renew and broaden the interest in the multidisciplinary approach to ecological studies of ferns. We present an overview of the advances in Fern Ecology during the last decade and propose future research directions to improve our understanding of ecological processes to amend our ability to protect the diversity of ferns under the impact of anthropogenic disturbance and climate change. Speakers will cover a range of molecular, physiological, or ecological effects of abiotic and biotic stress factors on the different life stages of ferns: the spore, the gametophyte, or the sporophyte. Many of the stress factors such as drought, fire, and contamination, as well as the success of invasive species and plant damage by herbivorous insects are expected to be linked among each other and to be altered by the ongoing climate change. The impact of climatic, edaphic, biotic, and anthropogenic stress factors and the molecular, biochemical, physiological, and morpho-anatomical responses of the affected fern species will be discussed based on evidence from recent case studies from a range of different habitats and geographic regions. Finally, we will also discuss the similarities and differences in stress responses between the two most diverse groups of vascular plants on Earth: ferns and angiosperms to propose taxon-specific conservation management strategies and to stimulate further comparative studies.

Speaker 1: • Klaus Mehltreter • Instituto de Ecología, A. C., Xalapa, Ver., México • kmehltreter@gmail.com • Advances in Fern Ecology: a synthesis and future research directions

Speaker 2: • Rafael Farias • Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador, Brasil, • rafaelpfarias@hotmail.com • Insect herbivory and defense mechanisms in ferns

Speaker 3: • Catalina Flores-Galván • Instituto de Ecología, A. C., Xalapa, Ver., México, • kattie92@outlook.com • Nutrient ecology of lithophytic ferns: responses to different substrates

Topics (Up to three): Pteridology

Topic 2: Ecology and Plant Communities

Topic 3: Plant, Animal, and Microbe Interactions

Justification: With this contribution in the Pteridology section (topic 28), we present an updated view of fern ecology which has received renewed interest in the scientific community in the face of the current climate change and shown by a current special issue published and coedited by the symposium organizer in the American Fern Journal in 2022. Listed contributors to this symposium are advanced Ph.D. students as well as young and senior researchers from Mexico and Brazil. However, we look forward to inserting additional invited speakers to provide an even broader geographic coverage, expecting especially further contributions from the USA, Europe, Africa, and Asia.