Proposed Symposium Title: ECOPHYSIOLOGICAL CHALLENGES IN THE ANTHROPOCENE
Abstract: The Anthropocene era, characterized by human impact on the environment, presents multiple challenges for plants, including climate change's direct effects and the emergence and increase severity of plant pathogens due to global changes. These challenges can significantly alter plant growth, development, and survival, leading to changes in ecosystem structure and function.
Abiotic stress driven by climate change can have a wide range of negative effects on plants, including decreased growth, reduced photosynthetic efficiency, and altered nutrient uptake. Additionally, multiple stressors can cause oxidative stress and cellular damage, leading to reduced fitness and increased susceptibility to other stressors. Climate change, including increased temperatures, altered precipitation patterns, and rising atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, also presents challenges for plants. Changes in temperature and precipitation patterns can alter the timing and severity of abiotic stress events, leading to decreased growth and reduced productivity. Elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, while initially increasing plant growth, can also result in decreased water use efficiency, increased susceptibility to herbivores, and altered nutrient uptake.
Alongside emerging pests and pathogens are another significant challenge for plants in the Anthropocene, with the ongoing climate change effects disrupting the delicate balance between plants and their associated herbivores and pathogens, posing severe consequences for ecosystems, including reduced biodiversity and altered ecosystem function.
In conclusion, the eco-physiological challenges facing plants in the Anthropocene are significant and far-reaching. A better understanding of how plants respond to these challenges is essential for developing effective strategies to mitigate the impacts of human activities on ecosystems and the services they provide. Addressing these challenges will require interdisciplinary approaches that integrate knowledge from plant physiology, ecology, and environmental science.
Speaker 1: Bernardo Duarte
MARE - Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre & Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon
baduarte@fc.ul.pt
"Extremophytes in an anthropic environment: sources of adaptation tools"
Speaker 2: Andreia Figueiredo
Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon
aafigueiredo@fc.ul.pt
"Challenges to grapevine due to emerging phytopathogens"
Speaker 3: Jesus Perez-Romero
University of Cadiz
jesusalperezromero@gmail.com
"Climate change in marine systems: challenges to halophytes"
Topics (Up to three): Ecophysiology
Topic 2: Global Change Ecology
Topic 3: Physiology
Justification: The present symposium aims to address the thematics of the physiological and ecological constraints plants (terrestrial or aquatic) face in a world changing due to climate change's direct and indirect impacts. This has been of significant concern for the last few years and it's still a matter of discussion and a key subject to consider when addressing the plant world surrounding us, in all ecosystems. Also, this is a subject to which a wide audience of researchers dedicate themselves and thus we believe that this will be of interest to several potential speakers of the IBC2024
