Co-Convenors: Sinjae Yoo (SB), Atsushi Tsuda (BIO), Mikhail Stepanenko (FIS), Steven Rumrill (MEQ), Hiroya Sugisaki (MONITOR), Kyung-Il Chang (POC), Toru Suzuki (TCODE), Thomas Therriault (AICE), Hiroaki Saito (COVE), Robin Brown (SOFE) and Fangli Qiao (China)
Invited Speakers:
Sukgeun Jung (Jeju National University, Korea)
Maurice Levasseur (Université Laval, Canada)
William Sydeman (Farallon Institute for Advanced Ecosystem Research, U.S.A.)
Mitsuo Uematsu (University of Tokyo, Japan)
Igor Volvenko (TINRO-Center, Russia)
Marine ecosystem variation often is attributed to natural or anthropogenic stressors, especially climatic or
hydrological forcing. These studies typically show correlations among ecosystem characteristics and indices of
global warming or climatic oscillations. Also, changes in biological communities often are described in terms of
their correlative relationships to these large-scale indices. While these studies have produced interesting results,
the underlying mechanisms responsible for ecosystem change have not been totally identified, especially when it
comes to understanding how populations, communities, and ecosystems are reorganized, sometimes dramatically,
over short time periods. Complexity, arising from varying influences of biotic and abiotic factors on multiple spatial
and temporal scales, challenges our understanding of these processes. Because of our insufficient understanding
of ecological mechanisms for oceanic regions, it is not unusual to find that what has happened in the past cannot adequately predict what will happen in the future. Thus, the focus of this Science Board Symposium will be on
describing mechanisms of ecosystem change and reorganization. The influence of factors operating at various
temporal and spatial scales will be considered. This symposium will lead to a better understanding of factors
that control species composition and ecosystem structure in the North Pacific Ocean, and improve our ability to
predict system responses to future stressors, including climate change.
