Science Programme

Organizers:
Alison Bennett (The James Hutton Institute, UK)
Alison Karley (The James Hutton Institute, UK)
Scott Johnson (The James Hutton Institute, UK; University of Western Sydney, Australia)
Tim Daniell (The James Hutton Institute, UK)

Session 1: Cross-disciplinarity in trophic interactions research

Monday 8 October 2012
12:00 - 13:00 Registration and lunch

13:00 - 13:15 Welcome and opening comments

13:15 - 14:00
Overview
Richard Bardgett (Lancaster University, UK)
14:00 - 14:30
Interactions between microbes, plants, aphids and their natural enemies
Julia Ferrari (University of York, UK)
14:30 - 15:00
Interactions between the crucifer Barbarea vulgaris, flea beetles (Phyllotreta nemorum), white rust (Albugo candida), and others: a multidisciplinary quest
Thure Hauser (University of Copenhagen, Denmark)
15:00 - 15:20
Integrating biodiversity: the aboveground-belowground impacts of legume cropping in Europe
Selected Oral Communication - Susannah Cass (Trinity College Dublin, Ireland)
15:20 - 16:00 Coffee/tea break

16:00 - 16:20
Rhizodeposition: a new approach to mitigating soil nitrous oxide production
Selected Oral Communication - Liz Baggs (University of Aberdeen, UK)
16:20 - 16:40
The role of aboveground and belowground plant traits in driving microbial abundance and activity
Selected Oral Communication - Catherine Baxendale (Lancaster University, UK)
16:40 - 17:00 Flash poster presentations

17:00 - 18:30 Poster session with drinks reception and buffet dinner

Session 2: New advances in understanding above-belowground interactions

Tuesday 9 October 2012
09:00 - 09:30
Aboveground-belowground interactions of plants with microbes and insects: from mechanisms to ecology
Marcel Dicke (Wageningen University, The Netherlands)
09:30 - 10:00
Multiple stress management in plants: interactions between aboveground and belowground herbivore-induced responses
Nicole van Dam (Radboud University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands)
10:00 - 10:20
Drought modifies trophic cascades above and below ground
Selected Oral Communication - Joanna Staley (Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, UK)
10:20 - 10:40
Priming in below-aboveground interactions
Selected Oral Communication - Susanne Wurst (Freie Universität Berlin, Germany)
10:40 - 11:10 Coffee/tea break

11:10 - 11:30
Litter inputs and plant interactions affect nectar sugar content
Selected Oral Communication - Xavier Raynaud (Université Pierre et Marie Curie Paris 6, France)
11:30 - 11:50
From micro to macro – upscaling from microbial processes to ecosystem functioning
Selected Oral Communication - Emma Sayer (The Open University, UK)
11:50 - 12:20 Discussion session for Sessions 1 and 2

12:20 - 14:00 Lunch

Session 3: Techniques and novel approaches

Tuesday 9 October 2012
14:00 - 14:30
(Ultra)high resolution approaches for above- and belowground metabolomics
Philippe Schmitt-Kopplin (Helmholtz Zentrum München, Germany)
14:30 - 15:00
Insights into the community ecology of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi through new analytical and molecular techniques
Alex Dumbrell (University of Essex, UK)
15:00 - 15:30 Coffee/tea break

15:30 - 15:50
Effects of vegetation and microbial community change on peatland carbon cycling
Selected Oral Communication - Susan Ward (Lancaster University, UK)
15:50 - 16:10
From whole-organism to sub-cellular localization of metabolites by mass spectrometry imaging, approaches in an invertebrate
Selected Oral Communication - Manuel Liebeke (Imperial College London, UK)
16:10 - 16:30
Breaking open the black box – can non-invasive soil imaging help answer questions in aboveground-belowground ecology?
Selected Oral Communication - Scott Johnson (University of Western Sydney, Australia)
16:30 - 17:00 Discussion session for Session 3

Session 4: Understanding and interpreting the data

Tuesday 9 October 2012
17:00 - 17:30
Ecological metabolomics of invasive plants
Mirka Macel (University of Tuebingen, Germany)
17:30 - 17:50
Is vegetation composition or soil chemistry the better predictor of the soil microbial community?
Selected Oral Communication - Ruth Mitchell (The James Hutton Institute, UK)
17:50 - 18:10 Flash poster presentations

18:10 - 19:15 Poster session with drinks reception

19:30 - 22:00 Conference dinner

Wednesday 10 October 2012
09:00 - 09:30
Next-generation data mining: characterizing microbial communities associated with leaf-cutter ant colonies
Garret Suen (University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA)
09:30 - 09:50
Molecular and cytological insights into the mutualistic symbioses of plants with the fungus Piriformospora indica
Selected Oral Communication - Patrick Schäfer (University of Warwick, UK)
09:50 - 10:10
Rapid transfer of organic N-compounds excreted by decomposers to plants and herbivores
Selected Oral Communication - Olaf Schmidt (University College Dublin, Ireland)
10:10 - 10:30
The hidden season – subarctic plant communities grow longer belowground than aboveground
Selected Oral Communication - Gesche Blume-Werry (Umeå University, Sweden)
10:30 - 11:00 Coffee/tea break

11:00 - 11:30 Discussion session for Session 4

Session 5: Unifying approaches to above-belowground research

Wednesday 10 October 2012
11:30 - 12:15
Ted Turlings (University of Neuchatel, Switzerland)
12:15 - 12:30 Closing remarks

12:30 Lunch and departure