“Megadiverse communities - from patterns to explanations”
In connection to 9th Jyväskylä Winter School of Ecology
Organizers: Dr. Panu Halme (University of Jyväskylä, Finland), Dr. Nerea Abrego (University
of Trondheim, Norway), and Prof. Hannu Ylönen (University of Jyväskylä, Finland)
Workshop assistants and secretary: B.Sc. Sonja Saine (University of Jyväskylä, Finland),
B.Sc. Aurora Prättälä (University of Jyväskylä, Finland), M.Sc. Elina Leskinen (Secretary of
the Winter School of Ecology)
Time: 24.–26.2.2016
Place: Konnevesi Research Station of the University of Jyväskylä, Konnevesi, Finland
Aims and content: Traditionally studies on species rich communities have focused on
illustrating patterns related to spatial and temporal scales or along habitat gradients.
Currently the focus is moving more and more towards understanding the biological reasons
to these patterns. This shifting focus calls for new kinds of study set ups, survey methods
and analytical tools, for example better treatment of functional and genetic diversity. The
purpose of this workshop is to discuss how we could take the necessary steps from patterns
to explanations. The workshop will begin with short presentations given by the participants
about their current projects and followed by discussion about the most crucial steps that
community ecology as a discipline should take. In the end of the workshop the participants
will provide a roadmap towards better studies on megadiverse communities and also
discuss how this change helps biodiversity conservation. The official workshop program will
be followed by a field trip to a primeval boreal forest.
With this annual workshop we will commemorate the invaluable work of our good friends in
enthusiastic commitment for ecology, intellectual scientific discussions and excellent
teaching.
Program
Tuesday 23rd of February, 2016
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Arrival and accommodation of participants
18:00 Supper
19:00 Sauna, and free discussions
Wednesday 24th of February, 2016
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8:00 – 9:00 Breakfast
09:30 – 11:30 Opening and presentations
Workshop opening:
o Mari Jönsson: Cryptic futures for cryptogams in conservation areas?
o Lisa Teckentrup: Plastic changes in home range formation provide a stabilizing
mechanism buffering against negative effects of land use changes
o Anna Oldén: Grazers increase beta diversity of vascular plants and bryophytes in
wood-pastures
o Péter Ódor: Environmental drivers of epiphytic and epixylic bryophyte and lichen
assemblages on different spatial scales
o Simon Thorn: Changes in community assembly reflect human intervention in natural
disturbances
11:30 Lunch
13:00 – 14.30 Open discussion on the workshop theme
14:30 – 15:00 Coffee break
15:00 – 17:15 Presentations:
o Alicia Ledo: Incorporating a phylogenetic correction into models of spatial structure
in analyses of megadiverse plant communities
o Nerea Abrego: How do traits and interactions influence the responses of woodinhabiting fungi to forest management?
o Anna Norberg: Analysing community data — how well do different statistical
frameworks predict species- and community-level patterns?
o Anna-Helena Purre: Factors explaining the revegetation patterns in the restored
milled peatlands
o Kristiina Nyholm: Spatial linkages between geo-, hydro- and biodiversity in large
boreal lakes
o Martijn Versluijs: Short-term changes in bird assemblages after ecological
restoration in a boreal forest system
17:15 – 18:00 Dinner
18:00 Sauna, and free discussions
Thursday 25th of February, 2016
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6:30 – 8:30 Opportunity for early morning ice fishing (potential catch being grayling, brown
trout and whitefish)
8:00 – 9:00 Breakfast
09:30 – 11:30 Presentations
o Otso Ovaskainen: Statistical community ecology with joint species distribution
models
o Hannes Pasanen: Restoring dead wood in boreal Fennoscandia: Effects
of restoration measure on fungal communities in Scots pine logs
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Reda Irsenaite: Wood-inhabiting fungi in Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) forest affected
by great cormorant colony
o Mikko Mönkkönen: Disentangling the tangled bank
o Jörg Muller: Functional and phylogenetic dissimilarity in forest conservation
11:30 – 13:00 Lunch
13:00 – 18.00
o Option 1: Analysis practical organized by Otso Ovaskainen et al. Coffee breaks
organized when needed and optimal for the practical flow.
o Option 2: Writing workshop on the joined writing practice
o Option 3 (part time): Brainstorm on project plans, problems etc. proposed by
participants. Can be part-time and partially joined with option 2.
18:30 Workshop banquet
20:00 Social evening
Friday 26th of February, 2016
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8:00 – 9:00 Breakfast
9:30 – 11:30 Presentations and final discussion on the workshop topic, writing task and
future plans:
o Jenna Purhonen: The effects of forest naturalness on the (functional) diversity of
different groups of wood-inhabiting fungi
o William Lopez Valencia: Chironomidae larvae assemblage and the inference of
MOB in their diet in Boreal lakes surrounded by anthropogenic settlements
Discussions
11:30 – 12:30 Lunch
Departure
Afternoon and evening: Informal brainstorm for those who stay for the field trip.
Saturday 27th of February, 2016
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A voluntary field trip to the Pyhä-häkki National Park. Departure very early from the station,
breakfast on the way. Five hours of skiing, wintershoeing and frying sausages in a primeval
forest. Ending on the afternoon at the airport and train station.
Invited speakers and participants
Researchers to invited representing international high-standard research:
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Diana Abondano (University of Jyväskylä, Finland)
Nerea Abrego (University of Trondheim, Norway)
Panu Halme (University of Jyväskylä, Finland)
Matti Häkkilä (University of Jyväskylä, Finland)
Reda Iršėnaitė Nature Research Centre, Lithuania)
Wang Jianjun (University of Helsinki, Finland)
Mari Jönsson The Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden)
Boroka Kiss (Anglia Ruskin University, United Kingdom)
Atte Komonen (University of Jyväskylä, Finland)
Alicia Ledo (University of Aberdeen, United Kingdom)
William Lopez Valencia (University of Jyväskylä, Finland)
Jörg Müller (Bavarian Forest National Park and Technische Universität München, Germany)
Mikko Mönkkönen (University of Jyväskylä, Finland)
Anna Norberg (University of Helsinki, Finland)
Kristiina Nyholm (University of Jyväskylä, Finland)
Péter Ódor (MTA Centre for Ecological Research Institute of Ecology and Botany, Hungary)
Anna Ólden (University of Jyväskylä, Finland)
Otso Ovaskainen University of Helsinki, Finland and University of Trondheim, Norway)
Virpi Pajunen (University of Helsinki, Finland)
Hannes Pasanen (University of Eastern Finland, Finland)
Aurora Prättälä (University of Jyväskylä, Finland)
Jenna Purhonen (University of Jyväskylä, Finland)
Anna-Helena Purre (Tallinn University, Estonia)
Tuuli Pöllänen (The Open University, London)
Sonja Saine (University of Jyväskylä, Finland)
Lea Spelzhausen (Hamburg University, Germany)
Lisa Teckentrup University of Potsdam, Germany)
Kaisa Tervonen (University of Jyväskylä, Finland)
Simon Thorn (Bavarian Forest National Park, Germany)
Martijn Versluijs (University of Agricultural science, Sweden)