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Plenary Speakers

Ed Clebsch

Ed was born and raised in Clarksville, Tennessee. He received bachelor's and master's degrees from The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and a doctorate from Duke University. He majored in botany, and minored in geology, zoology, and soil science. His professional academic tenure was at The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, after a two year postdoctoral research appointment there. His professional interests during his active career included teaching, natural history, and research on rare plant species and plant communities. He was active in extending the university's mission through public service. He has participated in the Gatlinburg Wildflower Pilgrimage for most of its 58 year history, taught in the non-credit Smoky Mountain Field School for all but one year of its long history, consulted with state and federal agencies and with private industry on environmental matters throughout his active career and since, served the university and his profession in committee work and as an officer in various capacities, and worked for five years as a contract botanist for the Regional Natural Heritage Program of the Tennessee Valley Authority. For the past 2 ½ years he has worked as Projects Manager for the nonprofit Foothills Land Conservancy, helping to protect Tennessee's special lands from real estate development. He currently serves on the Education Committee of the Watershed Association of the Tellico Reservoir and the Secretary of Agriculture's Advisory Board for the U.S. Forest Service's Land Between The Lakes.

Plenary Presentation - THE NATURAL HISTORY OF TENNESSEE

Characterize the natural history of 41,217 square miles in 30 minutes? HA! A cross section of the state from the highest point, Clingmans Dome, to the low point at Memphis reveals the Unaka Range, the Valley and Ridge Province, the Cumberland Mountains and Cumberland Plateau, the Highland Rim, the Central Basin, the Western Highland Rim, and the Gulf Coastal Plain. Rocks vary in age from Pre- Cambrian to Recent, with broad geographic coverage by Paleozoics. No Pleistocene glacial evidence, but plenty of peri-glacial features. The Tennessee River, heavily impounded, is one of the oldest in the world. Climates are humid subtropical (Koppen). Vegetation is mostly temperate broad-leaved deciduous forest. The vascular flora includes 2902 species. Tennessee has more federally listed species than any other landlocked state, largely because of mussel diversity. Protected lands include the Cherokee National Forest, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, nearly 100 state wildlife management areas, eight National Wildlife Refuges, 130 state parks and designated natural areas, many city and county parks, and accelerating numbers of areas protected by private land trusts. The All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory in the Smokies, now 10 years old, includes 6151 (Jan. '08) species new to science or new to the park, and is thought to be less than 10% complete.

Dick Mack

Richard N. Mack (Ph.D, Washington State University, 1971) is a Professor in the School of Biological Sciences at Washington State University. For approximately the last 30 years his research has been largely devoted to the ecology of invasive species. Much of his research has dealt with the aggressive invader, Bromus tectorum (Cheatgrass or downy brome) in the Intermountain West (USA). He has also investigated plant invasions in Hawaii, the southeastern U.S. and China. He is particularly interested in the population biology (including the immigration, demography, competition, and ecological genetics) of plant invaders as well as their environmental effects. He has framed much of his research with the goal of both addressing fundamental and applied aspects of combating invasive species. He served as Chair of the Department of Botany at Washington State University, 1986-1999. He served as Chair from 1999-2001 for the National Research Council's Committee for "Predicting the Invasive Potential of Non-indigenous Plants and Plant Pests in the United States." He has served on the editorial boards of Ecology & Ecological Monographs, Oecologia, Ecological Applications and Biological Invasions. Until recently he served on the SCOPE (Scientific Committee for Problems in the Environment) Executive Committee, and a member of the Board for the Global Invasive Species Programme (GISP). He is currently a member of the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) specialist group on invasive species.

Plenary Presentation - PREDICTING BIOLOGICAL INVASIONS UNDER GLOBAL CLIMATIC CHANGE: COMPLEXITY²

Predicting the identity of future plant invaders, to say nothing of predicting their rate of range expansion and the habitats they will eventually occupy, presents well-known challenges. Global atmospheric change with its repercussions for global climates complicates these challenges much further, as it could create a veritable moving target of possible ranges. Most reliable at this point are predictions of range expansions to higher latitudes as air temperatures increase across almost any spatial scale. Triadica sebifera (Chinese tallow), for example, seems poised to advance much further north in the U.S. as temperatures rise. More common will probably be the upslope movement of species into mountainous regions, including subalpine and alpine areas that had been previously occupied by few alien species; such species movement is reputedly underway in the Alps. Even though General Global Circulation models are in their infancy, several points seem clear: species that can tolerate (and even thrive) with increasingly erratic bouts of drought, punctuated by brief periods of heavy precipitation, will likely expand their ranges. Unfortunately, these species include many ruderals that have already become invaders, e.g. Bromus tectorum (cheatgrass). But the challenge is not limited to the Earth's changing atmosphere affecting plant invasions; some plant invasions are collectively so widespread and have so altered the energy budget of their new ranges that they collectively may already be altering climate. For example, the seemingly inexorable conversion of lowland tropical forest to grassland dominated by invasive species likely contributes to global atmospheric changes.

Dan Simberloff

Daniel Simberloff is the Nancy Gore Hunger Professor of Environmental Studies at the University of Tennessee. He received his A.B. from Harvard University in 1964 and his Ph.D there (under E.O. Wilson) in 1968. He was a faculty member at Florida State University from 1968 through 1997, when he became the Nancy Gore Hunger Professor of Environmental Studies at the University of Tennessee. His 350 publications center on ecology, biogeography, evolution, and conservation biology, and much of his recent research focuses on causes and consequences of biological invasions. His research projects are on insects, plants, birds, and mammals. At the University of Tennessee he directs the Institute for Biological Invasions, http://invasions.bio.utk.edu/resources/index.html. He was instrumental in formulating presidential Executive Order 13112 on invasive species, and he serves on the IUCN Invasive Species Specialist Group and the IUCN Species Survival Commission. He has served on the federal Invasive Species Advisory Committee, the National Science Board, and the Board of Governors of the Nature Conservancy, and is a past president of the American Society of Naturalists. He currently edits or serves on the editorial boards of Biological Invasions, BioScience, Biodiversity and Conservation, and other journals. He is the translator of "Killer Algae," Alexandre Meinesz's book on the invasion of the Mediterranean by Caulerpa taxifolia. In 2006 he received the Eminent Ecologist Award of the Ecological Society of America.

Plenary Presentation - BIOFUEL FEEDSTOCKS: ARE INVASION BIOLOGISTS JUST CHICKEN LITTLES?

The rush to develop biofuels to replace dwindling petroleum supplies may engender unintended ecological consequences. Traits touted as ideal for biofuel feedstocks strikingly resemble those of many non-native plants introduced for forage and/or erosion control that subsequently became invasive. Although invasion biologists have progressed substantially in developing risk assessment tools, predictions that a plant will be safe when grown as a feedstock may be faulty because new genotypes and/or new features of the physical environment associated with cultivation have not been taken into account. Although many more invasive species are introduced than native, native species have also become invasive when genotypes or environments change. Thus native species such as switchgrass are not automatically harmless. Similarly, formerly sterile plant species have become fertile invaders, so sterile hybrids such as Miscanthus are also not guaranteed to be innocuous. Proposals for feedstock production should be evaluated species-by-species and will require research into the basic biology limiting reproduction and/or spread. Even for a species adjudged safe, mass cultivation plans should incorporate risk management procedures to mitigate unexpected invasion. Many introduced species have remained restricted and quiescent for decades before exploding to become widespread invaders, so ongoing monitoring and vigilance are required.

Larry Schweiger

Larry Schweiger became President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) in March 2004 with a commitment to confront global warming to protect wildlife for our children's future, connect people to nature, and restore America's wildlife heritage. National Wildlife Federation is America's conservation organization, with 48 affiliates and more than four million supporters. Larry also currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Alliance for Climate Protection. Previously, Larry served for eight years as President and CEO of the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, where he pioneered and promoted a number of programs, including expanded ecological research and community outreach in high priority conservation areas. Larry is an active community leader, having served on more than 40 governing boards, commissions and committees. He has received many awards for his efforts in conservation, including the Distinguished Service Award for Special Conservation Achievement from National Wildlife Federation in June 1995, and the Conservation Service Award from the Christian Environmental Association in September 1995. He was selected as Pennsylvania's Environmental Professional of the Year in 2002. Larry is married to Clara Schweiger and has three adult daughters, two sons-in-law, and one grandson, Thadius.

Plenary Presentation - CONFRONTING THE CLIMATE CRISIS: WHY WE NEED TO REINVENT NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION TO SAVE THE PLACES WE CARE ABOUT.

Global climate change is now a highly documented, rapidly unfolding planetary crisis that will affect everyone and will alter the very nature of tomorrow. In its 2007 report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change stated that 20-30% of plant and animal species worldwide are "likely to be at increased risk of extinction if increases in average global temperatures exceed 2.2-4.0° F above current levels." This could happen by the end of the century if we do not stabilize global temperatures by reducing global warming pollution. The IPCC also reports "40-70% of species would have significant extinctions if temperatures increase by more than 7.2°F." Clearly, global warming is the single biggest threat facing the earth's natural systems today. As climate change legislation moves forward in the next one or two years, Congress will likely consider investing in natural resources protection and restoration at funding levels that far exceed any amounts ever considered before. The Climate Security Act, recently debated by the Senate, sets the standard against which future bills will be measured. It provides for approximately $140 billion to be dedicated to U.S. natural resources protection and restoration in its first 19 years. Pending climate change legislative proposals provide the conservation community with a once-in-a-generation opportunity to confront climate change, rescue species from extinction and protect ecosystems from severe degradation. To seize this opportunity and achieve these objectives, the conservation community must transform the way it does business. Natural resource managers are well-positioned to play a key role in this transformation.