2016 International Congress of Entomology, Orlando, FL

 

Symposium:  Insect Effects on Ecosystem Services

 

T.D. Schowalter and T. Tscharntke, Organizers

 

September 27, 2016

 

Dr. Timothy Schowalter (USA): Introduction to insect effects on ecosystem services”

Dr. Schowalter is professor of Entomology at Louisiana State University. He has published books and papers on insect effects on ecosystem processes and services.

 

Keith Mbata (Zambia):  “Edible insects: An assured future alternative source of protein and other nourishment for malnourished children, the elderly and HIV/AIDS patients in rural Zambia”

Dr. Mbata is Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Zambia. He has published extensively on various aspects of insect ecology and management, including the value of insects as protein sources in undernourished populations.

 

Gary Belovsky (USA):  “Grasshopper stimulation of grassland productivity”

Dr. Belovsky is Professor of Biological Sciences at Notre Dame University.  He has published a variety of papers on effects of long-term interactions on ecosystem processes, including stimulation of ecosystem productivity at moderate levels of herbivory.

 

Bernard Doube (Australia):  “Ecosystem services of dung beetles in Australia”

Dr. Doube (retired Research Entomologist, CSIRO) continues to publish effects of dung beetles on removal of cattle dung, pasture productivity and mediation of bush fly populations.

 

Teja Tscharntke (Germany):  “Biodiversity services in agroecosystems”

Dr. Tscharntke is Professor of Crop Science and Head of the Agroecology Research Group at the University of Göttingen.  He has published extensively on effects of land use change on insects and ecosystem services.

 

Doug Landis (USA):  “Designing landscapes for multiple services”

Dr. Landis is Professor of Entomology at Michigan State University.  He has published extensively on insect ecology and biological control as an ecosystem service.

 

Riccardo Bommarco (Sweden:  “Ecological intensification in agriculture using insect ecosystem services“

Dr. Bommarco is Professor of Ecology at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.  He has published numerous papers on landscape ecology of insects in agricultural landscapes and how landscape structure affects biodiversity and ecosystem services.

 

Wolfgang Weisser (Germany):  “Effects of land use and plant diversity on insect diversity and consequences for ecosystem functioning”.

Dr. Weisser is Professor and Chair of Terrestrial Ecology at the Technische Universität München, Germany.  He is a PI on the Jena Project, designed to analyze the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem function.

 

Hisatomo Taki (Japan):  “Landscape effects on pollination services”

Dr. Taki is a research entomologist with the Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute in Japan.  He has published numerous papers on landscape effects on pollination services, including papers in Science and PLoS ONE.

 

Amy Yomiko Vittor (USA):  “Deforestation and human disease”

Dr. Vittor (Ph.D. 2003, M.D. 2007) is Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Florida.  She has published studies on effects of land use change on abundances of insect disease vectors affecting human health.

 

Chelse Prather (USA):  “Climate change effects on insects and ecosystem services”

Dr. Pather (Ph.D. 2010) is Assistant Professor of Biology at Radford University (VA) and has published papers on effects of insect diversity on ecosystem function and services.

 

René Cerritos Flores (Mexico):  “Economic values of harvesting grasshoppers for food vs. Control”

Dr. Cerritos (Ph.D. 2008) is Professor titular “A” at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México and has published papers on molecular biology and comparison of insect values as food vs pests.