Supplementary Document-1: Frontiers in Ecosystem Ecology Community Assessment Project

Supplementary Document-1: Frontiers in Ecosystem Ecology Community Assessment Project: Survey administered at scientific meeting Town Hall events.

Frontiers in Ecosystem Science Survey
Please take the time to fill out sections A-C before the meeting begins. Section D is to be filled out following a series of brief and hopefully provocative speeches about the frontiers in ecosystem science. All responses are confidential and will be used only in aggregate form in the preparation of a report and paper which describes how ecosystem scientists view themselves and the future of ecosystem science. Thanks for your time!
A. Demographic Information
Why? So we can see how opinions differ by age (calendar and professional), job sector and

subdiscipline
1. Age: ______
2. Gender: ⬰Male ⬰Female
3. Citizenship, please list the country/ies where you hold citizenship:

4. Education

a. Highest Degree Earned

⬰Bachelor’s
⬰M.S.
⬰Ph.D.

b. Field in which degree earned

⬰ Biology
⬰ Chemistry
⬰ Ecology
⬰ Engineering
⬰ Environmental Science
⬰ Hydrology

⬰ Mathematics

⬰ Natural Resources

⬰ Physics

⬰ Other

If other, please list:

c. Year of highest degree: ______

5. Current Professional Position

⬰Undergraduate Student

⬰Graduate Student, M.S. program

⬰Graduate, Ph.D. program

⬰Faculty Member, Non-tenure track

⬰Faculty Member, Assistant professor
⬰Faculty Member, Associate professor
⬰Faculty Member, Full professor
⬰Corporate Scientist Sector:

⬰Government Scientist Name of agency:

⬰ Nonprofit Scientist

⬰ Other. If other, please describe:

In your current position, how much of your time is allocated to research?

______% Effort Devoted to Research

6. Society Memberships (check Current Member / Former Member)

Current Former

⬰⬰AGU- American Geophysical Union
⬰⬰ASLO – Limnology and Oceanography
⬰⬰EEF – European Ecological Federation
⬰⬰ESA – Ecological Society of America
⬰⬰SFS – Society of Freshwater Science (formerly NABS)
⬰⬰SSA – Soil Science Society of America
⬰⬰IALE – International Assoc. of Landscape Ecologists

⬰⬰INTECOL – International Association of Limnology
⬰⬰ISME – International Society for Microbial Ecology
⬰⬰SIL – International Society of Limnology
⬰⬰SWS – Society of Wetland Scientists
⬰Other

If other, please provide names:

7. Research habitats (check all that apply)

⬰ TERRESTRIAL HABITATS

⬰ TUNDRA

⬰ BOREAL FOREST

⬰ TEMPERATE

⬰ Deciduous Forest ⬰Coniferous Forest ⬰Rain Forest ⬰Mixed Forest

⬰ Prairie/Grasslands ⬰Desert

⬰ SUBTROPICAL

⬰Rain Forest ⬰Seasonal Forest ⬰Savanna ⬰Thornwoods

⬰Deciduous Forest ⬰Coniferous Forest ⬰Desert

⬰ TROPICAL

⬰Rain Forest ⬰Seasonal Forest ⬰Savanna ⬰Thornwoods

⬰Deciduous Forest ⬰Coniferous Forest ⬰Desert

⬰ CHAPPARAL/ SCLEROPHYLL/

⬰ SHRUBLANDS

⬰ ALPINE

⬰ MONTANE

⬰ CLOUD FOREST

⬰ RIPARIAN ZONES

⬰ ISLANDS (except Barrier Islands)

⬰ BEACHES/ DUNES/ SHORES

⬰ BARRIER ISLANDS

⬰ CAVES/ ROCK OUTCROPS/ CLIFFS

⬰ CROPLANDS/ FALLOW FIELDS

⬰ PASTURES

⬰ URBAN/SUBURBAN

⬰ SUBTERRANEAN/ SOIL

⬰ SEDIMENTS

⬰ EXTREME TERRESTRIAL ENVIRONMENT

⬰ AERIAL

⬰ AQUATIC HABITATS

⬰ FRESHWATER

⬰Wetlands/Bogs/Swamps ⬰Lakes/Ponds ⬰Rivers/Streams ⬰Reservoirs

⬰ MARINE

⬰Open Ocean/Continental Shelf ⬰Bathyal ⬰Abyssal ⬰Estuarine

⬰Intertidal/Tidal/Coastal ⬰Coral Reef

⬰ HYPERSALINE

⬰ EXTREME AQUATIC ENVIRONMENT

⬰ CAVES/ ROCK OUTCROPS/ CLIFFS

⬰ MANGROVES

⬰ SUBSURFACE WATERS/ SPRINGS

⬰ EPHEMERAL POOLS & STREAMS

⬰ MICROPOOLS (Pitcher Plants, Tree Holes, Other)

⬰ MAN-MADE ENVIRONMENTS

⬰ LABORATORY

⬰ THEORETICAL SYSTEMS

⬰ OTHER ARTIFICIAL SYSTEMS

8. Research organisms (check all that apply)

⬰Viruses ⬰Prokaryotes ⬰Protista ⬰Fungi ⬰Lichens ⬰Slime Molds

⬰Algae ⬰Plants {⬰Vascular ⬰Non-vascular}

⬰ Animals {⬰Invertebrates ⬰Vertebrates} ⬰No Organisms

9.How would you introduce yourself to ecological colleagues?
Select all that apply.
⬰Biogeochemist ⬰Community ecologist ⬰Ecologist ⬰Ecological Modeller

⬰Ecosystem ecologist ⬰Ecosystem scientist ⬰Environ. Scientist ⬰Plant ecologist

⬰Limnologist ⬰Microbial ecologist ⬰Stream ecologist ⬰Wetland ecologist

⬰Other? If other, please provide:______
10. What research approaches do you commonly use? Select all that apply.

⬰ observation
⬰ mass balance ⬰flux estimates ⬰gradient analysis
⬰ rate measurements

⬰ experimentalist

⬰ laboratory/microcosm ⬰plot scale/mesocosm
⬰ ecosystem scale

⬰ theorist
⬰ ecological modeler
⬰ Other

If other, please describe:
B. What ecosystem science means to you.
Why? To understand what common definitions best resonate with the community of ecosystem scientists and what our community finds unsatisfying about current definitions.
1.Please rank your preference for the following descriptions of the word “ecosystem” (sorry, no ties

allowed). We have arranged the definitions here by length. We are most interested in your most

and least favorite definitions.
A. “Ecosystem: the biological community together with the abiotic environment in which it is set.”

– Begon, Townsend and Harper. 2006. Ecology. 4th ed. Blackwell.
B. "The whole system,… including not only the organism-complex, but also the whole complex of physical factors forming what we call the environment."

– Arthur Tansley 1935
C. The ecosystem is "a spatially explicit unit of the Earth that includes all of the organisms, along with all components of the abiotic environment within its boundaries.”

– Gene Likens 1992. The Ecosystem Approach: Its Use and Abuse.
D.“An ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the living organisms or biotic component, in a particular area, and the nonliving, or abiotic component, with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight.”

– Wikipedia, accessed February 9, 2012
E. "Any unit that includes all of the organisms (i.e.: the "community") in a given area interacting with the physical environment so that a flow of energy leads to clearly defined trophic structure, biotic diversity, and material cycles (i.e.: exchange of materials between living and nonliving parts) within the system is an ecosystem.."

– Eugene Odum, Fundamentals of Ecology
F. “The ecosystem concept is a paradigm, i.e., a convenient approach to organizing thought…. The ecosystem concept takes these impossibly complex phenomena and focuses on a small subset: the average or integrated properties of all the populations within a specified spatial area. This approach has the advantage of identifying ‘‘emergent’’ properties such as energy flow and nutrient cycling, and permits study of the relative stability of this abstract structure and its function.”

– Robert O’Neill’s MacArthur lecture (2001 Ecology 82:3275-3284)

A B C D EF Can’t decide
Favorite⬰⬰⬰⬰⬰⬰ ⬰
Least Favorite⬰⬰⬰⬰⬰⬰ ⬰
2. Please describe what you dislike about your least favorite definition. Choose all that apply.
⬰ Too narrow ⬰Overly broad ⬰Vague ⬰Too specific
⬰ Not inclusive of what:
⬰ Other? If other, please describe:

3.Do you have your own preferred definition of ecosystem science that you would like to share? If

so, please write that here (otherwise leave blank).

C. If you had 1 minute to argue for a major new research funding initiative, what would you say is

the most important question for ecosystem scientists to explore in the coming decade?

**PART II - COMPLETE AFTER HEARING FROM SPEAKERS**
D. After hearing (or giving) the soapbox talks – we want your reaction.
1. Which questions did you find most exciting?
Extremely Very Moderately Low Very Low
Speaker 1⬰⬰⬰⬰⬰
Speaker 2⬰⬰⬰⬰⬰
Speaker 3⬰⬰⬰⬰⬰
Speaker 4⬰⬰⬰⬰⬰
Speaker 5⬰⬰⬰⬰⬰
Speaker 6⬰⬰⬰⬰⬰
Speaker 7⬰⬰⬰⬰⬰
Speaker 8⬰⬰⬰⬰⬰
Speaker 9⬰⬰⬰⬰⬰
Speaker 10⬰⬰⬰⬰⬰

2. We are curious about how the boundaries of the discipline of ecosystem science are perceived and are

changing. To help us think about that can you tell us how you would classify the questions posed?

Core –questions that are clearly tied to historic progress in ecosystem science

Tangential –questions that do not fit neatly within your definition of ecosystem science - please note

this does not mean you do not find the question interesting

Transformative – exceptionally novel or creative questions
***Please feel free to rank questions as core + frontier or tangential +frontier

Core Tangential Frontier
very somewhat notvery somewhat not very somewhat not
Speaker 1⬰⬰⬰ ⬰ ⬰ ⬰ ⬰ ⬰ ⬰
Speaker 2⬰⬰⬰ ⬰ ⬰ ⬰ ⬰ ⬰ ⬰
Speaker 3⬰⬰⬰ ⬰ ⬰ ⬰ ⬰ ⬰ ⬰
Speaker 4⬰⬰⬰ ⬰ ⬰ ⬰ ⬰ ⬰ ⬰

Speaker 5⬰⬰⬰ ⬰ ⬰ ⬰ ⬰ ⬰ ⬰
Speaker 6⬰⬰⬰ ⬰ ⬰ ⬰ ⬰ ⬰ ⬰

Speaker 7⬰⬰⬰ ⬰ ⬰ ⬰ ⬰ ⬰ ⬰
Speaker 8⬰⬰⬰ ⬰ ⬰ ⬰ ⬰ ⬰ ⬰

Speaker 9⬰⬰⬰ ⬰ ⬰ ⬰ ⬰ ⬰ ⬰
Speaker 10⬰⬰⬰ ⬰ ⬰ ⬰ ⬰ ⬰ ⬰
3. After listening to your colleagues declaim from atop their soapbox would you like to:

• Keep your question from part C intact
• Modify your question. If so – please state your modified question below.
  

• Choose one of the soapboxers’ questions in preference to your own.

If so which question would you pick?

⬰ Speaker 1 ⬰ Speaker 2 ⬰ Speaker 3 ⬰ Speaker 4 ⬰ Speaker 5

⬰ Speaker 6 ⬰ Speaker 7 ⬰ Speaker 8 ⬰ Speaker 9 ⬰ Speaker 10

THANKS FOR TAKING TIME TO COMPLETE THIS SURVEY. IS THERE ANY OTHER FEEDBACK YOU WOULD LIKE TO PROVIDE TO THE FRONTIERS OF ECOSYSTEM SCIENCECOMMITTEE?

Supplmentary Document-2: Data Tables, Survey Reponses

Data from frontiers in ecosystem ecology surveys administered at meetings, including highest degree earned, professional position.

Highest Degree Earned
Frequency / Percent
Bachelor’s
M.S.
Ph.D.
Total / 39
40
170
249 / 15.4
15.8
67.2
98.4
Current Professional Position
Current Professional Position / Responses
N / Percent
Undergraduate Student
Graduate, M.S.
Graduate Student, Ph.D.
Higher Education, Non-tenure
Higher Education, Assistant Professor
Higher Education, Associate Professor
Higher Education, Full Professor
Corporate Scientist
Government Scientist
Nonprofit Scientist
Other
Total / 3
12
59
13
27
25
59
1
15
12
46
272 / 1.1%
4.4%
21.7%
4.8%
9.9%
9.2%
21.7%
0.4%
5.5%
4.4%
16.9%
100.0%

Supplementary Documents-3: Key informant profiles for Frontiers in Ecosystem Ecology Community Assessment and survey instrument used.

Random sampling categories identified by project leads and used to select key-informants. Parenthesized numbers represented sample distribution of key-informants who participated in semi-structured interviews.

Random Sample Distribution
Early-Career / Mid-Career / Late-Career
Dry Habitat / Early-Career/Dry Habitat (4) / Mid-Career/Dry Habitat (3) / Late-Career/Dry Habitat (1)
Wet Habitat / Early-Career/Wet Habitat (1) / Mid-Career/Wet Habitat (2) / Late-Career/Wet Habitat (2)

Semi-Structured Key-Informant Interview Instrument

1) Briefly, what is your expertise and/or research background?
2) How do you define “ecosystem science”?
3) What is at the core of ecosystem science? How important is it to maintain the core?
4) We have defined research frontiers as research questions that sit at the edges or the
boundaries of the discipline, and that advance the science while also maintaining the
core. What do you think about this definition?
5) What do you identify as frontier research questions? Why are these important?
6) What are some research areas that you think of as popular, but not necessarily
frontier research questions?
7) Soapbox presentations and surveys from the workshops revealed the following as
a frontier research theme. Do you agree that these themes are frontier? Why or why
not?
a. Better understanding of drivers of change
b. Better understanding of ecosystem process and function
c. Research on the human dimensions of ecosystem science
d. Applied research that is solution oriented
e. Research that enhances prediction capabilities
8) What components are needed to support these or other frontier research areas?
9) What are some of the constraints or barriers that will need to be overcome in order to
effectively support frontier research in the future?
10) Do you have any final thoughts on ecosystem science research frontiers?

Initial codenames used in first level coding. These codes were derived from informant response to interview questions.

Code / Code Definition
Core of Ecosystem Science / What key-informants identify as core research topics and questions within ecosystem science.
Definition of Frontiers / How key-informants define frontier research.
Frontier Topics and Questions / Topics or questions that key-informants identified as frontier areas in ecosystem science.
Important but Outside of Core and Frontiers / Research areas that key-informants identified as important investments, but outside of core and frontier research.
Constraints and Barriers / What is inhibiting frontier research pursuits?
Implementation / What are the components needed to support frontier research?

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