Priyanga Amarasekare
I want to argue that a complete understanding of life on earth requires that we look above the ecological level, towards evolution, and below, towards chemistry. The ecological patterns we see today are both the outcome of past evolution and the material of future evolution. They are also the result of the chemical reactions --- from DNA synthesis to enzyme kinetics --- that occur within individuals. If we are to understand how abiotic factors, and perturbations thereof, influence ecological patterns, we need to first learn how they affect the biochemical processes underlying phenotypes, and how these phenotypic effects translate into population and community patterns. I will resent theory, data, and some conjectures on how temperature, and climate warming, influence the biochemistry, ecology, and evolution of ectothermic organisms.
