Feder, M.E.: Plant and animal comparative physiology/biochemistry, evolutionary physiology, ecological physiology, and physiological ecology: opportunities for synergy

Both the communities of plant biology researchers and animal biology researchers include multidisciplinary groups that combine physiology, ecology, biochemistry, biomechanics, and evolution, but historically these groups have often been as distinct as the organisms they study. This symposium will challenge this historic distinction by asking in what ways the study of plant and animal function in environmental/evolutionary context need be separate disciplines, what biological issues transcend the two communities, and how best can plant and animal biologists realize the synergies afforded by their complementary viewpoints and study organisms? To do this, the symposium will partner distinguished plant and animal biologists to discuss topics of mutual interest: global climate change; sensing, signalling, and responding to the environment; mechanisms and implications of dormancy; and behavior versus tolerance as alternative responses to environmental stress.