Application of ecological knowledge is essential to achievement of long-term sustainability of the earth's life support systems. There has been great progress in defining the social, economic, and political dimensions of sustainability, but there have been few attempts to incorporate recent advances in ecology into sustainability. This project will examine how those advances can contribute to the achievement of sustainability. A workshop on Ecological Foundations of Sustainability in a Constantly Changing World will be held, followed by a symposium at the Ecological Society of America's (ESA) 2007 annual meeting, publication of the symposium papers, and a contribution to ESA's Issues in Ecology.
The broader significance of this work is its effect on expanding communication about sustainability between ecologists and social scientists. The project also includes planning a major international meeting on sustainability, sponsored by ESA, the Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment, and the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. The general scientific importance of the project is that a review of the ecological foundations of sustainability is timely and needed, given recent major advances in fundamental ecological theory. This will help ecologists effectively apply basic ecology to critical questions of environmental, economic, and political sustainability.
