Live talk

As humans, our memories of the past influence how we behave in the present. But nature, too, has memories. Past events, like fires, storms, droughts, and other catastrophes can determine how ecosystems look and function, well into the future. We refer to this as ecological memory. One type of ecological memory are the physical remains of dead organisms left after these catastrophic events occur. In particular, we can think about the remains of foundation species—iconic and abundant organisms like trees, grasses, corals, or oysters that build the very frameworks of the ecosystems we know and love. When these organisms die, their influence lives on as their remnant structures actively shape the way ecosystems recover, or do not.