Exact date and time for this session to be announced.

Conveners: Jane Willenbring (University of Pennsylvania), Taylor Schildgen (GFZ-Potsdam), Veerle Vanacker (University of Louvain, Belgium)

SESSION DESCRIPTION
Does life simply respond to landscape form or actively work to shape and sculpt it? Are these interactions of principle importance? Although a common paradigm is that biota rests placidly on the Earth’s surface, a new scientific frontier addresses whether landscape change be understood without considering the impact of life of landscapes. We request contributions that delve into empirical case studies, landscape evolution modeling efforts, and research that contributes a mechanistic understanding of biotic impacts on physical erosion processes, biogeochemical cycling, and weathering. Of particular interest are studies that show (1) life’s influence on landscape form or rates of change, (2) feedbacks identified in the life-landscape system, and (3) niche construction by organisms.

Please consider contributing to our session at EGU that will highlight critical zone science. This year, the European Geosciences Union General Assembly will taken place 17–22 April 2016 in Vienna, Austria.  The deadline for submitting abstracts is January 13th, 2016.  The session link is here: http://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU2016/session/20602