From the Ecological Society of America website:

Like many science fields, the ecological sciences are being flooded by massive and diverse sources of information. For example, remote sensing platforms, automated sensors, observatory networks, molecular techniques, large-scale or replicated experiments, and predictive (simulation) models are generating enormous amounts of data over time and/or across space. Such big and diverse data are opening up new avenues of research and enabling ecologists to address more complex questions and hypotheses that, for example, span multiple scales and disciplines. However, this information deluge also creates challenges in terms of methods available for harnessing the information contained in such data and tools for effectively communicating big data issues and results. The 105^th annual meeting encourages contributions that address these issues or that employ novel and integrative approaches to harnessing the data revolution to address pressing issues in ecology.