Speciation and community assembly are two of the
most important and enduring questions of
evolutionary ecology. Research in my lab uses
two different vertebrate model systems to understand
how populations evolve into species and assemble
into communities. First, we use comparative
landscape genetics to investigate speciation and
community formation in Darwin's finches. We
also investigate ongoing community formation in
invasive gecko lizards usin g field and lab
experiments that connect individual behavior to
species interactions.
-
Speciation: Comparative Landscape Genetics
of Darwin's Finches
-
Community assembly: Behavioral
Mechanisms of Invasion and Displacement
Speciation:
Comparative Landscape Genetics of Darwin's Finches
 Comparative landscape
genetics is the
integration of molecular approaches to
population genetics and phylogeography in a
comparative framework. The process of speciation
often involves some degree of geographic
isolation, thus it is important to understand
how geographic factors affect gene flow, and how
dispersal and settlement choices are affected by
habitat. Recent advances in molecular
markers and methods of analysis are opening up
an exciting new window into the recent history
of populations and individuals that allow us to
reconstruct recent speciation events to an
unprecedented degree. Comparisons among
many populations and species affords us the
statistical power to rigorously test hypotheses
regarding geography and recent history.
Comparative landscape genetics requires special
model systems, and
Darwin's finches are an ideal natural model for
this approach. In the adaptive radiation of
Darwin's finches,
the study of speciation is also the study of
community formation. Aspects of this research
touch upon the direct measurement of dispersal,
habitat choice, population extinction,
endangered species and hybridization
(More about our research
on Darwin's finches).
Community Assembly:
Behavioral Mechanisms
of Invasion &
Displacement
 Species
that colonize new locations can have dramatic
effects on existing communities. Invasive
species are a growing problem for conservation,
but invasions also present rare opportunities to
study community formation in action. We take a
mechanistic approach to connect the behavior of
individuals to the population level consequences
of invasion and displacement. A guild of gecko
lizards provides a natural model system because
they are undergoing invasions and displacements
on a global scale. Some of the most successful
invaders are asexual parthenogens, which provide
an opportunity to directly compare sexual and
asexual species. Aspects of this research
involve resource competition, reproductive
interference, habitat choice, habitat
imprinting, and boldness
(More about our research on
invasive geckos).
|
