My lab addresses questions related to the evolution, ecology, development and conservation of flowering plants and their communities. One focus of my research explores the conditions that favor or maintain both outcross and self-pollination within populations and species (mixed mating) including the pollination environment and inbreeding depression. We are testing the long-standing idea that selfing is an evolutionary dead-end using the genus Collinsia, an excellent model system. For the past two years (2005-07) I co-led a working group at National Evolution Synthesis Center (NESCent) on the Paradox of Mixed Mating in Flowering Plants. Related to the evolution of selfing, I investigate the development of male and female phases within a flower, which influences the timing of selfing within a flower and exploring the role of genes in the floral symmetry gene network in gender phase expression development. My second major focus is the role of herbivory on population and community dynamics of forest understory herbaceous species. This research addresses the dynamics of palatable vs. unpalatable species and the role of white-tailed deer and invasive species in the destabilization of mutualisms, populations and communities. I also have long-standing, long-term research projects on the evolution of seed dormancy.
W.F. Morris, C.A. Pfister, S.Tuljapurkar, C.V. Haridas, C Boggs, M. Boyce, E. Bruna, D.R.
Church, T. Coulson, D.F. Doak, S. Forsyth, J.-M. Gaillard, C. Horvitz, S. Kalisz, B.
Kendall, T. Knight, C. Lee, E. Menges. Life history determines sensitivity of plant and
animal populations to changing climatic variability. In press: Ecology
Knight, T.M., L. Smith, J. Dunn, J. Davis and S. Kalisz. Exotic plants invasions are facilitated by
deer overabundance in a Pennsylvania forest. In review: Natural Areas Journal
Kalisz, S. R. Ree and R. Sargent. 2006. Opinion: Linking regulatory genes to evolutionary patterns-a case for floral symmetry genes in mating system evolution. Trends in Plant Science: 568-573.
Dunn J.L. L. Dierkes, F.X. Pico and S. Kalisz. 2006. Primer Note: Identification of microsatellite loci in Collinsia verna (Veronicaceae) Molecular Ecology Notes: 1212-1215.
M. S. Boyce, C. V. Haridas, C. Lee, E. M. Bruna, D. Doak, J. M. Drake, J-M. Gaillard, C. C. Horvitz, S. Kalisz, B. E. Kendall, T. Knight, C.L. Boggs, E. Menges, W.F. Morris, C. A. Pfister, S.Tuljapurkar. 2006. Demography in an increasingly variable world: Trends in Ecology and Evolution 21:141-148.
Affiliations
NESCent working group on the Paradox of Mixed Mating in Flowering Plants
NESCent National Evolutionary Synthesis Center
NSF Research Coordination Network MORPH
NCEAS National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis
Courses
Population Biology - BIOSC 1320
This is a course in the scientific study of the distribution and abundances of animal and plant populations. The course will begin with the dynamics of single populations, emphasizing demography, exponential growth, and intra-specific competition. Next we will cover interactions between populations, especially competition and predations. Finally we will consider the implications of population dynamics to the evolution of life history strategies, to population regulation, and to community structure. Throughout, empirical studies of natural and laboratory populations will be used to test mathematical models of population processes.
Evolution - BIOSC 1130
This course is an introduction to biological evolution. The theory, process and pattern of evolutionary change are presented. This course will encompass both microevolutionary and macroevolutionary concepts. Lecture topics will include inheritance and variation, population genetics, natural selection, speciation, adaptation, the fossil record, and phylogenetics.
