Researchers

I am interested in aspects of plant ecology that involve the understanding of species range limits, adaptations and variation in mating strategies. For the last 6 years I have been working on understanding the factors that have shape the distribution of genetic diversity and structure across the entire geographic range of the Pacific coastal dune endemic Camissoniopsis cheiranthifolia. My work involves very large-scale surveys of demographic and ecological variables in a high proportion of extant populations distributed along the near 1-dimensional geographic range of this species, I am applying population and landscape-genetic analyses to test theoretical predictions concerning how demography and geographic location combine to determine the genetic diversity within populations and the degree of differentiation and gene flow between them. I am also using population-genetic and phylogeographic analyses to shed light on the evolutionary history of mating system differentiation in C. cheiranthifolia. This species exhibits the full range of mating systems: from strict self-incompatibility associated with large flowers and complete outcrossing, to fully self-compatible, cleistogamous flowers and obligate self-fertilization. My results suggests multiple independent origins of self-fertilization within this single species as well as hybridization associated with the maintenance of self-incompatibility.