Joshua I. Armstrong Plant Gene Expression Center Plant Developmental Mechanisms 0203281
Applying
biological informatics and chemical genetics to explore developmental processes
regulated by the plant hormone auxin
The plant hormone
auxin arbitrates plant development at multiple levels. This research
deconvolutes the complex regulatory network controlled by auxin and its
effectors using small molecules, oligonucleotide microarrays, and bioinformatics.
More broadly, it develops a general experimental and analytical framework for
using chemical genetics and biological informatics to elucidate intricate
signaling pathways in plants.
Sheri A. Church
Indiana University
Population Biology
0204160
Identifying
rapidly changing genes and their impact on the speciation process in sunflowers
through genome level sequence comparisons
If
speciation is caused by adaptation to different environments, genes under
strong selection for different adaptations may also be speciation genes. This
study uses comparative analyses of genome sequences among sunflower species to
identify genes on which natural selection is strongest and then tests to see if
these genes are involved in speciation.
Anne E. Hall
University of Chicago Cell Biology 0204327
Multi-species sequence comparison and compositional
analysis of plant centromeres
This research seeks is to understand the composition, organization and evolution of centromeres--regions that mediate chromosome partitioning. Centromere sequences from relatives of the flowering plant Arabidopsis thaliana are being compared to assess sequence conservation and determine the types and abundance of sequence classes. This will distinguish rapidly evolving sequences from those exhibiting significant conservation.
Stephanie E. Hampton
University of Washington
Ecology 0204068
The
effect of winter variability on biodiversity and community dynamics: analysis
of long-term lake data
Strong contrast between winter and summer abiotic conditions annually
provides distinctly different habitat within one location, promoting
biodiversity. To determine effects of reducing this environmental heterogeneity,
this research uses multispecies autoregressive analysis (MARs) to analyze
complex seasonal community transitions, discerning biotic pathways through
which winter conditions affect both summer and winter communities.
Jason J. Head
Queen Mary College, University of London and Systematic Biology 0204082
National Museum of Natural History
Recovering the influences of environmental change on vertebrate faunas using a morphological phylogeographic analysis of recent and fossil erycine snakes
Morphometric
analysis and robust statistics are being used to determine phylogeographic
responses of recent and fossil erycine snake faunas to environmental
transitions. This research examines the systematic levels at which fossils can
be recognized by osteological variability, how reptiles respond to
environmental changes through time, and the extent that fossils can predict
faunal responses to anthropogenic environmental modifications, in order to
define signaling mechanisms important to bacterial-fungal communities.
Wendy L. Hodges University of California-Riverside Systematic Biology 0204459
High-Resolution
Imagery and New Visualization Tools for Reconstructing a Horned Lizard Ancestor
Complex images
generated by high-resolution x-ray computed tomography are being combined with
phylogenetic hypotheses and algorithms to estimate and visualize ancestral
traits in a genus of lizards, Phrynosoma. The primary hypothesis, horn
complexity increases along phylogenetic branches, is being tested by
reconstructing ancestral morphology and visualizing changes from ancestor to
extant species using comparative methods.
Jason H. Knouft Washington University Systematic Biology 0204144
Investigation of factors influencing
large-scale ecological and evolutionary patterns among Caribbean Anolis lizards
The research
investigates macroecological patterns of body size, abundance, and character
displacement in Caribbean Anolis lizards from a phylogenetic perspective. It
integrates phylogenetic information on approximately 140 species, morphological
data from specimens in museum collections from nearly 7,000 study sites, and
landscape data from Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to examine factors
influencing the diversification of these lizards.
Matthew J. McHenry Harvard University Integrative Animal Biology 0204066
Carrie L. Morjan Indiana University Population Biology 0203687
Modeling
the genetics of species using biological informatics: interactions of gene
flow, selection, and dispersal
This simulation
model uses parameters compiled from biological databases to evaluate the role
of gene flow, selection coefficients and dispersal on the rate of allelic
spread across subdivided populations. The research provides information on how
species may remain cohesive at only a handful of major loci while
simultaneously diverging at many minor loci, and has implications for
explaining the relationship between macro- and microevolution.
Lydia P. Olander Carnegie Institute of Washington Ecosystem Studies 0204210
Predicting
the effects of land use change on nutrient limitation to ecosystem productivity
and carbon storage in the humid tropics
Where land-use
alters nutrient dynamics, nutrient impoverishment may alter recovery rates, maximum
recoverable productivity, carbon storage, and water and energy fluxes. Current
biogeochemical models have insufficient representation of phosphorus and other
rock-derived nutrients often critical in tropical systems, and are unable to
deal with rapid shifts typical of land-use change. This study develops
mechanistic nutrient models at various spatial/temporal scales incorporating
improvements into general biogeochemical models (Century/Terraflux) and testing
predictions under various land-use scenarios.
Gail L. Patricelli Cornell University Animal Behavior 0204291
The
directionality of acoustic communication in
passerine birds
The goal of the research is to develop a system for mapping the
radiation of sound from vocalizing animals. The system is to be used to measure
the directionality of different call types from passerine birds in open and
forest habitats, and to test hypotheses about the functional significance of
directionality in acoustic communication.
Matthew D. Potts University of California-San Diego Ecosystem Studies 0204070
Using
Spatial and Species Explicit Forest Dynamics Models to Optimize Biodiversity
Conservation in a Managed Landscape
Managing
biodiversity in tropical forests requires solving an optimization problem that
simultaneously maximizes biodiversity and timber value over time. This
optimization problem is being solved through the development of sample based
biodiversity indices, the development of spatial and species explicit forest
dynamics models, and the quantification of the opportunity costs of
biodiversity protection.
Noah A. Rosenberg University of Southern California Systematic Biology 0204057
Tania Schoennagel University of Colorado-Boulder Ecosystem Studies 0203719
Modeling
the influence of climate change on fire regimes and successional patterns in
topographically diverse landscapes in the Rocky Mountains
Understanding the
response of fire regimes to variation in regional climate and local topography
is critical to predicting potential effects of global warming in forested
ecosystems. This research combines dendrochronology and GIS techniques to model
potential responses of fire regimes and successional patterns to plausible
climate change scenarios within two national parks in the Rocky Mountains.
Michael W. Sears Indiana State University Ecology
0204484
New
procedures for modelling the thermal environment of small animals
The spatial and
temporal distribution of thermal resources across landscapes influences the
abundance and distribution of organisms. Existing techniques to evaluate
thermal habitats do not adequately represent the complexity of most
environments. Novel procedures are being developed to generate detailed,
dynamic, thermal maps using artificial neural networks that incorporate
thermographic imaging and microclimate data.
Harry A. Stern Cornell University Biophysics 0204069
Computer simulation of lipid bilayer
permeation
Phospholipid bilayer membranes regulate the
transport of molecules into and out of the cell. Though most transport is
assisted by channels or membrane proteins, passive transport directly through
the bilayer does occur. A molecular-level understanding of membrane permeation
can shed light on the blood-brain barrier, the mechanisms of anesthesia, and
basic processes such as osmosis and the diffusion of oxygen and carbon dioxide.
It may also assist in predicting the bioavailability of orally-administered
drugs. The proposed research is the computer simulation of the permeation of
small molecules through lipid bilayer membranes using recent algorithms developed
for long-time molecular dynamics simulations.
Ted M. Townsend University of Texas at Austin Systematic Biology 0204451
Development
and testing of genetic algorithms for inferring maximum-likelihood based
phylogenies from very large, heterogeneous molecular data sets
Likelihood-based
phylogenetic algorithms become very computationally expensive as data sets
become larger. However, genetic algorithms offer an efficient alternative to
existing methods. This project uses a large molecular data set to test the
efficiency and accuracy of a recently developed genetic algorithm under various
models of evolution and search conditions. The data are being used to construct
a phylogeny of frogs.
Amy Vandergast
San Diego State University
Ecosystem Studies 0204447
Using
Geographic Information Systems in spatially explicit analyses of population
genetic structure
This research uses
geographic information systems (GIS) to explore methods that incorporate
explicit environmental information in distributional analyses of genetic
variation within species. The investigations are focused in Southern
California, where previous research has produced detailed environmental data
layers and many genetic data sets for species in similar functional groups. It
is being determined the extent to which landscape-level processes influence the
creation, distribution, and maintenance of genetic biodiversity across this
region.
Mark E. Welch
Vanderbilt University Population Biology 0204062
How
much influence do the collateral effects of selection have on natural levels of
genetic variation?
Genetic variance
among populations, FST, is being measured at multiple mapped loci from specific
linkage groups in Silene latifolia. The relationship between FST-values and
genetic map distance is used to estimate the differential effects of selection
across the genome, elucidating the overall effect of selection on population
genetic structure.