https://www.eckert-lab.org/home daily 0.75 2020-01-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1578887304870-WO63JPD8WPXU8S4H89CU/image.jpg home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1568737893937-355DZDL86HY5K2TP4GR5/bob_straub.jpg home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1568738276119-CN66B4PGF1U7CW5KZ80U/decodon.jpg home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1568738588231-KOOUWA7F89ZIXHZCO00W/chris_beach.jpg home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1568738690710-4GKTZ6E6BVNLVETYYQRO/anna_mtns.jpg home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1568738549389-5OD81LYQP5ONYPVIY7VG/aly_regan.jpg home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1568738293349-2VXTXEV9IV6BU5PEMHB1/ridge.jpg home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1568738573160-X8V74C8UHHQQ4E6FAJFY/cam_ggb.jpg home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1568738014131-77OM0ERDCXG8QHPD9NK8/mtns.jpg home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1568738712090-U8HWIUZQ4RSA4NBMM829/hailstone.jpg home https://www.eckert-lab.org/hork daily 1.0 2020-09-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1578895531290-CWQEOMCHAXHDAEUPNZEI/DSC_0541.jpg home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1578895748803-08H16TVVUDDJ1DHQPIUR/DSC_3231.jpg home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1578896359891-L1E6VHPXSKGKWLK7UVCN/DSC_0158.jpg home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1578896464253-4EIQ36UH1LUEJD12CWDF/IMG_1384.jpg home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1600017240730-21CPTKJZGYJWNEY6CX2J/IMG_20180807_0002+copy.jpg home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1578892288195-N88IU0S36V5BYY38F79H/65.jpg home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1600028622915-6MPQ3IFSRX0BGB94JSEZ/WhoAreWe.jpeg home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1600028686748-NE7HF3OO7WGEUOGD793S/Adaptation.jpg home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1600029389194-8A4Q4DYQCDJEPH1IBIWO/Selection.jpg home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1600086885085-OVFSCRU0EEBRKTIMUGC9/InvasiveSpecies.jpg home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1600086952998-KSOW3F1SVAVQXOJI94SC/DSC_4557-2.jpg home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1600087052616-WSR35K0SL4RARC4RDX6V/DSC_4453-2.jpg home https://www.eckert-lab.org/join daily 0.75 2023-02-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1604457594369-MBZP8PI2Y1PZYADW6NCX/DSC_2777.jpg join the lab - Traing in ecology, evolution & field biology at all levels We use experimental and genetic approaches to address unresolved questions in ecology and evolutionary biology. This has provided diverse training opportunities for students at levels, from undergraduate research assistants and thesis students through MSc and PhD students to post-doctoral fellows and visiting scientists. While much of our work is field-based, involving large-scale geographic surveys, transplants experiments and living like a hobo out of the back of a van for months at a time, we also use lab-based genomic tools and modelling. So our research offers training for students with a wide variety of backgrounds, interests and career aspirations. Never been involved in fieldwork? We can help you learn the outdoor skills you need. No stats background? We hold weekly lab meetings to develop our data science skills. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1604458887219-2QMPR45H25TFCGBLXAHW/ReganJoryEmmaMaria_TorreyPines.jpg join the lab - Co-operation & inclusion We are a co-operative and inclusive lab where student collaboration and peer learning is encouraged. Dr. Eckert is closely involved in all projects and committed to helping students get the training they want and furthering their careers inside and outside of academia. We strongly emphasize training in quantitative skills involving data management, visualization and analysis in R as well as bioinformatics and spatial analysis, while understanding the importance of the natural history and ecology of the species and habitats we work with. Queen’s Biology guarantees a $24K stipend for each year of a graduate program (2 yrs for MSc, 4yrs for PhD). For more information, see here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1604459069045-XR1LLMROQNSZP1W8RVT7/PositiveSpaceLogo.jpg join the lab https://www.eckert-lab.org/desert-ecology daily 0.75 2024-04-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1569005315577-KQ7UGINC839OSFK2DEC4/desert2.jpg desert ecology - Exploring the ecology, evolution & conservation of plants and animals in the wonderful and varied deserts of the southwestern USA. Leaving from Phoenix AZ, we will travel through four desert areas in southern California and Arizona, including Joshua Tree National Park, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Saguaro National Park and the elevational gradients of the sky islands in Chiricahua National Monument. Through class exercises and group research projects, we will investigate how geological, climatic and biotic factors interact to influence the abundance, distribution, life histories, reproductive strategies and behaviour of desert organisms. We will travel by van, sleep in tents, cook outside and spend a lot of time hiking to experience as much of the desert as possible. This website contains all the information you'll need to know before you arrive in Arizona. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me (phone: 613-328-6812, email: chris.eckert@queensu.ca) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1704915873962-4X7XRUWMEXNUA69AHEE3/DSCF2740.jpg desert ecology https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1704916417616-8DR8RPQLLKUINLR7C567/DSCF2593.jpg desert ecology https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1704916351084-MH0GK7KRMDTBZNIFDE1Z/DSCF2587.jpg desert ecology https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1704916405447-6P4JHMOCG0PWAA95TPN9/DSCF2677.jpg desert ecology https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1704916374864-WP3RHB0B58VK59XXNP9R/DSCF2613.jpg desert ecology https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1704916448597-OAL6X05DYXO3LKV8JAEQ/DSCF2629.jpg desert ecology https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1704916388854-E9YOJ0LW9U80UTGQ7L74/DSCF2661.jpg desert ecology https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1704916331274-IYR2Y0LTMMQ03ZQAVS3J/DSCF2687.jpg desert ecology https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1704916511426-FUBK4XWMOIF7H8ATQM3R/DSCF2710.jpg desert ecology https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1704916438656-DYBL16P7DAL34S9A17S9/DSCF2714.jpg desert ecology https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1704916496956-TGJ2QE6RHOWZP1WHWZGV/DSCF2824.jpg desert ecology https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1704916483883-6B48907MZXXEHVKSUPHY/DSCF2832.jpg desert ecology https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1704915875434-8LI9S03JQ35WPJBSDFJP/DSCF2776.jpg desert ecology https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1704915887392-XQEYHHCL1XXO2KXURM0G/DSCF2857.jpg desert ecology https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1704916255268-APQPTXZLHT7FK2RRZN5Z/DSCF2858.jpg desert ecology https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1704915895667-VRLHSYHWQ57SHZ09CCPE/DSCF2890.jpg desert ecology https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1704915896653-OG5V0YP9NHWN9Y6W1FVY/DSCF2892.jpg desert ecology https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1704915903471-725ORTMD5G78DEUE5DMR/DSCF2923.jpg desert ecology https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1704915904227-LG6KBAF7AKD2ULLLTTJL/DSCF2927.jpg desert ecology https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1704916285118-LDTDKH9DJRQNFN8CH3H6/DSCF2943.jpg desert ecology https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1704915912126-RNDYRWDM7WLH0IFFN90A/IMG_4343.jpg desert ecology https://www.eckert-lab.org/publications daily 0.75 2020-11-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1569008644243-MIFDR0O5RI9XSRYAS3BU/rhinanthus.jpg publications https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1569008682567-OBH1WB5R9PZR6S2A509W/loostrife.jpg publications https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1569008604294-KC18053J9DTZ8GS2C1WO/columbine.jpg publications https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1569008450289-TQEXOKOO10AUSIZCEEUJ/cam.png publications https://www.eckert-lab.org/people daily 0.75 2024-01-11 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1a3f224b-6c6b-402b-9823-3fe2b154a211/original-EC0B8F3D-9BA5-41BE-9D8E-2045AFB2C89B.jpeg people - Rishona Vemulapalli (She/Her) I'm a fifth-year BSc. student in Environmental Biology interested in ecology across an urbanizing landscape. For my honours thesis, I'm exploring how human activity impacts specialized species interactions, and the effectiveness of gardens at mitigating these impacts. In the summer of 2023, I completed field surveys in Kingston and the surrounding rural areas, observing common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) and its associated insect herbivores, including the monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus). Aside from thesis, I've developed a few greenhouse skills in the Queen's Phytotron, and have enjoyed field biology at QUBS, in Quebec down to Vermont, and across northern Tanzania. When I'm not in the office, I love adventuring in the outdoors, bouldering, or doing a puzzle. 18rv6[at]queensu.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1568405931733-GDYC6KUK8TUYX2RUWX56/chris.jpg people - Chris Eckert (He/Him) Raised in the biodiversity hotspot of downtown Toronto, I got hooked on evolutionary ecology during my undergrad in zoology at Western University. Working as an itinerate field biologist for a few years, an MSc in behavioural ecology with Pat Weatherhead at Carleton U, a stint as an environmental educator, and a PhD in evolutionary botany with Spencer Barrett at U of Toronto took me to Queen’s U where my students and I investigate adaptation, with a particular focus on reproductive systems and species’ range limits. chris.eckert[at]queensu.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/4117be7d-da16-4960-ad21-e7fa9773f4e7/ChloeDean-Moore.jpeg people - Chloë Dean-Moore (She/Her) I’m a MSc. student interested in plant ecology and evolution. I completed my BSc. in biology at Queen’s University and did my honours thesis on selection on floral morphology in red columbine (Aquilegia canadensis). After my undergrad, I spent the summer studying the frequency of cyanogenesis in white clover (trifolium repens) along an elevational cline in the Canadian Rockies. For my master’s research, I’m studying the consequences of sexual reproduction in the invasive aquatic plant flowering rush (Butomus umbellatus). When I’m not in the lab or greenhouse, I love to spend my time baking, camping and running. c.deanmoore[at]queensu.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/5d4d3637-231b-4bcd-b5cf-38c0bb624b46/GradydonGillies.jpg people - Graydon Gillies (He/Him) I’m an MSc student interested in the biogeography and spatial dynamics of plant ecology. I completed my BSc. in Environmental Sciences at the University of British Columbia, where I worked with Dr. Amy Angert and Dr. Rachel Germain and studied the population dynamics of Lemna minor (common duckweed) and Bromus hordeaceus (soft brome). Currently, I am studying the population dynamics of Camissoniopsis cheiranthifolia (beach evening primrose) at the species’ range limit. I spent this past summer in Oregon and California, traversing the coastal sand dunes and performing an enormous geographic survey spanning 900 km along the coast. I’m currently using this data to explore how metapopulation dynamics and environmental variables work to enforce the species’ range limit in southern Oregon. When I’m not in the field or running R code, I’m probably at the climbing gym, playing board games, or on a hike. g.gillies[at]queensu.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1600024083763-DK6UXAS7ZQF0EM3755SE/PositiveSpaceLogo.jpg people https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/c1559963-900e-4f44-aca9-41200aa650c3/DSC05165.jpeg people - Ghazal Khonsari (She/Her) 20gk2[at]queensu.ca https://www.eckert-lab.org/research-1 daily 0.75 2020-01-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1578895014643-N8F1QOMVD3PADK116TKP/DSC_0059.jpg research - Evolution and ecology of range limits Every species has a limited geographical range and there is tremendous variation, even among closely related species, in the size and position of the range. Over the short term, a species' range limit is set by a combination of abiotic factors and biotic factors that jointly affect population demography or metapopulation dynamics. From an evolutionary perspective, however, the fact that species ranges are limited over the long term poses a major problem: why doesn't natural selection cause populations at the range margin to adapt to their local conditions and spread outward? This directly questions the limits of adaptive evolution. Recent theory proposes that ranges are limited because populations become increasing small, less productive and more sparsely distributed towards the margins of the range such that local adaptation at the range limit is thwarted by gene flow (m) from larger, more productive central populations. Plants pose a particular challenge for migration-selection models of range limits. Most have multifaceted reproductive strategies that combine sexual reproduction with clonal reproduction and inbreeding with outbreeding. And, reproductive mode can change drastically near the range limit and greatly affect population genetic diversity and gene flow in marginal populations. These reproductive shifts might shape the evolution of range limits by themselves or by interacting with other evolutionary forces. We are testing ecological and evolutionary processes that limit species ranges by combining range-wide geographic surveys of population demography with reciprocal transplant experiments and population genetic analyses of genetic variation and gene flow. We have been studying species endemic to the coastal dune habitat of California (USA) and adjacent Oregon and Baja California (Mexico) because these species exhibit near-linear, 1-dimensional geographic ranges across habitat that is readily accessed and well-known botanically. To date our results challenge many of the assumptions and predictions of theoretical models that have been developed to explain range limits. In addition to studies involving costal dune plants, as an experimental system, we are applying ecological and evolutionary models of range limits to investigate the factors impinging on peripheral populations of species that, in Canada, have been deemed “at risk”. Whereas almost all species-level conservation research in Canada is parochial in scope, focussing only on the populations at risk, our recent work shows that effective conservation of these northern peripheral populations requires that their demography and genetics be considered in the larger context of the species’ whole geographic range. https://www.eckert-lab.org/research daily 0.75 2020-11-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1605474664272-UNQ6ZC28IUAXARNMS4CP/MatingSystem.jpg research - Mating systems The mating system can be broadly defined as who mates with who, when, where and how, and the pattern of mating dictates the movement of genes in time and space and thereby influences the evolutionary potential of natural populations. In this way, traits that influence the mating system can affect their own evolution. This is especially true in plants because most species are hermaphroditic and can, therefore, self-fertilize as well as outcross with unrelated individuals. As a result, the transition from outcrossing to self-fertilization is among the most commonly trod evolutionary pathways in plants, with myriad consequences for the genetics and ecology of populations. Biologists long-standing interest in the evolution of the mating system has produce a mountain of mathematical theory. Our goal is to test the assumptions and predictions of theory with experiments where we manipulate the mating system of populations (by experimentally modifying flowers, individuals or the stricture of populations) and by measuring the resulting consequences for mating and fitness. This has involved digging deep into diverse plant study systems from across North America and beyond. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1605474533787-PRDZJLLT8KVEBO3TY2ZP/Clonality.jpg research - Loss of sex in clonal plants Most perennial plants combine sexual reproduction via seed with some form of asexual vegetative propagation, and the relative investment in the two reproductive modes varies widely among species. The balance between sexual vs. asexual reproduction also varies across the geographic range within species, with populations at the range edge transitioning to asexuality with a consequent reduction in genotypic diversity and gene flow. Theory and experimental evolution suggest that the loss of sex may impede adaptation to edge conditions and constrain species ranges. Alternatively, asexuality may facilitate range expansion by protecting multi-locus genotypes from recombination, so that rare advantageous allele combinations accumulate when linked to mutations causing sexual sterility at range edges. Loss of sex may also permit the spread of alleles increasing survival and vegetative performance at the expense of sexual performance. Thomsen, Bartkowska & Eckert 2018 International J Plant Sciences Eckert, Dorken & Barrett 2016 Aquatic Botany https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1600029113679-R4IURM6FU4P8GE1G4MZ1/IMG_0846+OTC+yoga+copy.jpg research - Adaptation A major goal of evolutionary biology is to understand how plants and animals become so well suited to their environments. This adaptive fit likely starts with the local populations of the same species that inhabit different conditions diverging through natural selection, each becoming best suited to its particular environment. However, whether this is commonly found in nature remains unclear. Reciprocal transplant experiments reveal that “often” genotypes from the local population outperform those from foreign populations (“the home-site advantage”), but often they don’t. There are several explanations for this apparent maladaptation (e.g. small population size and gene flow) but these are rarely tested. We are addressing this knowledge gap by performing reciprocal transplanting of populations across ecological gradients with genomic analysis to clarify the long-term demography of populations and the extent of gene flow between them. Ensing & Eckert 2019 New Phytologist Samis, López-Villalobos & Eckert 2016 Evolution Brady et al. 2017. American Naturalist https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1605474702247-NZWC1Z9BRYFS1RNHYM8O/DSC_3108.jpg research - Elevational range limits in the Canadian Rocky Mountains As you hike up a mountain it’s impossible not to notice the striking changes in vegetation, even over short spatial scales. So, mountains offer excellent opportunities to test the constraints on elevational range limits because these limits are replicated on virtually every mountain slope and often over short spatial scales. We’ve been working with short-lived flowering plants along elevational gradients in the Kananaskis Valley just west of Calgary Alberta. The most widely accepted hypothesis is that range limits are a spatial expression of a species realized niche. In other words, a species cannot exist beyond its range limit because survival and reproduction is too low there to allow populations persist. Our transplant experiments support this hypothesis, and further suggest that populations right at the limit are demographic sinks that exist only because of an influx of immigrants from within the range. Hargreaves & Eckert 2018 Ecology Letters Ensing & Eckert 2019 New Phytologist https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1605474577006-TNHG5FZ6E7J82W26R2VD/DSC_0145.jpg research - Floral biology Because individual plants are rooted in space, they require vectors, usually animals, to move pollen from the anthers of one flower to the stigma of another. This process is mediated by uniquely colourful, complex, smelly and altogether awesome structures that we call flowers. Because flowers directly affect reproductive success, we expect them to be under very strong natural selection. Hence a change in the reproductive system is usually initiated and further refined by a change in a species’ flowers. We have been particularly interested in how patterns of mating within natural populations are influences by variation in key floral traits. We’re also investigating how a shift in the reproductive system feeds back on the evolution of flowers. For example, does natural selection favour a reduction in investment towards floral attractive traits (petals, nectar, colour, fragrance) in selfing or asexual populations that no longer need to attract insect pollinators? Doubleday, Raguso & Eckert 2014 American J of Botany https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1605474786240-V59V1BNTRDN40QDWVLMA/DSC_4491%2Bcopy.jpg research - Geographic range limits of Pacific. coastal dune plants Plants endemic to the Pacific coastal dunes of western North America offer exceptional opportunities to better understand species range limits because they have near 1-dimensional distributions that can be thoroughly quantified with focussed field surveys. Emerging evidence from beyond-range transplant experiments suggest that species can persist beyond their ranges, suggesting that the range might be limited by constraints on dispersal rather than low fitness (aka niche limits). The dune plants we have studied are clear examples of this. Our experimental populations have persisted up to 200km beyond the northern range limits and, at places, for more than 10 generations. So we are now investigating whether dispersal constraints may account for the range limit. Samis, López-Villalobos & Eckert 2016 Evolution Samis & Eckert 2009 Ecology https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1605474742605-6YPGPPX0GM9HE6Q3GN8D/RangeLimits.jpg research - Ecology & Evolution of Species Range Limits All organisms are limited in geographic distribution, but how & why range limits occur are still poorly understood. This prevents realistic forecasting of whether species will shift ranges or go extinct during climate change and weakens effective conservation of Canadian species at risk most of which are at their northern range limits in southern Canada. The goal of our research is to better understand the ecological and evolutionary processes that impose range limits over the short-term and longer-term constraints that prevent range expansion through evolutionary adaptation over the long term. To this end, we combine large-scale geographic surveys of trait variation and population demography with reciprocal transplant experiments and genomic analysis. We use two main study systems one involving geographic ranges and the other involving elevational ranges because the relative importance of the ecological and evolutionary factors at play may differ in constraining these two major dimensions of species distributions. Cross & Eckert 2020. Amer. J. Bot doi:10.1002/ajb2.1400 Lopez-Villalobos & Eckert 2019 Molecular Ecology Eckert, Samis & Lougheed 2008 Molecular Ecology https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1605471274111-SHORB5CESHBDPB3TWB2G/DSC_4453-2.jpg research - Natural selection Natural selection should favour different traits in populations that experience different ecological conditions. One of the most predictable patterns of ecological variation involves variation in growing season length with variation in elevation and latitude. And, growing season length will be strongly altered by climate warming. We expect that growing season length exerts strong selection on the timing of growth and reproduction across the season. Surprizingly, relatively few studies have shown that the direction and strength of natural selection change predictably with growing season length. We are measuring natural selection in natural and experimental populations of montane plants distributed across elevational gradients of growing season length to test this fundamental expectation. However, measuring selection on phenological traits, like the timing of first flower for example, is tricky because these traits along with survival and reproductive success (i.e. fitness) can be influenced by individual condition. Individuals in the best condition, by virtue of their genes or growing environment, may flower earliest and gave the highest fitness, which can induce a correlation between flowering time in fitness regardless of whether flowering time actually influences fitness directly. Our work addresses this and other potential pitfalls of measuring natural selection in the wild by using both natural and genetically -structure experimental populations where we can control for the effects of individual condition. Ensing & Eckert 2020 Evolution (submitted) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1600086232189-LDLAE1E7XLTJ40F1V160/InvasiveSpecies.jpg research - Ecological & evolutionary consequences of biological invasion The movement of species from one part of the world to another is being facilitated by human activities at an alarming rate. During introduction and subsequent range expansion, an invasive species will encounter novel environments and selective pressures, which amounts to a massive, though largely unplanned experiment in evolution. We combine multi-continent surveys of trait and demographic variation with common-garden experiments and population genetic analysis to understand how evolutionary processes act and interact during invasion and to determine the extent to which adaptive evolution during invasion contributes to successful range expansion. Our results join emerging evidence from many labs that evolutionary change can occur over contemporary time scales and feed back on the ecology of invasive populations. Eckert, Dorken & Barrett 2016 Aquatic Botany https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1600086449370-UJGYL6G92EKO7XKBHLNS/DSC_4557-2.jpg research - Conservation Biology There is a strong synergy between our research on the ecology & evolution of species range limits and conservation in Canada. More than 75% of plants designated “at-risk” in Canada are at their northern range limits in southern Canada but much more widely distributed south of the US border. So, species conservation in Canada is all about conserving range edge populations. And whether these peripheral populations are worth conserving has been debated for decades in the absence of definitive evidence. Are they small, demographically unstable, low in genetic variation and difficult to manage? Or, are they genetically uniques and poised to initiate range shifts during rapid environmental change caused by humans? Addressing these questions requires studying at-risk edge populations in the context of their whole geographic ranges to better understand their ecological, and genetic properties and the ecological and evolutionary pressures impinging on them. We have leveraged our expertise with species ranges to determine the conservation value of peripheral populations at risk. Caissy et al. 2020 Biological Conservation Yakimowski & Eckert 2008 New Phytologist Yakimowski & Eckert 2007 Conservation Biology https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d7bf6e20304ca2d23f98319/1600016675216-TUO71WBK66ALMRC5VLP1/IMG_20180807_0002+copy.jpg research