My reserach focuses on developing and testing tools to aid in understand how landscape features influence genetic connectivity. This requires a mix of theory development, software creation, and evaluation using (largely) non-model systems in the field.
For more information specific to my research laboratory, see my dyerlab site.
June 11, 2021
Molecular genetic techniques provide tools that may be used to locate, monitor, and survey the presence of cryptic aquatic species such as the endangered James Spinymussel (Pleurobema collina). Previous work on this species developed protocols that - across a range of conditions - were at least as a…
April 1, 2021
As human-induced change eliminates natural habitats, it impacts genetic diversity and population connectivity for local biodiversity. The South African Cape Floristic Region (CFR) is the most diverse extratropical area for plant biodiversity, and much of its habitat is protected as a UNESCO World He…
February 8, 2021
In plants, long-distance dispersal is both attenuated and directed by specific movement vectors, including animals, wind, and/or water. Hence, movement vectors partly shape metapopulation genetic patterns that are, however, also influenced by other life-history traits such as clonal growth. We studi…
February 14, 2020
Understanding migratory connectivity is essential for determining the drivers behind population dynamics and for implementing effective conservation strategies for migratory species. Genetic markers provide a means to describe migratory connectivity; however, they can be uninformative for species wi…
March 27, 2019
Habitat fragmentation affects landscape connectivity, the extent of which is influenced by the movement capacity of the vectors of seed and pollen dispersal for plants. Negative impacts of reduced connectivity can include reduced fecundity, increased inbreeding, genetic erosion and decreased long-te…
March 4, 2019
The European gypsy moth (*Lymantria dispar* L.) was first introduced to Massachusetts in 1869 and within 150 years has spread throughout eastern North America. This large‐scale invasion across a heterogeneous landscape allows examination of the genetic signatures of adaptation potentially associated…
January 1, 2019
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION. 2019.
August 1, 2018
From the agent-based, correlated random walk model presented, we observe theeffects of varying the maximum turning angle, δmax, tree density, ω, and pollen carryover, κmax, on the distribution of pollen within a tree population by examining pollination graphs. Varying maximum turning angle and polle…
August 1, 2018
August 1, 2018
June 1, 2018
Ecosystems are the stage on which the play of evolution is acted. Inferring evolutionary processes from the spatial and temporal genetic patterns they produce in populations is challenging because ecosystems are highly complex, spatially structured, and temporally varying. The field of landscape gen…
June 1, 2018
The recognition that communal roosts are important elements within the life cycle of bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) led to their protection under the ``disturb″ clause of the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act. The regular roost-switching movements of bald eagles imply that roosts are part…
August 1, 2017
Sex-specific genetic structure is a commonly observed pattern among vertebrate species. Facing differential selective pressures, individuals may adopt sex-specific life history traits that ultimately shape genetic variation among populations. Although differential dispersal dynamics are commonly det…
October 1, 2016
NONLINEAR DYNAMICS PSYCHOLOGY AND LIFE SCIENCES. 2016.
April 1, 2016
Conspecific brood parasitism (CBP), although prevalent in some avian taxa, is easily overlooked when it occurs in low frequencies, and therefore the ecology of this behavior has only occasionally been described in passerines. We describe the occurrence of CBP in a population of Prothonotary Warblers…
October 6, 2015
At the heart of the analyses of landscape genetics are isolation models seeking to explain either interindividual or interpopulation connectivity. These models use spatial, ecological, and topographic predictor variables measured between sites in an attempt to explain observed genetic variation. Dur…
August 1, 2015
Mountains as natural barriers often have important effects on intraspecific genetic structure through restraining gene flow and enhancing differentiation among populations. While the Qinling and Daba mountains are considered significant geographic barriers, dividing China into temperate and subtropi…
July 1, 2015
For a scientific discipline to be interdisciplinary, it must satisfy two conditions; it must consist of contributions from at least two existing disciplines, and it must be able to provide insights, through this interaction, that neither progenitor discipline could address. In this study, I examine …
June 1, 2015
INSECTS. 2015.
August 1, 2014
August 1, 2013
The Forest ecosystem genomics Research: supporTing Transatlantic Cooperation project (FoResTTraC, http://www.foresttrac.eu/) sponsored a workshop in August 2010 to evaluate the potential for using a landscape genomics approach for studying plant adaptation to the environment and the potential of loc…
June 1, 2013
MOLECULAR ECOLOGY. 2013.
June 1, 2012
Whether they are used to describe fitness, genome architecture or the spatial distribution of environmental variables, the concept of a landscape has figured prominently in our collective reasoning. The tradition of landscapes in evolutionary biology is one of fitness mapped onto axes defined by phe…
February 1, 2012
February 1, 2012
Habitat fragmentation and landscape topology may influence the genetic structure and connectivity between natural populations. Six microsatellite loci were used to infer the population structure of 35 populations (N = 788) of the alpine Arabian burnet moth Reissita simonyi (Lepidoptera, Zygaenidae) …
June 1, 2011
Patterns of spatial genetic structure produced following the expansion of an invasive species into novel habitats reflect demographic processes that have shaped the genetic structure we see today. We examined 359 individuals from 23 populations over 370 km within the James River Basin of Virginia, U…
September 1, 2010
April 1, 2010
A widely-used approach for screening nuclear DNA markers is to obtain sequence data and use bioinformatic algorithms to estimate which two alleles are present in heterozygous individuals. It is common practice to omit unresolved genotypes from downstream analyses, but the implications of this have n…
August 1, 2009
We report eight new co-dominant nuclear markers for population genetics of the bark beetle Araptus attenuatus Wood. Several loci include introns from low-copy genes, and four cross-amplify in one or more related genera. The markers show moderate levels of polymorphism (2–19 alleles per locus), and n…
May 1, 2009
To examine the generality of population-level impacts of ancient vicariance identified for numerous arid-adapted animal taxa along the Baja peninsula, we tested phylogeographical hypotheses in a similarly distributed desert plant, Euphorbia lomelii (Euphorbiaceae). In light of fossil data indicating…
January 1, 2009
December 1, 2008
CONSERVATION GENETICS. 2008.
March 1, 2008
A recent commentary in Molecular Ecology by Petit (2008) paints a rather grim picture of the utility of nested clade phylogeographical analysis (NCPA) for inferring population history. Drawing on simulation studies based on single locus data sets, including the recent work by Panchal & Beaumont (200…
December 1, 2007
February 1, 2007
This manuscript explores the simultaneous evolution of population genetic parameters and topological features within a population graph through a series of Monte Carlo simulations. I show that node centrality and graph breadth are significantly correlated to population genetic parameters Phi(ST) and…
July 1, 2006
MOLECULAR ECOLOGY. 2006.
December 1, 2005
The server-based program GENER performs the two-generation analysis of pollen flow for data consisting of mother/offspring arrays using genetic markers. The GENER program decomposes the genetic variance sampled by maternal individuals within and among pollen pool components of genetic variance and i…
February 1, 2005
Anthropogenic landscape change can disrupt gene flow. As part of the Missouri Ozark Forest Ecosystem Project, this study examined whether silvicultural practices influence pollen-mediated gene movement in the insect-pollinated species, Cornus florida L., by comparing pollen pool structure (Phi(st)) …
July 1, 2004
Patterns of intraspecific genetic variation result from interactions among both historical and contemporary evolutionary processes. Traditionally, population geneticists have used methods such as F-statistics, pairwise isolation by distance models, spatial autocorrelation and coalescent models to an…
March 1, 2004
Patterns of pollen dispersal are central to both the ecology and evolution of plant populations. However, the mechanisms controlling either the dispersal process itself or our estimation of that process may be influenced by site-specific factors such as local forest structure and nonuniform adult ge…
September 1, 2002
The fragmented populations and reduced population densities that result from human disturbance are issues of growing importance in evolutionary and conservation biology. A key issue is whether remnant individuals become reproductively isolated. California Valley oak (Quercus lobata ) is a widely dis…
August 1, 2002
January 1, 2002
Contemporary gene flow is a major mechanism for the maintenance of genetic diversity. One component of gene flow is the mating system, which is a composite measure of selfing, mating with relatives, and outcrossing. Although both gene flow and mating patterns contribute to the ecological sustainabil…
April 1, 2001
Pollen is the dominant vector of gamete exchange for most temperate tree species. Because pollen movement influences the creation, maintenance and erosion of genetic structure in adult populations, it is important to understand what factors influence the process of pollen movement. Isolation by dist…
February 1, 2001
Gene flow is a key factor in the spatial genetic structure in spatially distributed species. Evolutionary biologists interested in microevolutionary processes and conservation biologists interested in the impact of landscape change require a method that measures the real time process of gene movemen…