• Stefanie Ickert-Bond
• Pat Doak
• Keiko Miyake

• 2006-2010. Phylogenetic relationships and diversification in Ephedra. Phylogeny and biogeography of Altingiaceae.

Research Interests:  Molecular systematics, phylogeny, biogeography and morphological evolution in vascular plants; revisionary and floristic work.

• 2006-2007. Correlations between leaf-level photosynthesis and defense in aspen (Populus tremuloides). Project in collaboration with Diane Wagner, Assistant Professor, Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Alaska.
• 2004. Influence of environmental cues on the development and function of extrafloral nectaries in aspen (Populus tremuloides). Project in collaboration with Diane Wagner, Assistant Professor, Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Alaska.

  Publications:

• Wagner D, DeFoliart L, Doak P, Schneiderheinze J. Impact of the aspen leaf miner, Phyllocnistis populiella, on the physiology and growth of quaking aspen. In review, Plant Ecology.
• Doak P, Wagner D & Watson A. 2007. Variable extrafloral nectary expression and its consequences in quaking aspen. Canadian Journal of Botany, in press.

Research Interests:  Spatial population dynamics; insect-plant interactions.

Gregor Mendel (left) and Matt Olson (right)
• 2001-2007. Associations between cytoplasmic male sterility haplotypes and morphological variation in Silene vulgaris.
• 2001-2007. Sex ratio evolution in Silene vulgaris: fitnesses of mtDNA haplotypes in field populations.

  Publications:

• Olson, M.S., D.E. McCauley, and D. Taylor. 2005. Genetics and adaptation in structured populations: sex ratio evolution in Silene vulgaris. Genetica 123:49-62.
• Storchova, H. and M. S. Olson. 2004. Comparison between mitochondrial and chloroplast DNA variation in the native range of Silene vulgaris. Molecular Ecology 13:2909-2919.
• McCauley, D.E. and M.S. Olson. 2003. Associations among cytoplasmic molecular markers, gender, and components of fitness in Silene vulgaris, a gynodioecious plant. Molecular Ecology 12:777-787.
• Olson, M. S. and D. E. McCauley. 2002. Mitochondrial DNA diversity, population structure, and gender association in the gynodioecious plant Silene vulgaris. Evolution, 56:253-262.
• Taylor, D.R., M.S. Olson, and D.E. McCauley. 2001. A quantitative genetic analysis of nuclear-cytoplasmic male sterility in structured populations of Silene vulgaris. Genetics, 158: 833-841

Research Interests:  Evolutionary ecology of plants; exploiting population variation in plant breeding systems to illuminate basic evolutionary processes.

Janette Steets
• 2006. Investigation of trade-offs between growth and reproduction in Arabis lyrata.
• 2006-2007. Phenotypic and physiological response of A. lyrata to variations in water availability.

Research Interests:  Understanding the ecological and genetic forces that control phenotypic diversity and shape adaptive evolution in plants.

Naoki Takebayashi
• 2004-2007. Mating system evolution and molecular evolution of self-incompatibility locus. Understanding the process of self recognition (S-locus) DNA sequences evolution with population genetics as a tool.

Research Interests:  Plant evolutionary genetics. How the genetic basis of traits shapes their evolution, and how natural selection acts on genes.

Diane Wagner (left) and Caroline Ratte (right)


Acacia nectary

• 2006-2007. Correlations between leaf-level photosynthesis and defense in aspen (Populus tremuloides). Project in collaboration with Pat Doak, Assistant Professor, Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Alaska.
• 2004. Influence of environmental cues on the development and function of extrafloral nectaries in aspen (Populus tremuloides). Project in collaboration with Pat Doak, Assistant Professor, Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Alaska.
• 2003. Effects of plant nutrition on extrafloral nectar production and defense.

  Publications:

• Wagner D, DeFoliart L, Doak P, Schneiderheinze J. Impact of the aspen leaf miner, Phyllocnistis populiella, on the physiology and growth of quaking aspen. In review, Plant Ecology.
• Doak P, Wagner D & Watson A. 2007. Variable extrafloral nectary expression and its consequences in quaking aspen. Canadian Journal of Botany, in press.
• Nicklen, Elizabeth Fleur and Wagner, Diane. 2006. Conflict resolution in an ant-plant interaction: Acacia constricta traits reduce ant costs to reproduction. Oecologia 148, 81-87.

Diana Wolf
• 2004-2007. The evolution of imprinting and imprinted genes in the genus Arabis. Molecular evolution of self incompatibility genes in Arabidopsis and Papaver. Evolution of self-fertilization in Alaskan populations of Arabidopsis lyrata.

  Publications:

• Delph, L.F. and D.E. Wolf. 2005. Evolutionary consequences of gender plasticity in genetically dimorphic breeding systems. New Phytologist. 166:119-128.

• John Alden
• Scott Armbruster
• Sultan Begna
• Jason Beringer
• Syndonia Bret-Hart
• John Bryant
• F. Stuart (Terry) Chapin

Dalechampia dioscoreifolia

Publications:

• Pelabon, C., M. L. Carlson, T. F. Hansen, and W. S. Armbruster. 2004. Variational and genetic properties of developmental stability in Dalechampia scandens. Evolution 58: 504-514.
• Pelabon C., T. F. Hansen, M. L. Carlson, N. G. Yoccoz, and W. S. Armbruster. 2004. Consequences of inter-population crosses on developmental stability and canalization of floral traits in Dalechampia scandens (Euphorbiaceae). J. Evolutionary Biology 17: 19-32.
• Hansen, T. F., C. Pelabon, W. S. Armbruster, and M. L. Carlson. 2003. Evolvability and genetic constraint in Dalechampia blossoms: Components of variance and measures of evolvability. J. Evolutionary Biology 16: 754-766.
• Hansen, T. F., W. S. Armbruster, M. L. Carlson, and C. Pelabon. 2003. Evolvability and genetic constraint in Dalechampia blossoms: Genetic correlations and conditional evolvability. J. Experimental Zoology. Molecular and Developmental Evolution 296B: 23-39.
• Armbruster, W. S., C. P. H. Mulder, B. G. Baldwin, S. Kalisz, B. Wessa, and H. Nute. 2002. Comparative analysis of floral development and mating-system evolution in tribe Collinsieae (Scrophulariaceae, s.l.). Am. J. Botany 89: 37-49.
• Armbruster, W.S., P. Martin, J. Kidd, R. Stafford, and D.G. Rogers. 1995. Reproductive significance of indirect pollen-tube growth in Dalechampia (Euphorbiaceae). Am. J. Bot. 82: 51-56.

Research Interests:  Evolutionary ecology, Plant-insect interactions, Plant reproductive ecology

• 2003-2004. Biological control of weeds in agronomic crops.
• 2000-2001. Morphological and physiological responses of crop plants to grasshopper feeding and water stress.

  Publications:

• Begna, Sultan H. and Dennis J.Fielding. 2003. Damage potential of grasshoppers (Orthoptera: acrididae) on early growth stages of small grains and Canola under Subarctic conditions. J. Econ. Entomol. 96(4): 1193-1200.

• 1997-1998. Comparing Betula nana (Birch) from Alaska and Sweden for morphological, growth, and allocation differences.

• 2005-2006. Establishment of Populus balsamifera from cuttings.

• 2004-2005. Fitness differences between different mtDNA haplotypes in Silene vulgaris.

Research Interests:   Plant breeding systems; ecology of invasive plant species; apomixis.

• 1995. River and lake sediments as sources of Frankia for nodulation of Alnus seedlings.

  Publications:

• Huss-Danell, K., Uliassi, D. and Renberg, I. 1997. River and lake sediments as sources of infective Frankia (Alnus). Plant and Soil 197: 35 - 39.
• Uliassi, D, Huss-Danell, K, Ruess, R and Doran, K. 2000. Biomass allocation and nitrogenase activity in Alnus tenuifolia: responses to successional soil type and phosphorus availability. Ecoscience 7: 73-79.

Co-PI's:

• Dr. Terry Chapin (Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks)
  
• Dr. Michelle Mack (Department of Botany, University of Florida)
  
• Dr. Ted Schuur (Department of Botany, University of Florida)
  
• Dr. David Verbyla (School of Agriculture and Natural Resources Management, UAF)

  Graduate Students:
  

• Emily Bernhardt- Department of Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks
  
• Leslie Boby- Department of Botany, University of Florida
  
• Andrew Ruth- Department of Forest Sciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks
  
• Katie Villano- Department of Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks

  
  Pine seedlings being grown for LTER (Long Term Ecological Research) and JSFP (Joint Fire Science Project).

  
  Emily Tissier transplanting spruce seedlings.

• 2005.Growth of white spruce, black spruce, lodgepole pine, birch, aspen, and poplar seedlings for field planting as part of the Joint Fire Science Project (JFSP) and Long Term Ecological Research (LTER).

Email: fttkn@uaf.edu

Reineke Reiffers, intern assisting with Knut Keiland's project



• 2003. Comparison of forage quality of Epilobium angustifolium (fireweed) from Sweden and Alaska.

Research Interests:  Plant physiological ecology; biogeochemistry; plant-animal interactions.

• 1997-1998. Sex ratio of Salix arctica grown from seed.
• 1999-2000. Response of Salix arctica to herbivory.

Bitty Roy (left) and Christa Mulder (right) with Alnus seedlings
for a reciprocal transplant study.


Vaccinium seedlings for a reciprocal transplant study.

• 2003-2004. Changes in herbivore and pathogen levels on boreal understory plants in the context of climate change. Project in collaboration with Bitty Roy, Associate Professor, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon.
• 2001. Bryophyte Diversity: Local and Landscape Interactions. Greenhouse experiments involved looking at the interaction between local diversity and landscape diversity. The purpose was to examine how the scale at which diversity is measured affects what diversity-ecosystem function relationships look like.
• 1995. Emergence of Triglochin palustris bulbs, under different soil temperatures.

  Publications:

• Rixen, C. and Mulder, C.P.H. 2005. Improved water retention links high species richness with increased productivity in arctic tundra moss communities. Oecologia 146(2): 287-299.
• Mulder, C.P.H., and R.W. Ruess. 1998b. Relationships between size, biomass allocation, reproduction and survival in Triglochin palustris: implications for the effects of goose herbivory. Canadian Journal of Botany 76:2164-2176

Research Interests:   Diversity and ecosystem function relationships; Plant-herbivore interactions

• 2002 - 2003. Bryophyte biodiversity and ecosytem Function.

  Publications:
  

• Rixen, C. and Mulder, C.P.H. 2005. Improved water retention links high species richness with increased productivity in arctic tundra moss communities. Oecologia 146(2): 287-299.

• 1999-2002. Investigation of white spruce seed production at eight sites in Denali National Park.

  Publications:

• Effects of climate change on vegetation in the Rock Creek Drainage at Denali National Park, Alaska.

• 2001. Herbivory study of Alnus tenuifolia and Alnus crispa.

  Publications:

• Ruess, R.W., M.D. Anderson, J.S. Mitchell, and J.W. McFarland. 2006. Effects of defoliation on growth and N2-fixation in Alnus tenuifolia: consequences for changing disturbance regimes at high latitudes. Ecoscience 13: 404-412

Research Interests:  Factors regulating belowground carbon allocation in terrestrial ecosystems.

• 1994-1998:
  Persistence of environmental effects in clonal plants.
  Genotypic variation within and among populations.
  Growth and stress response.
  Response of genotypes to field experiments.
  Response of tundra plant communities to environmental variation.
  Quantitative genetic analyis of traits relevant to climate change.
  Genetics of plant phenological traits.
  Variation in Dryas octapetal.

  Publications:

• Keller, S. R. and K. E. Schwaegerle. 2006. Maternal sex and mate relatedness affect offspring quality in the gynodioecious Silene acaulis. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 19:1128-1138.
• Schwaegerle, Kent E. 2005. Quantitative genetic analysis of plant growth: Biases arising from vegetative propagation. Evol. 59(6):1259-1267 .
• Schwaegerle, K.E., H. McIntyre, and C. Swingley. 2000. Quantitative genetics and the persistence of environmental effects in clonally propagated organisms. Evol. 54(2): 452-461.
• Max, K.N., S.K. Mouchaty, and K. Schwaegerle. 1999. Allozyme and morphological variation in two subspecies of Dryas octopetala (Rosaceae) in Alaska. Am. J. Botany 86(11): 1637-1644.

Research Interests:   Evolutionary response of arctic plant populations to climate change.

• 2003-2004. Genetic structure of gender-associated molecular markers in native and invaded ranges of the plant species Silene vulgaris.

  Publications:

• Storchova, H. and M. S. Olson. 2004. Comparison between mitochondrial and chloroplast DNA variation in the native range of Silene vulgaris. Molecular Ecology 13:2909-2919.

Lee Taylor
• 2005. Effect of ectomycorrhizal fungi on survival, growth, and nutrient status of conifer seedlings.
  
• 2004. Mycorrhizal associations with Populus.

• 2006. Effects of different soil mixtures on growth of Melilotus alba, an invasive species in Alaska.

• Jessica Beecher
• Emily Berhnardt
• Nikki Grant-Hoffman

• Chris Babcock
• Amber Beal
• Luke Bruner
• Matt Carlson
• Eva Castels
• Molly Conlin
• Kate Doran

• 2006. Influence of enhanced ultraviolet-B radiation on organic matter quality and decomposition of peat substrates.

• 1994. Photosynthetic and biomass responses of white spruce (Picea glauca) seedlings to variation in growth irradiance and nitrogen.

• 1994. Experimental pollinations on tip and sides of Dalechampia styles to determine seed set resulting from different levels of pollen competitor.

  Publications:

• Armbruster, W.S., P. Martin, J. Kidd, R. Stafford, and D.G. Rogers. 1995. Reproductive significance of indirect pollen-tube growth in Dalechampia (Euphorbiaceae). Am. J. Bot. 82: 51-56.

• 2001. Growing boreal tree seedlings to transplant into field experiments examining the effect of burn substrate on tree seedling growth.

• 1995. Emergence of Triglochin palustris (arrowgrass) bulbs with regard to depth of burial, flooding, and salinity.

• 1995. Innoculation of Alnus seedlings with Frankia.

  Publications:

• Uliassi, D.D., Huss-Danell, K., Ruess, R.W. and Doran, K. 2000. Biomass allocation and nitrogenase activity in Alnus tenuifolia: responses to successional soil type and phosphorus availability. Ecoscience 7: 73-79.
• Huss-Danell, K., Uliassi, D.D. and Renberg, I. 1997. River and lake sediments as sources of infective Frankia (Alnus). Plant and Soil 197: 35 - 39.

• 2002-2003. Winter climate change in snow-rich environments: Reactions of arctic and alpine plant communities.

  Publications

• Wipf, S., Rixen, C., and Mulder, C. P. H. Advanced snowmelt causes shift towards positive neighbour interactions in a subarctic tundra community . Global Change Biology 12, 1496-1506. 2006.

• Mike Anderson
• Rebecca Baird
• Kelly Calhoun
• Amy Carroll
• Andrea Earp

• Seth Adams
• Craig Brooks
• Kate Buenan