Mia’s Research Interests

Predicting biotic response to future climate change is currently a major challenge in ecology and evolutionary biology. Although climate change models predict the increased frequency of extremes in weather conditions (Katz and Brown 1992, Kattenberg et al. 1995, Wilks and Riha 1996), only a few studies have investigated the potential ecological or evolutionary consequences.

For my Masters thesis, I’m examining the effect of severe drought on the interactions between ungulates and the Western wildflower, Ipomopsis aggregata (Polemiaceae).

According to dendrochronological data, the Arizona drought of 2002 was the most severe in 1400 years. In two experiments executed during the summer of 2002, we found that a typically overcompensating population of Ipomopsis dramatically under-compensated following herbivory in response to both water-stress and unusually high ungulate browsing pressures. These findings are the first to establish the importance of a natural stress on compensation and to highlight the possible changes of the interaction itself.

For a side project, we are also testing the effects of inbreeding on developmental instability. We are comparing leaf asymmetry of Ipomopsis aggregata from small and large populations to test the hypothesis that more inbred populations exhibit higher levels of developmental instability and therefore larger fluctuating asymmetry. To confirm that our “small” populations are indeed more highly related, we are using RAPD analysis. Both leaf measurements and genetic results are presently being generated.