Preston R. Aldrich
- Evolutionary ecology
- Invasive plants
- Old-growth
- Forest disturbance
- Laboratory
- Microsatellites
- Functional genomics
Evolutionary & molecular ecology of plants
Molecular ecology
Molecular markers are great for identifying individuals in populations and tracking movement. This allows the estimation of population parameters that otherwise can be hard to evaluate. On a regional scale, this approach yields information on historical patterns of migration and range size. On a local scale, genealogies from hypervariable genetic markers such as microsatellites provide detailed information on population vital rates (i.e., fecundity, survivorship, and dispersal). Moreover, plant genealogies often contain the imprint of community-level processes such as animal foraging through effective or realized patterns of pollen and seed dispersal, which generates insights into the sensitivity of trophic interactions and mutualisms to changes in forest and population structure. Such information can be compiled into networks that contain a tremendous amount of information on the structure and behavior of populations and communities.
Microevolution
Many changes in plant populations, such as forest fragmentation, are associated with changes in the gene pool. These changes can influence the longer-term evolutionary potential and trajectories of populations. Such population genetic studies have comprised a large part of my research program. Many of my studies have involved anonymous markers such as microsatellites in which the marker is presumed neutral to selection and typically resides in an undetermined portion of the genome. More recently I have begun exploring molecular genetic variation in genes known to have a selective value.
Macroevolution
I also am interested in problems involving longer-term patterns of evolution in plant species. Included here are studies of the evolution of wood formation and plant-insect co-evolution. For example, I am interested in the origin of the woody habit in land plants along with other key innovations involved in the Cretaceous angiosperm radiation that coincided wtih the decline of the gymnosperms.
Phylogenetics
My research on phylogenetics has three dimensions. (1) I use molecular genetic-derived pedigrees to study population-level processes. (2) I also have used morphological and molecular variation to resolve relationships at the genus and species level using standard procedures for phylogenetic reconstruction. (3) More recently, I have begun studying the phylogenetic differentiation associated with the radiation of angiosperms during the Cretaceous.
