A Framework to Study Plant Evolution and Biogeography
The mission of Environmental & Plant Biology researchers is to employ independent sources of data (e.g., morphology of living and extinct organisms, DNA variation) to infer phylogenetic relationships and to use the phylogeny as a framework to study character evolution and biogeography.
Faculty Researchers
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Harvey BallardThe collective research in our lab encompasses many diverse aspects of plant organismal biology including traditional systematics, phylogenetics, molecular ecology, population genetics and conservation genetics. Some of us also delve into more interdisciplinary investigations concerning species formation, hybridization and polyploidc evolution.
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John SchenkOur lab is interested in understanding the evolutionary processes that have generated such a remarkable amount of morphological forms and diversity in plants. We apply a macroevolutionary approach that takes advantage of traditional anatomical and morphological methods, phylogenetic comparative methods, ecology, and genomics.
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Morgan L. VisThe two primary research foci of this laboratory are systematics of freshwater red algae and algal communities in streams as bioindicators of water quality. In our studies of freshwater red algae, we employ a combination of field research and DNA sequencing (both Sanger and HTS) for systematic and phylogeographic research.
Current Projects
- Systematics (including phylogenetic analysis), classification and evolution of the violet family (Ballard)
- Polyploid evolution and Infrageneric groups of Viola (Ballard)
- Species-level systematic studies in eastern North American violets (Ballard)
- Genome construction and the genetic basis of the mixed breeding system in violets (Ballard & Wyatt)
- Evolution of Cretaceous and Cenozoic aquatic ferns (Hermsen)
- Phylogenetic analyses including fossil taxa and identification of fossil calibrations (Hermsen)
- Systematics of Cretaceous and Cenozoic plants of Patagonia, Argentina (Hermsen)
- Systematics of Freshwater Red Algae (Vis)
- Comparative Transcriptomics for Systematic Research (Vis)
- Biogeography/Phylogeography of Freshwater Red Algae (Vis)
Resources for Researchers
Algae Herbarium Portal
Find algae specimens submitted by Ohio University faculty and others from around the world.
Floyd Bartley Herbarium
The Floyd Bartley Herbarium, located on the fourth floor Porter Hall annex, is a specimen database of the taxonomy and flora projects conducted on the Ohio Flora.
Recent Accomplishments
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Population genetics of the freshwater red alga Batrachospermum gelatinosum
Dr. Morgan Vis and doctoral student Roseanna Crowell recently co-authored Population genetics of the freshwater red alga Batrachospermum gelatinosum (Rhodophyta) I: Frequent intragametophytic selfing in a monoicous, haploid–diploid species . Journal of Phycology , 00, 1–17. (2024).
They also co-authored Population genetics of the freshwater red alga Batrachospermum gelatinosum (Rhodophyta) II: Phylogeographic analyses reveal spatial genetic structure among and within five major drainage basins in eastern North America . Journal of Phycology , 00, 1–19. (2024).