Department of Botany & Plant Sciences: Ecology, Evolution and Systematics

Ecology, Evolution and Systematics

Ecology faculty study plant ecology across the continuum from organismal, community to whole ecosystem levels and look for integration across these scales. We have interests in diverse biomes from drylands to tropical environments and work in wildland, agricultural, and urban dominated land uses throughout the world. Our research is directed towards expanding basic understanding that develops and tests new theoretical approaches as well as applying our research to enhancing conservation of native species, reducing the invasion of exotics, and improving the provisioning of ecosystem services.

Evolution and Systematics examines the evolutionary relationships among plant species, the evolutionary history of genetic elements, and the consequences of evolutionary changes on plant adaptation, gene function, and genome structure. The time scale can be as short as a single generation (microevolution) to hundreds or millions of generations (macroevolution). We use a combination of experimental, molecular, and comparative approaches and we study evolutionary changes in both natural systems and those under human disturbance or management.

	NAME/TITLE/CONTACT	DISCIPLINE
	ALLEN, Edith B. Professor of Plant Ecology; Cooperative Extension Specialist in Conservation Biology; Department Vice Chair edith.allen@ucr.edu	Effects of invasive species on native vegetation, weed competition and succession, restoration ecology and mycorrhizal fungi, effects of urbanization and agriculture on native ecosystems
	ALLEN, Michael Professor of Plant Pathology; Director of Center for Conservation Biology (Cooperating Faculty Member) michael.allen@ucr.edu	Regulation of community and ecosystem processes by soil organisms with special emphasis on mycorrhizal fungi. Current research concentrates on global change dynamics and structure of undisturbed areas, and how that information can be utilized in the conservation and restoration of native ecosystems.
	DIEZ, Jeffrey Assistant Professor of Plant Ecology/Plant Ecologist jeffrey.diez@ucr.edu	Plant Community Ecology with emphasis on climate change effects on phenology shifts, shifts in distributions, and plant invasions.
	ELLSTRAND, Norman C. Professor of Genetics norman.ellstrand@ucr.edu	Applied population genetics emphasizing gene flow and its role in evolution of invasiveness, extinction, and transgene dispersal.
	EZCURRA, Exequiel Professor of Ecology/Director of UC Mexus exequiel.ezcurra@ucr.edu	Conservation science, ecology and biogeography of coastal deserts, land-ocean interactions and their impact on marine and terrestrial environments
	HOLT, Jodie S. Divisional Dean Agriculture and Natural Resources & Professor of Plant Physiology jodie.holt@ucr.edu	Physiological and population ecology of invasive exotic weeds in wildlands and agricultural weeds in croplands, ecological approches for weed management.
	JENERETTE, G. Darrel Associate Professor of Landscape Ecology darrel.jenerette@ucr.edu	Ecological scaling, coupled biogeochemical cycles, terrestrial aquatic linkages, ecosystem responses to altered precipitation regimes, societal-biophysical interactions
	LI, Bai-Lian (Larry) Professor of Plant Ecology bai-lian.li@ucr.edu	Quantitative Plant Ecology; Ecological Complexity and Modeling; Theoretical and Mathematical Ecology; Systems Ecology; Landscape Ecology; Computational Biology; Ecological Informatics
	LOVATT, Carol J. Professor of Plant Physiology carol.lovatt@ucr.edu	Regulation of flowering, fruit set, and fruit development of citrus, avocado, other subtropical tree crops, and pistachio. Role of hormones and nutrition in regulating these processes. Abiotic stress physiology.
	LUKASZEWSKI, Adam J. Professor of Genetics adam.lukaszewski@ucr.edu	Cytogenetics of crop plants, Meiotic chromosome pairing
	ROOSE, Mikeal L. Department Chair & Professor of Genetics mikeal.roose@ucr.edu	Genetics, genomics and breeding of citrus and asparagus; linkage mapping; marker assisted breeding; evolutionary relationships of cultivated citrus.
	SACHS, Joel L. Associate Professor of Biology (Cooperating Faculty Member) joel.sachs@ucr.edu	Investigate the forces that shape bacterial cooperation with hosts as well as the origins and evolution of harmful strains. Current focus is on rhizobial bacteria that live in soils throughout the world and nodulate the roots of many legume hosts.
	SANTIAGO, Louis S. Associate Professor of Physiological Ecosystem Ecology louis.santiago@ucr.edu	Environmental Physiology, Ecosystem Science, Evolutionary Physiology, Stable Isotopes, and Tropical Biology
	STAJICH, Jason Assistant Professor & Assistant Bioinformaticist (Cooperating Faculty Member) jason.stajich@ucr.edu	We are interested in the set of genes that are required to synthesize, maintain, and remodel the cell wall as part of growth, response to stress, and developmental programs.
	WAINES, J. Giles Professor of Genetics giles.waines@ucr.edu	Root genetics, plant genetics, evolution, plant breeding, components of yield, wheat and legumes.
	WESSLER, Susan R. Distingished Professor of Genetics susan.wessler@ucr.edu	Transposable elements in plants with a focus on the characterization of active transposable elements and a determination of how they contribute to genome evolution and adaptation.
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