Jan. 4, 2010 Listen live to Webcast (when scheduled)
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| Associate professor William Snyder of the Department of Entomology, Washington State University, Pullman, answers questions following his talk on "Exploring the Relationship between Predator Biodiversity and Herbivore Suppression." In the foreground are graduate students James Harwood and Amy Morice of the James Carey lab. They Webcast the seminars. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) |
DAVIS—Everything from honey bee to ant research will be discussed at the winter noonhour seminars sponsored by the UC Davis Department of Entomology. The sessions begin Wednesday, Jan. 6 and continue every Wednesday from 12:10 to 1 p.m. in 122 Briggs Hall through March 10.
Graduate student Ian Pearse, who studies with major professor Richard Karban, organized the lectures. Assisting was Neal Williams, associate professor of entomology.
The lectures are open to all interested persons. The project is traditionally the work of graduate students in the Department of Entomology.
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Steve Yanoviak |
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| Andrew Sutherland |
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Daniel Papaj |
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Alexandra Klein |
Nathan Bailey, postdoctoral researcher at UC Riverside, will launch the series on Jan. 6 with a lecture on "The Role of Behavioral Plasticity in the Evolution of Silent Crickets.” He will be introduced by postdoctoral researcher Andrew Forbes of the Jay Rosenheim lab. (Not Webcast)
The list also includes:
Jan. 13: Tropical arthropod ecologist Steve Yanoviak, Department of Biology, University of Arkansas, Little Rock, “"Ecology and Behavior of Tropical Arboreal Ants." Hosts: Michael Branstetter and Bonnie Blaimer, graduate students in the Phil Ward lab. (Not Webcast)
Jan. 20: Postdoctoral researcher Andrew Sutherland, UC Davis Department of Plant Pathology, "The Development of the Proboscis Extension Reflex (PER) in Honey Bees, Apis mellifera, for Agricultural Decision Support.” Host: Ian Pearse, graduate student in the Rick Karban lab. (Not Webcast)
Jan. 27: Associate professor William Snyder of the Department of Entomology, Washington State University, Pullman, "Exploring the Relationship between Predator Biodiversity and Herbivore Suppression." Host: Yao Hua, graduate student in the Jay Rosenheim lab. (Not Webcast)
Feb. 3: Professor Daniel Papaj, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, who will speak on "Ecological and Evolutionary Perspectives on Learning in Bees and Butterflies." Host is Billy Krimmel, graduate student, Department of Evolution and Ecology. Archived Webcast
Feb. 10: Research entomologist Terry Griswold of the USDA-ARS (Agricultural Research Service) Logan, Utah, whose topic is "Patterns of North American Bees at Scales Plot to Continental: Rare Is Common?" Host is Emily Bzdyk, graduate student of Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology and professor and vice chair of the Department of Entomology. Archived Webcast
Feb. 17: Professor Alexandra Klein of the University of Lüneburg, Germany, will speak on "Can Wild Pollinators Contribute, Augment, and Complement Almond Pollination in California?". Host is associate professor and native pollinator specialist Neal Williams. Archived Webcast
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Rosemary Gillespie |
Feb. 24: Insect biologist Rosemary Gillespie, Schlinger chair of systematics, director of the Essig Museum of Entomology and chair of the Berkeley Natural History Museums, UC Berkeley, will speak on "Community Assembly through Adaptive Radiation: Spiders on Islands.” Host is Chris Searcy, graduate student, Population Biology Graduate Group, Center for Population Biology. Archived Webcast
Abstract:
Remote islands are heralded as "natural laboratories", with communities largely comprising species that have evolved within the islands as a result of adaptive radiation. I have been studying spiders to elucidate commonalities underlying patterns of adaptive radiation and how communities are filled in such situations. Here, I examine patterns of morphological and ecological differentiation across the Pacific and how diversity can arise from a small sample of colonists. Specific topics will include: (1) Parallels between adaptive radiations in similar lineages across different archipelagoes in the Pacific. Do the same sets of taxa tend to diversify on different archipelagoes, and if so, do they follow the same evolutionary trajectories? (2) Patterns of diversification within an adaptive radiation. What are the relative roles of colonization or dispersal versus parallel or convergent evolution and associated niche shifts, in shaping ecologically similar sets of species on different islands of the Hawaiian chain? (3) Genetic modification during colonization of new land masses. Can we determine the genetic changes that occur to allow morphological diversity to be recovered following founder events? Overall, this research promises insights into the interplay between selection and the biotic environment in the evolution of species within a community.
March 3: Postdoctoral reseracher Moran Segoli, UC Davis Department of Entomology, will speak on "The Importance of Predation in Shaping Desert Communities and Trophic Levels." Host: Ian Pearse of the Rick Karban lab. Archived Webcast
Abstract:
The low productivity in deserts has been suggested as limiting the length of food chains there to only one - plants. Therefore, it is expected that predation has a limited role in determining animal distribution and abundance in desert habitats.
I challenge this notion, and suggest that desert communities have longer food chains that include large predators, preying upon small predators, which in turn prey on animals that consume dead plant material (macrodetritivores). My research suggests that shrubs act as refuge sites and reduce the predation of large predators on small predators. This results in an increase in the abundance of small predators that in turn reduce the abundance of macrodetritivores. Thus, deserts exhibit longer food chains, and predation pressure is an important factor in this system.
March 10: Research chemist John Beck of the USDA Agricultural Research Station, Albany, Calif., will speak on "The Search for Non-Pheromonal Volatile Organic Compounds Toward Control of Navel Orangeworm, a Major Insect Pest of California Tree Nuts." Host is Ian Pearse of the Rick Karban lab. Archived Webcast
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--Kathy Keatley Garvey
Communications specialist
UC Davis Department of Entomology
(530) 754-6894
