New Hampshire
Carol Anne Kelly, Ph.D., University of Illinois
New Hampshire
E-mail: ckelly@umsl.edu
Department of Biology
University of Missouri-St. Louis
8001 Natural Bridge Road
St. Louis MO 63121.
Phone: (314) 516-6577
Selected Publications:
My research interests lie in the evolutionary ecology
of life history traits in plants. Plant life history traits have
presumably evolved in response to allocation and developmental decisions
made throughout the life cycle of the organism. These allocation
and developmental patterns must ensure plant survival and reproduction,
and thus, reflect different amounts of investment to varying functions
(plant defense, competition, physiological functioning, sexual reproduction,
etc.), depending on the ecological environment and phylogenetic background
of the organism. In this sense the study of life history trait evolution
provides an integrative framework for understanding the evolution of plant
phenotype.
A major question in our understanding of the evolution of life history
traits is how the potentially numerous ecological selective pressures acting
at the various stages of a plant's life cycle influence life history evolution.
My research addresses this question by using both demographic selection
analyses and experiments on the ecological mechanisms of the selective
process, at different stages of the life cycle, to determine how selection
acts indirectly on life history through its direct effect on allocation
and developmental decisions involving these other ecological factors.
Combining these two methodologies allows me to quantify the relative importance
of selection at the different stages of the life cycle as well as the ecological
mechanisms of selection. In addition, I use the techniques of quantitative
genetics to examine the genetic relationship between the additive effects
of traits under selection at the various life cycle stages and life history
traits, as well as among life history traits
themselves. My research organisms include two long-lived perennials
in the Asteraceae, Liatris cylindracea and Solidago macrophylla.
Graduate Students:
While my research is concentrated in the temperate zone, all of my graduate students have conducted their research in tropical climates, such as Colombia, Costa Rica and Ecuador. I anticipate that my students will continue to work in various climates.
Past Graduate Students:
Current Graduate Students: