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Interest areas within population and conservation biology:
- landscape genetics
- pollen movement
- seed dispersal
- pollination ecology
- evolutionary ecology of masting
- plant demography
- plant-animal interactions
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Recent Professional Activities:
Education
- B.S. with honors in Biological Sciences, University of California-Irvine,
1973
- M.S. in Zoology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1975
- Ph.D. in Biological Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1979
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Selected Publications and Manuscripts
- Sork, V. L., J. Nason, and D. R. Campbell. 1999. Landscape approaches
to historical and contemporary gene flow in plants. Trends in
Ecology and Evolution, In press, June 1999.
- Gram, W. K. and V. L. Sork. 1999. Does population density reflect
genetic diversity? In press, Conservation Biology.
- Koop, A. L and V. L. Sork. A multivariate analysis of genetic
variation in Quercus alba L. distributed across a previously clear cut Missouri Ozark landscape.
Submitted, American Journal of Botany
- Sork, V. L., A. R. Templeton, M. de la Fuente, P. Foster, A. L.
Koop, and R. Westfall. Single and multi-locus genetic structure
across a heterogeneous landscape. Submitted, Evolution
- Sork, V. L., D. Campbell, R. Dyer, J Fernandez, J. Nason, R. Petit,
P. Smouse, and E. Steinberg. 1998. Proceedings from a Workshop
on Gene Flow in Fragmented, Managed, and Continuous Populations.
National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, Santa Barbara,
California. Research Paper No. 3. Available at http://ww.nceas.ucsb.edu/papers/geneflow/
- Sork, V. L. , A. L. Koop, M. A. de la Fuente, P. Foster, and
J. A. Raveill. 1997. Patterns of genetic variation in woody
plant species in the Missouri Ozark Forest Ecosystem Project (MOFEP).
Pp. 231-247 in B. Brookshire and S. Shifley (Eds), Report of the Missouri Forest
Ecosystem Project. General Technical Report, U.S.D.A. Forest
Service.
- Gram, W. K., V. L. Sork, and R. J. Marquis. 1997. Synthesis
and integration of pretreatment results from the Missouri Ozark
Forest Ecosystem Project. Pp. 356-369 in B. Brookshire and S. Shifley (Eds), Report of the Missouri Forest
Ecosystem Project. General Technical Report, U.S.D.A. Forest
Service.
- Foster, P. F. and V. L. Sork. 1997. The population and genetic
structure of the West African rain forest liana, Ancistrocladus korupensis (Ancistrocladaceae). American Journal of Botany. 84(8):1078-1091
- Schellhorn, N. and V. L. Sork. 1997. Impact of weed diversity
on insect population dynamics and crop yield in collards Brassica oleraceae (Brassicaceae). Oecologia 111(2):233-240
- Loiselle, B. A., V. L. Sork, and C. Graham. 1995. Comparison of
genetic variation in bird dispersed shrubs of a tropical wet forest.
Biotropica 27:487-494.
- Loiselle, B. A., V. L. Sork, J. Nason, and C. Graham. 1995. Spatial
genetic structure of a tropical under story shrub, Psychotria officinalis (Rubiaceae). American Journal of Botany 82:1420-1425.
- Stowe, K., V .L. Sork, and A. Farrell. 1994. Effects of maternal
microhabitat and water availability on the phenotypic expression
of resistance to herbivores in northern red oak, Quercus rubra L. Oecologia 100: 309-315.
- Sork, V. L, K. Stowe, and C. Hochwender. 1993. Evolution in closely
adjacent subpopulations of Northern red oak seedlings in response
to herbivory by insects. American Naturalist 142:928-936.
- Sork, V. .L., S. Huang, and E. Wiener. 1993. Macrogeographic and
fine-scale genetic structure in a North American oak species,
Quercus rubra L. Annales des Sciences Forestieres, 50 (Suppl.) 1:128-136.
- Sork, V. L., J. Bramble, and O. Sexton. 1993. Ecology of mast-fruiting
in Missouri oaks. Ecology, 74:528-541.
- Sork, V. L. 1993 Evolutionary ecology of mast-fruiting in temperate
and tropical oaks. Vegetatio 107/108: 133-147/
- Sork, V. L. and D.H. Schemske. 1992. Fitness consequences of mixed-donor
pollen loads in the annual legume Chamaecrista fasciculata. American Journal of Botany 79:508-515.
My general area of research lies within plant evolutionary ecology,
particularly focussing on the ecology, ecological genetics, and
conservation biology of woody plants. I have worked on many plant
species in temperate and tropical habitats, but my program over
the last twelve years has utilized oaks as our focal species.
Oaks are ecologically and economically significant constituents
of temperate deciduous and tropical montane forests. As such,
they provide a valuable opportunity to address critical evolutionary,
ecological, and conservation biological questions about forest
angiosperm species. A major theme of my research program is to
understand how the opposing forces of gene flow and natural selection
interact within heterogeneous environments to influence local
adaptation, patterns of genetic differentiation, and overall genetic
structure. This program focuses both on microevolutionary dynamics
and on the conservation implications of these dynamics for future
populations. Below are a list of current projects in my laboratory.
- Genetic diversity and gene flow in selected woody plant species in Missouri Ozark forests. This project, which is part of the
Missouri Ozark Forest Ecosystem Project (MOFEP), is funded by the Missouri Department of Conservation, is designed
(a) to quantify patterns of genetic diversity across the Missouri
Ozark forest landscape before forest management treatments are
initiated and (b) to monitor patterns of gene flow as a result
of landscape alteration caused by these treatments. The ultimate
goal is to assess whether even-aged management, uneven-aged management,
or no management will affect the future genetic diversity and
structure of woody plant populations.
- Gene flow in two hybridizing species of southern California oaks: Quercus englemannii and Quercus cornelius-mullerii. A pilot project was funded by the University of Missouri Research
Board to obtain preliminary observations on sympatric and allopatric
populations of these two oaks species--one a tree form that lives
in higher elevations and the other a shrub form that occurs in
xeric habitats. Our preliminary data demonstrate that allopatric
populations of the two species are genetically and morphologically
quite distinct. However, sites where the two species are sympatric
shows a high frequency of hybrids. Moreover, analysis of mating
system suggests that ongoing gene flow is common. Future research
will focus on the roles of gene flow and early seedling fitness
in hybridization.
- Measurement of gene flow in fragmented, managed, and continuous
populations. This topic is being explored through a workshop that I have
organized through the National Center for Ecological Analysis
and Synthesis at the University of California at Santa Barbara.
Its goal is to evaluate various direct and indirect methods for
measuring gene flow and to consider related landscape and metapopulation
ecology models that may provide insight on patterns of gene flow
among plant populations.
- Evolutionary ecology of masting in Missouri oaks. Statistical analysis of a 12 yr. data set is being conducted
in collaboration with Judy Bramble. Our goal is to establish
quantitative indices of masting and evaluate the relationship
between each index and fitness has quantified by 12 years cumulative
seed production.
Post-doctoral associates (current and former)
- Jay Raveill, Ph. D. Vanderbilt University. Current address: Department
of Biology, Western Missouri State University, Warrensberg, MO.
Collaborative project: Variation in mating systems of woody
plants in the Missouri Ozark landscape.
- Wendy Gram, Ph. D. University of Missouri, Columbia. Collaborative projects:
(1) Environmental correlates of genetic diversity and multilocus
genotypes of Ozark woody plants; (2) Multi-trophic relationships
with the Missouri Ozark Ecosystem based on synthesis and integration
of data generated by MOFEP investigators.
- Victoria Apsit, Ph. D. University of Georgia. Collaborative project: Impact
of forest management practices on gene flow among woody plant
populations within the Missouri Ozark Forest Ecosystem Project
Current Graduate Students
- Diego Perez-Salicrup, Ph. D. Dec 1998. Effects of liana cutting on a Bolivian forest.
- Eric Wiener, Doctoral candidate. Tree seedling survivorship and growth under
different light regimes in secondary forest of Amazonian Peru.
- Juan Fernandez-M., Doctoral candidate. Effect of fragmentation on genetic diversity
and gene flow in the Colombian oak, Quercus humboltii.
- Rodney J. Dyer, Doctoral candidate. Pollen mediated gene flow in Pinus echinata.
Former Thesis Graduate Students
- Anthony L. Koop. M. S. 1996. Patterns of genetic variation in
the Quercus alba in Missouri Ozark forests.
- Paul Foster. M.S. 1995. Patterns of genetic variation in Ancistrocladus korupensis in Korup National Forest, Cameroon.
- Richard Whitney. M.S. 1994. Examination of spatial patterns within
populations of a subcanopy palm, Jessenia bataua (Arecaceae).
- Huang, Shong. Ph.D. 1992. Macrogeographical genetic variation
in northern red oak (Quercus rubra L.).
- Nancy Schellhorn. M.S. 1992. Effect of weed diversity on insect
crop pests in agroecosystems.
- Jacqueline Idol. M.S. 1991. Outcrossing rates among individual
trees in black oak (Quercus velutina Lam.).
- Ricardo M. Rueda. M.S., 1989. Revision of the genus Clerodendrum (Verbanaceae) in Mesoamerica.(Co-advisor with Alwyn Gentry).
- Christopher William Brown. M.S. 1987. Seed dispersal and survival
in white oak (Quercus alba) and pignut hickory (Carya glabra).
- Linda Phillips Parsons. M.S. 1984. Comparison of acorn removal
by vertebrates among three species of oaks.
- Carol Lynne Hampe. M.S. 1984. A description of species composition,
population structures, and spatial patterns in a Missouri oak-hickory
forest.
- Kathleen Metter Kohl. M.S. 1983. Effect of pollen limitation on
flowering phenology of Claytonia virginica (Portulaceae).
- Daniel Shelburne. M.S. 1983. Patterns in the production, development,
and maturation of acorns in Quercus alba.
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