Local and landscape genetic processes in oaks

Several major findings have emerged from our studies of remnant stands of bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa) in northeastern Illinois. My former graduate students, Beverly Dow and Kathleen Craft, and I have found that over half of the acorns from isolated stands are pollinated by trees outside the stand, at great distances. Within the stand, pollinations occurred nearly at random. We have clearly demonstrated that the mating system of the bur oak, and presumably other wind-pollinated trees, is extraordinarily efficient at producing highly outbred individuals and ensuring long distance pollination. We have also been investigating patterns of hybridization among various white oak species, both in the Midwest and in California where I am collaborating with Dr. Walter Koenig studying valley oak, Quercus lobata, and blue oak, Quercus douglassii. I have just begun working on the threatened island oak, Quercus tomentella, found only on the California Channel Islands.

Conservation Genetics of the Anacapa Island Deer Mouse, Peromyscus maniculatus anacapae 

The eight California Channel Islands are each home to an endemic subspecies of deer mice, Peromyscus maniculatus. I studied the evolutionary history of the Channel Island deer mice for my dissertation, and my lab is currently studying the Anacapa Island deer mice as part of a program to reestablish deer mice following the eradication of nonnative rats from the island. With my graduate student Fusun Ozer and our collaborator Holly Gellerman, we are tracking the demographic and genetic recovery of deer mice following their reintroduction to Anacapa island.

Additional Projects

Studies of species boundaries and phylogenetics of the marine bivalve Isognomonidae (John Wilk)

Conservation Genetics of Endangered Illinois Shiners, Notropis heterodon and N. heterolepis (Fusun Ozer)

Population Genetics of Reintroduced Peregrine Falcons (Isabel Caballero)

Population Genetics of Penstemon rostriflorus and implications for restoration (Andrea Tietmeyer Kramer)

Temporal and spatial genetic structure of prairie plants across a fragmented landscape (Jennifer Ison)

Ashley Lab

Saji Abraham, Postdoctoral Researcher (sajita@uic.edu)


Janet Backs, Doctoral Student (jbacks@uic.edu)


Isabel Caballero, Doctoral Student (icabal2@uic.edu)


Jennifer Ison, Doctoral Student (ison@uic.edu)


Emi Kuroiwa, Doctoral Student (ekuroi2@uic.edu) 


Sheila Langosch, Master Student (slangosc@uic.edu) 


Fusun Ozer, Doctoral Student (fozer1@uic.edu) 


Helena Puche, Postdoctoral Fellow (hpuche@uic.edu) 


Andrea Tietmeyer Kramer, Doctoral Student (atietm1@uic.edu)


John Wilk, Doctoral Student (jwilk@uic.edu)


David Zaya, Master Student (dzaya1@uic.edu)

Ashley Lab Alumni

Dr. Kathleen Craft, University of Minnesota
Dr. Beverly Dow
Dr. Kevin Feldheim, Pritzker Laboratory, Field Museum of Natural History
Dr. Ken Jones, Kansas State University
Dr. Roselis Mazurek
Dr. Jane E. Norman
James Norton, Northwestern University
Dr. Bill Strausberger
Dr. Oliver Pergams
Dr. Jose (Pepé) Tello, American Museum of Natural History
Ramlah Zainudin

Publications

1) Ashley, M.V., and C. Wills. 1987. Analysis of mitochondrial DNA polymorphisms among Channel Island deer mice. Evolution 41:854-863.

2) Ashley, M.V. and C. Wills. 1989. Mitochondrial DNA and allozyme divergence patterns are correlated among island deer mice. Evolution 43:646-650.

3) Ashley, M.V. 1989. Absence of differentiation in mitochondrial DNA of island and mainland harvest mice, Reithrodontomys megalotis. Journal of Mammalogy 70:383-386.

4) Ashley, M.V., P.J. Laipis and W.W. Hauswirth. 1989. Rapid segregation of heteroplasmic mammalian mitochondria. Nucleic Acids Research 17:7325-7331.

5) Ashley, M.V., D.J. Melnick and D. Western. 1990. Conservation genetics of the black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis), I.: Evidence from the mitochondrial DNA of three populations. Conservation Biology 4:71-77.

6) Patterson, B.D., V. Pacheco, and M.V. Ashley. 1992. On the origins of the western slope region of endemism: systematics of fig-eating bats, genus Artibeus. Memorias del Museo de Historia Natural, U.N.M.S.M. (Lima) 21:189-205.

7) Melnick, D.J., G.A. Hoelzer, R. Absher, and M.V. Ashley. 1993. mtDNA diversity in rhesus monkeys reveals overestimates of divergence time and paraphyly with neighboring species. Molecular Biology and Evolution 10:282-295.

8) Amato, G.D., M.V. Ashley, and J. Gatesy. 1993. Molecular evolution in living species of rhinoceros: Implications for conservation. Pp. 114-122 in “Proceedings of an International Conference on Rhinoceros Biology and Conservation,” O.A. Ryder (ed.), Zoological Society of San Diego.

9) Ashley, M.V. and B.D. Dow. 1994. The use of microsatellite analysis in population biology: Background, methods and potential applications. Pp. 185-202 in “Molecular Ecology and Evolution: Approaches and Applications,” B. Schierwater, B. Streit, G. P. Wagner and R. DeSalle (eds.) Birkhauser Verlag, Boston.

10) Hoelzer, G.A., W.P.J. Dittus, M.V. Ashley, and D.J. Melnick. 1994. The local distribution of highly divergent mitochondrial DNA haplotypes in toque macaques (Macaca sinica) at Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka. Molecular Ecology 3:451-458.

11) Dow, B. D., M. V. Ashley and H. F. Howe. 1995. Isolation and characterization of highly variable (GA/CT)n microsatellites in the bur oak, Quercus macrocarpa. Theoretical and Applied Genetics 91:137-141.

12) Ashley, M. V., and J. L. Vaughn. 1995. Owl monkeys, Aotus, are highly divergent in mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase (COII) sequences. International Journal of Primatology 16:793-806.

13) Dow, B. D. and M. V. Ashley. 1996. Microsatellite analysis of seed dispersal and sapling parentage in bur oak, Quercus macrocarpa. Molecular Ecology 5:615-627.

14) Ashley, M. V., J. E. Norman and L. Stross. 1996. Phylogenetic analysis of Tapiridae using mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase (COII) sequences. Journal of Mammalian Evolution. 3:315-326.

15) Strausberger, B. and M. V. Ashley. 1997. Community-wide patterns of parasitism of a host “generalist” brood-parasitic cowbird. Oecologia 112:254-262.

16) Dow, B. D. and M. V. Ashley. 1998. Factors influencing male mating success in bur oak, Quercus macrocarpa. New Forests 15:161-181.

17) Dow, B. D., and M. V. Ashley. 1998. High levels of gene flow in bur oak revealed by paternity analysis using microsatellites. Journal of Heredity 89:62-70.

18) Dow, B. D. and M. V. Ashley. 1998. Population structure and mating system of bur oak, Quercus macrocarpa, characterized by DNA microsatellite analysis. Proceedings of “Diversity and Adaptation in Oak Species,” (K. C. Steiner, ed.), Penn State University.

19) Ashley, M. V. 1999. Molecular Conservation Genetics. American Scientist 87:28-35.

20) Dow, B. D. and M. V. Ashley. 1999. Changing genetic structure of a remnant bur oak savannah, Forest Genetics 6:29-39.

21) Pergams, O. R. W. and M. V. Ashley. 1999. Rapid morphological change in Channel Island deer mice. Evolution 53:1573-1581.

22) Pergams, O. R. W. and M. V. Ashley. 2000. California Island deer mice: Genetics, morphometrics and evolution. Pp. 278-288 in D. R. Browne, K. L. Mitchell and H. W. Chaney (eds.) Proceedings of the Fifth California Islands Symposium. 29 March to 1 April 1999. Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, Santa Barbara, CA. OCS Study No. 99-0038.

23) Norman, J. E. and M. V. Ashley. 2000. Phylogenetics of Perissodactyla and tests of the molecular clock. Journal of Molecular Evolution 50:11-21.

24) Pergams, O. R. W., R. C. Lacy and M. V. Ashley. 2000. Conservation and Management of Anacapa Island Deer Mice. Conservation Biology 14:819-832.

25) Feldheim, K. A., S. H. Gruber and M.V. Ashley. 2001. Population genetic structure of the lemon shark (Negaprion brevirostris) in the western Atlantic: DNA microsatellite variation. Molecular Ecology 10:295-303.

26) Constable, J. L., M. V. Ashley, J. Goodall and A. E. Pusey. 2001. Noninvasive paternity assignment in Gombe chimpanzees. Molecular Ecology 10:1279-1300.

27) Feldheim, K. A., S. H. Gruber and M. V. Ashley. 2001. Multiple paternity of a lemon shark litter (Chondrichthyes: Carcharhinidae). Copeia 2001:781-786.

28) Strausberger, B. M. and M. V. Ashley. 2001. Eggs yield nuclear DNA from egg-laying female cowbirds, their embryos and offspring. Conservation Genetics 2:385-390.

29) Pergams, O. W. R. and M. V. Ashley. 2001. Microevolution of island rodents. Genetica 112/113: 245-256.

30) Feldheim, K. A., S. H. Gruber and M. V. Ashley. 2002. Breeding biology of lemon sharks at a tropical nursery lagoon. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B 269:1655-1661.

31) Craft, K. J., M. V. Ashley and W. D. Koenig. 2002. Limited hybridization between Quercus lobata amd Quercus Douglasii (Fagaceae) in a mixed stand in central coastal California. American Journal of Botany 89:1792-1798.

32) Feldheim, K. A., S. H. Gruber, J. R C. deMarignac and M. V. Ashley. 2002. Genetic tagging to determine passive integrated transponder tag loss in lemon sharks. Journal of Fish Biology 61:1309-1313.

33) Ashley, M. V., M. F. Willson, O. R. W. Pergams, D. J. O’Dowd and S. M. Gende. 2003. Evolutionarily Enlightened Management. Biological Conservation 111:115-123.

34) Strausberger, B. M. and M. V. Ashley. 2003. Breeding biology of brown-headed cowbirds (Molothrus ater) characterized by parent-offspring and sib-group reconstruction. Auk 120:433-445.

35) Koenig, W. D. and M. V. Ashley 2003. Is pollen limited? The answer is blowin’ in the wind. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 18:157-159.

36) Ashley, M. V., J. A. Wilk, S. M. Styan, K. J. Craft, K. L. Jones, J. L., K. A. Feldheim, K. S. Lewers and T. -L. Ashman. 2003. High variability and disomic segregation of microsatellites in the octoploid Fragaria virginiana (Rosaceae). Theoretical and Applied Genetics 107:1201-1207.

37) Stockwell, C. A., and M. V. Ashley. 2004. Rapid adaptation and conservation. Conservation Biology 18:272-273.

38) Norton, J. E. and M. V. Ashley. 2004. Genetic variability and population structure among wild Baird’s tapirs. Animal Conservation 7:211-220.

39) Feldheim, K. S. H. Gruber and M. V. Ashley. 2004. Reconstruction of parental microsatellite genotypes reveals female polyandry and philopatry in the lemon shark, Negaprion brevirostris. Evolution, 58: 2332-2342.

40) Norton, J. E. and M. V. Ashley. 2004. Genetic variability and population differentiation in captive Baird’s tapirs, Tapirus bairdii. Zoo Biology 23:521-531.

41) Jones, K. L., J. Barzen and M.V. Ashley. 2005. Geographic partitioning of microsatellite variation in the sarus crane. Animal Conservation, 8:1-8 (cover photo).

42) Strausberger, B. M. and M. V. Ashley. 2005. Host use strategies of individual female brown-headed cowbirds (Molothrus ater) in a diverse avian community. Journal of Avian Biology 36:313-321.

43) Jones K.L., G. L. Krapu, D. A. Brandt and M. V. Ashley. 2005. Population genetic structure in migratory sandhill cranes and the role of Pleistocene glaciations. Molecular Ecology 14:2645-2657 (cover photo).

44) Berger-Wolf, T. Y., B. DasGupta, W. A. Chaovalitwongse, and M. V. Ashley. 2005. Combinatorial reconstruction of sibling relationships. Sixth International Symposium on Computational Biology and Genome Informatics, July 21-26, Salt Lake City, Utah, pp. 1252-125.

45) Jones, K. L., L. Rodwell, K. McCann, G. Verdoorn, and M. V. Ashley. 2006. Genetic conservation of South African wattled cranes. Biological Conservation 127:89-106.

46) Craft, K. J. and M. V. Ashley. 2006. Population differentiation among three species of white oak in northeastern Illinois. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 36:206-215.

47) Chaovalitwongse, W. A., T. Y. Berger-Wolf, B. DasGupta, and M. V. Ashley. 2007. Set covering approach for reconstruction of sibling relationships. Optimization Methods and Software, 22:11-24.

48) Craft, K. J., J. Owens, and M. V. Ashley. 2007. Application of plant DNA markers in forensic botany: Genetic comparison of Quercus evidence leaves to trees at crime scene using microsatellites. Forensic Science International 165:64-70.

49) Craft, K. J. and M. V. Ashley. 2007. Landscape genetic structure of bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa) savannas in Illinois. Forest Ecology and Management 239:13-20.

50) Berger-Wolf, T. Y., S. Sheikh, B. DasGupta, M. V. Ashley, I. C. Caballero and W. Chaovalitwongse. 2007. Reconstructing sibling relationships in wild populations, Journal of Bioinformatics 23:149-156.

51) Kramer, A. T., J. Ison, M. V. Ashley and H. F. Howe. 2008. The paradox of forest fragmentation genetics. Conservation Biology 22:878-885.