- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Kimsey, a recognized authority on insect biodiversity, systematics and biogeography of parasitic wasps, urban entomology, civil forensic entomology, and arthropod-related industrial hygiene, is a 34-year member of the UC Davis entomology faculty and a UC Davis alumna. She has directed the Bohart Museum since 1990.
Kimsey will be honored at the CA&ES Award of Distinction dinner on Thursday, Nov. 2 in the UC Davis Activities and Recreation Center (ARC) Ballroom. The event begins at 5:30 p.m. with a reception, followed by the dinner and awards ceremony. Registration ends Friday, Oct. 27; register online here.
"A renowned hymenopterist and taxonomist, Dr. Kimsey has brought worldwide distinction to our department, college, and the university for her research, teaching, public service, leadership, development funding, mentoring, and outreach," wrote Steve Nadler, then the chair of the Department of Entomology and Nematology, in his June nomination letter. "She works tirelessly to make insects and entomological knowledge more accessible to scientists and the public, and her influence and impact are felt internationally."
When former department chair Richard Bohart (for whom the museum is named), founded the museum in 1946, it was a “hole in the wall” in Briggs Hall that included only 400 insect specimens. Under Kimsey's tenure, it has grown to a global collection of eight million insect specimens in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane, and is the seventh largest insect collection in North America.
"The importance of what Dr. Kimsey does and the importance of insect specimens in museums cannot be overstated," Nadler wrote. "They are a valuable resource for the agricultural community, public health, forensic entomology, medicine and criminology, environmental biology, and the pest control industry, as well as the public."
The Bohart draws an average of 15,000 visitors a year, adds an average of 30,000 new specimens annually, and loans an average 7000 specimens yearly to scientists worldwide. It supports campus classes with specimens, live insects and exhibits in keeping with its mission: “Understanding, documenting and communicating terrestrial arthropod diversity.”
It is also the home of a year-around insect-themed gift shop (proceeds benefit the Bohart's educational activities) and a live “petting zoo” that includes Madagascar hissing cockroaches, stick insects and tarantulas. Children delight in holding the “hissers” and the walking sticks."
Unlike other directors of insect museums, which are working environments for scientists, Kimsey encourages visits by the public. Says UC Davis doctoral alumna Fran Keller, now a professor at Folsom Lake College: “Lynn….believes that allowing the public in to see the collection, to see scientists working, to talk to entomologists about insects is the most important thing we should be doing as entomologists. Lynn stressed that we should be willing to talk to anyone and provide information to anyone who asks a question about insects or who walks in the museum doors. She has focused on making the collection available for the public to see and to learn about what happens in an entomology museum.”
The Bohart takes its outreach programs to nearly 40 institutions annually. This includes schools, state and county fairs and libraries.
"Dr. Kimsey is a legend not only on the UC Davis campus but is called upon as an insect expert at the state, national and global levels," Nadler wrote. "She consults with international, national and state agencies; she identifies some 2000 insects every year for scientific collaborators, public agencies and the general public; she has answered an estimated 30,000 questions from the public and news media. They include bed bugs, yellowjackets, spiders, moths, butterflies, crane flies and Asian giant hornets (what the news media dubbed 'murder hornets'). She encourages a greater appreciation of insects through the Bohart Museum's many open houses, workshops and lectures. She also directs the support group, the Bohart Museum Society, and writes quarterly newsletters (nearly 100 to date) and fact sheets (80 to date) on insects and other arthropods). She compiled crucial information on human skin parasites and delusional parasitosis, important topics available on her website. The Bohart also sponsors summer BioBoot camps for middle-school and high school students."
Kimsey served as president of the International Society of Hymenopterists from 2002-2004, and as a member of the board of directors of the Natural Science Collections Alliance in 2000 and 2001. The Pacific Branch, Entomological Society of Ameica (PBESA) singled her out for its highest honor, the C. W. Woodworth Award, in 2020. She received the PBESA Systematics, Evolution, and Biodiversity Award in 2014 and was a member of 'The Bee Team' that won the PBESA Outstanding Team Award in 2013. The UC Davis Academic Senate honored her with its Distinguished Scholarly Public Service Award in 2016 in recognition of her outstanding work.
The nominating team described Kimsey as a favorite among the news media, with her ability to translate complex subjects into lay language, and her love of people. Over her 34 years at UC Davis, Dr. Kimsey has granted thousands of interviews to news outlets, including British Broadcasting System, New York Times, National Geographic, Associated Press, and Los Angeles Times.
Kimsey holds two degrees in entomology from UC Davis: a bachelor's degree (1976) and a doctorate (1979). She served served as the vice chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology in 2005-2006 and again in 2009-2010.
2023 CA&Es Award of Distinction Recipients:
Alumnus of the Year
James Finch '89
Early Career Alumni
Jeffrey Sparks '14
Distinguished Friend of the College
Tony Turkovich
Exceptional Faculty Award
Lynn Kimsey
Exceptional Staff Award
Lisa Nash Holmes
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Arachnologist Rodrigo Monjaraz-Ruedas of San Diego State University's Department of Biology, will speak on "Ring Species, Ring Speciation or a Ring of Species? An Example with California Mygalomorph Spiders" at 4:10 p.m., Monday, Oct. 30 in Room 122 of Briggs Hall. It also will be on Zoom.
The Zoom link:
https://ucdavis.zoom.us/j/95882849672
"Ring species can be defined as a chain of interbreeding populations which expands along two pathways around a geographic barrier, where terminal forms can coexist without interbreeding," Monjaraz-Ruedas writes in his abstract. "A broken ring species model preserves the geographic setting and fundamental features of an idealized model but accommodates varying degrees of gene flow restriction through evolutionary time. Members of the genus Calisoga are distributed around the Central Valley of California, and previous genetic studies have shown that this is a lineage-rich complex of mygalomorph spiders, with evidence to suggest that Calisoga might be a case of ring speciation. Here we examine broken ring species dynamics in Calisoga spiders, using UCEs and mitogenomes we test key predictions of timing, ancestry, connectivity and terminal overlap. I will discuss why ring species should not be viewed as homogeneous entities, but rather as heterogeneous units with different predicted evolutionary dynamics in different geographic parts of the ring."
Monjaraz-Ruedas joined the Marshal Hedin lab at San Diego State University as a postdoctoral research fellow in 2020. He studies "Phylogenomic, spatial phylogenetics and conservation prioritization in trapdoor spiders (and kin) of the California Floristic Province."
The Hedin lab focuses on arachnids, with particular emphasis on mygalomorph spiders and Opiliones (harvesters)," according to its website. "Species discovery, delimitation and description is important to us--although the biological world is amazingly diverse, most biodiversity remains undiscovered and undescribed. We spend a considerable amount of time conducting fieldwork--the western US and Appalachian mountains are hotspots for our research efforts. Cave arachnids interest us! In the lab we strive to be integrative, but our strength lies in molecular phylogeography and phylogenomics."
Monjaraz-Ruedas' most recent publications include:
- Cruz-López, J. A., Monjaraz-Ruedas, R. Colmenares, P. A. & Francke, O. F. 2021. Historical
biogeography of a neglected family of armoured harvestmen (Opiliones: Laniatores: Icaleptidae) with the first record and a new genus for tropical Mesoamerica. Invertebrate Systematics. 35: 493– 513. - Francke, O. F., Monjaraz-Ruedas, R., Cruz-López, J. A. 2021. Biodiversity of Huautla Cave System, Oaxaca, Mexico. Diversity. 13: 429.
- Monjaraz-Ruedas, R.,. Francke, O. F. & Prendini, L. 2022. World Travelers: parthenogenesis and ecological tolerance enable multiple colonization events by the widespread short-tailed whipscorpion, Stenochrus portoricensis (Schizomida: Hubbardiidae). Insect Systematics and Diversity. 6(1): 7, 1–17.
- Monjaraz-Ruedas, R., Mendez, R.W., Hedin, M. (2023). Species delimitation, biogeography, and natural history of dwarf funnel web spiders (Mygalomorphae, Hexurellidae, Hexurella) from the United States / Mexico borderlands. Zookeys. 1167: 109–157.
- Monjaraz-Ruedas, R., Starret, J., Dean Leavitt, D., Hedin, M. (In Review). Ring species dynamics in California mygalomorph spiders (Nemesiidae, Calisoga). The American Naturalist.
Monjaraz-Ruedas holds three degrees from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM): a bachelor's degree in taxonomy; a master's degree in morphological systematics; and a doctorate in molecular phylogenetics. His doctoral dissertation: “Systematics of the genus Stenochrus Chamberlin, 1922 (Schizomida: Hubbardiidae).”
He has guest-lectured on arachnids at San Diego State University, and was a member of the UNAM science faculty, serving as a lecturer in systematic biology from 2019 to 2020. He also worked as an assistant collection manager of the arachnids collection, UNAM Biology Institute, from 2010-2013.
Seminar coordinator is Brian Johnson, associate professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. For Zoom technical issues, he may be reached at brnjohnson@ucdavis.edu. The list of seminars is posted here.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
That's how colleagues and students describe the life and legacy of Professor Emerita Sharon Lawler, an aquatic entomologist who retired in January 2023 after a 28-year career with the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.
If you attended the annual UC Davis Picnic Day celebrations, you knew her as “the aquatic insect expert.” In her “Little Swimmers” display, she showcased aquatic biodiversity and encouraged questions on everything from tadpoles to giant water bugs mosquito larvae.
Now in her new role as professor emerita, Lawler continues to focus on preserving aquatic biodiversity. "I'm mentoring and doing research," she says.
“Sharon always put the needs of students first,” said longtime colleague, UC Distinguished Professor Richard “Rick” Karban, a community ecologist in the Department of Entomology and Nematology. “She was focused on what they needed from her rather than the other way around. In the department, she did more than her fair share of student-centric tasks. She was committed to accommodating and including the diverse circumstances of students before that was on many people's radars. Co-teaching community ecology with Sharon for 28 years, I learned a lot about science and even more about how to treat other people with compassion.”
Richard Kim, a doctoral candidate whom she co-advises (with Professor Marissa Baskett, Department of Environmental Science and Policy), describes Lawler as “an amazing researcher and an outstanding role-model as a supervisor; joining her lab was one of the best decisions I've made in life.”
Kim, who holds a bachelor's degree in ecology and evolution from UC Santa Barbara (2010) and a master's degree in biology from San Francisco State University (2017), commented: “Sharon has been advising my projects related to predator-prey relationships between the imperiled giant garter snakes and non-native bullfrogs: (1) experimental feeding trials and (2) mark-recapture surveying in the field. We are currently working to prepare manuscripts that will inform conservation strategies for the snakes by alternative controlling strategies for bullfrogs. Throughout my graduate school experience, Sharon provided not only academic guidance but also sincere advice and support during my personal and health difficulties. She truly is one of the role models I have in life, as a scientist and as a P.I. (principal investigator).
Sharon Lawler grew up in Maplewood, N.J., “where Ultimate Frisbee was invented. “For other Maplewood trivia,” she offered, “see https://sueadler.com/ten-amazing-facts-about-maplewood-new-jersey/.”
And yes, she played Frisbee.
After graduating in 1982 from Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Penn., with a bachelor's degree in biology, Sharon headed to Rutgers University, New Brunswick, N.J., for her master of science degree in ecology (1988) and her doctorate in ecology and evolution (1992).
She completed a two-year term as a postdoctoral researcher at the Imperial College, Silwood Park, Ascot, UK, and a year as a postdoc researcher in biological sciences at the University of Kentucky, Lexington, before joining the UC Davis Department of Entomology in 1995.
Her first UC Davis publication, co-authored with colleagues, dealt with tree frogs: “Thermal Physiology, Phenology, and Distribution of Tree Frogs," published in The American Naturalist in 1988. Her first publication as lead author: “Behavioural Responses to Predators and Predation Risk in Four Species of Larval Anurans." (1989, Animal Behaviour)
An avid researcher, Lawler is the co-principal investigator (with John Eadie and Daniel Karp of Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology) of a substantial grant, the Integrated Wetland Management Project, to develop reduced-pesticide mosquito control via beneficial predators. The grant, awarded in 2022, has no expiration date.
Over the last five years, her other grants, ranging from $88,000 to $659,000, dealt with
- “Impacts of Storm-Driven Contaminants on Larval Delta Smelt and the Community Scale Adaptive Capacity of Prey Items to Handle Those Stressors.” (Richard Connon, principal investigator)
- “Post Fire Ecology and Habitat Suitability Evaluation for the Proposed Federally Listed Sierra Nevada Yellow-Legged Frog on the Lassen and Plumas National Forests.” USDA: Forest Service (with Sarah Yarnell and Cathy Brown)
- “High-Throughput Biomonitoring of Aquatic Invertebrates.” (Richard Connon, co-principal investigator), California Department of Pesticide Regulation
- “Area-wide Management of Aquatic Weeds in the Sacramento/ San Joaquin River Delta for Sustainable Control in Farming Areas, Critical Wildlife Habitats, Recreational Zones and Water Conveyance Systems Important for California Agriculture and Human Health.” (Patrick Moran, principal investigator)
Lawler's academic activities included chairing the Entomology and Nematology Curriculum Committee from 2017 to 2022; serving as the lead faculty advisor for the department from 2003 to 2022; and chairing a number of academic search committees. She served on the editorial board for the international peer-reviewed Journal of Ecology and Journal of
Ecological Monographs from 2002-2021 and held membership in the Faculty of 1000, Freshwater and Marine Ecology, from 2008 to 2021. Lawler also completed two terms as chair of the Graduate Group in Ecology, and as chair of the Designated Emphasis in the Biology of Vector-Borne Diseases.
Trivia: Sharon Lawler won the "Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Contest" at the department's 2019 winter holiday party with her recipe, "Dirty Drunk Snowball," which included only three ingredients: 1 box Trader Joe's Mini Dark Chocolate Mint Stars, 1/4 cup dark rum, and 1/4 confectioner's sugar. (See Bug Squad blog)
What are your plans for retirement after 28 years at UC Davis? Travel plans? Research? Teaching? Public service?
“I'm not off the hook for UC Davis yet! I have a couple of great, co-advised graduate students who are completing their dissertations (Rich Kim and Kyle Phillips). I'm also on a research project aimed at improving wetland management to restrict mosquito production and enhance wildlife resources. I'm fortunate to collaborate on this with Professors John Eadie and Danny Karp of the Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology; graduate student John Veon leads our field research. The project is supported by long-time UC Davis supporters Paul and Sandi Bonderson of the lovely Bird Haven Ranch, where the research takes place."
"However, I'm enjoying a lighter schedule that includes morning walks and gardening. I plan to visit with my family more often. I'll also spend more time nagging my representatives and other voters to stay woke. It's better than sleepwalking while The Man stacks the deck against We The People.”
“I have always enjoyed observing insects, but I was a late-comer to formal entomology. My degrees are in biology (B.A.) and ecology and evolution (Ph.D). My Ph.D. advisor, Peter Morin, emphasized learning about aquatic insects as an important part of aquatic food webs. We did a project on how aquatic insects affect amphibian larvae. My familiarity with aquatic insects came in very handy when I was hired as a mosquito biologist at UC Davis, but there was still a steep learning curve. Bob Washino (now professor emeritus and former department chair) and Debbie Dritz (now a vector ecologist with the Sacramento-Yolo Mosquito and Vector Control) were very helpful in advising me about California's mosquito research issues, and Al Grigarick (now professor emeritus) gave me some excellent resources for teaching aquatic entomology. Thanks to them, and to a lot of late nights, I was doing mosquito research and teaching an entomology class within a few months of arriving at Davis. My fascination with insects has increased through time, thanks to our seminar series and the amazing research performed by our students and faculty.”
What will you miss the most?
“I'll miss the great people of our Department and the Phoenix Cluster the most. I felt very lucky to be among so many pleasant, professional, and fun folks. I will also miss daily interactions with students and colleagues in a variety of graduate groups and departments. UC Davis is full of kind, intelligent do-gooders in all sorts of jobs!”
What will you miss the least?
“I won't miss evaluating students, peers, and manuscripts. I prefer to judge silently--or sometimes confidentially, with friends over a beer. I still review the occasional manuscript because I am still publishing, but I'm more selective now.”
What do you consider your greatest accomplishments in the field of entomology? In teaching? Research? Public service?
“Oh, dear, this question is like a 'merit review'... one of the things I surely won't miss!
"In general, my research has been aimed at preserving aquatic biodiversity. In entomology, my lab's research has helped Mosquito and Vector Abatement Districts choose control methods that protect public health in ecologically sound ways. I also collaborated with the Larry Godfrey and Richard Connon labs on projects that revealed non-target effects of various agricultural chemicals on aquatic insects and other taxa." (Note: The late Larry Godfrey, 1956-2017 was a UC Cooperative Extension entomology specialist and Richard Connon, recently retired, served on the School of Veterinary Medicine faculty and is with the UC Davis Coastal and Marine Sciences Institute.)
"Not all of my projects were in entomology. In other work we evaluated whether various invasive species harm native frogs or snakes; invasives included a fungus, bullfrogs, and various fishes. These projects have helped wildlife managers conserve native species. I've also done research on how food web structure affects population dynamics, using protists as a model system.”
Any other comments?
“As an instructor, I enjoyed teaching aquatic entomology all 28 years, especially getting students out to our Natural Reserves to see insects in their habitats. I also loved teaching Community Ecology to graduate students from several graduate groups; we have top-notch students and discussion sessions were rewarding.”
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
His seminar, "Disarming the Defenses of Resistant Pests: Rational Design of Inhibitors for ABC Transporter Proteins in the Varroa Mite," is set for 4:10 p.m. in Room 122 of Briggs Hall.
The seminar also will be on Zoom. The link:
https://ucdavis.zoom.us/j/95882 849672
"Varroa mites pose a significant global menace to honey bee colonies, causing colony losses, ecological imbalances, and food scarcity," says Nicklish, an assistant professor, UC Davis Department of Environmental Toxicology, in his abstract. "Escalating pesticide resistance in thee mites necessitates innovative strategies to bolster acaricide effectiveness. "Small molecule synergists that heighten mite susceptibility to acaricides offer a promising solution by amplifying chemical treatment efficacy, thus reducing overall pesticide demand."
"Present synergist development strategies primarily target metabolic enzyme inhibition to restore insect sensitivity to pesticides," he related. "Our research focuses on ABC efflux transporters, pivotal in cellular xenobiotic handling, as a new approach. We aim to establish a toxicokinetic pipeline to uncover novel synergists and validate their ability to increase Varroa mite vulnerability to existing miticides. By capitalizing on synergistic interactions between sensitizing agents and acaricides, we aim to equip beekeepers and regulators with a sustainable toolbox to combat Varroa resistance, ultimately fostering long-term honey bee well-being."
A first-generation college graduate, Nicklisch received his master's degree in biological sciences in 2005 from the University of Cologne, Germany, and his doctorate in protein biochemistry at the University of Cologne in 2008. He postdotoral fellowships at the University o Osnabruek, Germany, and at UC Santa Barbara.
Nicklisch said he "was drawn to teach at UC Davis because of its reputation for research in environmental and human toxicology. I feel like this area of science has barely had its surface scratched and I am excited to pioneer further developments in the field. My research interests focus on understanding why industrial chemicals and other toxicants enter and accumulate in humans and other animals and plants."
"Our main research focuses on understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying chemical uptake and distribution in humans and other organisms," he writes on his website. "The Nicklisch Lab is interested in determining levels of drugs and environmental chemicals in different types of foods and to biochemically characterize their interactions with protective drug transporters, including P-glycoprotein, MRP1 and BCRP. Current efforts in the lab focus on investigating possible drug-pollutant and pollutant-pollutant interactions with P-glycoprotein other drug transporters on a molecular and organismal level."
"The Nicklisch Lab," he relates, "has demonstrated expertise in a broad range of traditional lab techniques to determine structure and conformation of proteins, including NMR and EPR spectroscopy and Circular Dichroism spectrometry. In addition, we have a proven track record of developing and optimizing new biochemical assays and analytical tools to determine enzyme and transporter function and kinetics. Our lab has pioneered the field of toxicokinetic interactions of environmental chemicals with drug transporters as novel targets for understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying chemical bioaccumulation."
Seminar coordinator is Brian Johnson, associate professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. For Zoom technical issues, he may be reached at brnjohnson@ucdavis.edu. The list of seminars is posted here.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
“These weather-related catastrophes can cause local extinctions and disrupt ecological interactions,” wrote Carroll and three Texas collaborators in a newly published article in the journal, Nature Ecology and Evolution, “Spatial Sorting Promotes Rapid (mal) Adaptation in the Red-Shouldered Soapberry Bug after Hurricane-Driven Local Extinctions.”
“Such disruptions,” they related, “are expected to become more impactful and frequent in the near future and, consequently, so will the associated regularity of localized extinction and post-disturbance recovery.”
The research team, including Carroll and Mattheau Comerford, Scott Egan and Tatum La of the Department of BioSciences, Rice University, Houston, studied the changes the soapberry bugs went through after “catastrophic flooding in an extreme hurricane” in southeastern Texas.
They found that “long-winged dispersal forms of the soapberry bug, Jadera haematoloma, accumulated in recolonized habitats and due to genetic correlation, mouthparts also became longer and this shift persisted across generations.”
“Those longer mouthparts were probably adaptive on one host plant species but maladaptive on two others based on matching the optimum depth of seeds within their host fruits due to genetic correlation,” they wrote.
Hurricane Harvey, a Category 4 hurricane that made landfall in Texas and Louisiana in August 2017, is known as one of the worst tropical cyclones to hit the United States, resulting in more than 100 deaths and displacing more than 30,000 people. “In a four-day period, many areas received more than 40 inches (1,000 mm) of rain as the system slowly meandered over eastern Texas and adjacent waters, causing unprecedented flooding,” according to Wikipedia.
Carroll, who holds a doctorate in biology from the University of Utah, explores contemporary evolution “to better understand adaptive processes and how those processes can be harnessed to develop solutions to evolutionary challenges in food production, medical care and environmental conservation.” He is a research associate in the Department of Entomology and Nematology and the president of the Carroll-Loye Biological Research.“
"Recent work on the biology of invasive species has highlighted ‘spatial sorting' as an underappreciated evolutionary mechanism that relies on dispersal and, thus, promotes rapid evolution across space,” the team wrote.
The authors defined spatial sorting as “a process of dispersing organisms that generates non-random shifts in local phenotype frequencies, such that good dispersers are the first to arrive at the leading edge of invasions or in recolonized habitats. This leads to assortative mating, as only other strong dispersers are present during the time of colonization. For instance, in the current study, mate options at recolonized flooded sites were initially limited to macropterous individuals as wing form during colonization was 100% biased by the ability to fly. Spatial sorting could then be self-reinforcing, as offspring of colonizing individuals are expected to show similar or stronger dispersal phenotypes, along with a higher frequency of genetically correlated traits not associated with dispersal.”
“Soapberry bugs are well-known examples of rapid adaptive evolution in response to Anthropocene environments, where populations on native host species have shifted and adapted to feed on introduced, non-native plants in the same family over the past 60 years,” the authors wrote.
Soapberry Beaks. Soapberry bugs pierce seed pods with needle-like mouthparts, commonly referred to as “beaks.” “The range of mouthpart lengths in nature strongly reflects fruit size of the host plant on which each population feeds and these host-associated differences in beak length evolved through divergent natural selection between hosts,” the authors wrote. “When beak length matches the distance between outer fruit wall and the interior seeds, it increases seed access and decreases handling time, leading to higher fecundity in females. Beak length is a polygenic trait influenced by epistatic and dominance interactions and is highly heritable.”
The study involved three soapberry bug host plant species in the southeastern Texas study area: (1) native balloon vine (Cardiospermum halicacabum), with large inflated seed pods hosting soapberry bugs with the longest beak lengths; (2) native western soapberry tree (Sapindus saponaria var. drummondii, with intermediate-sized seed pods hosting soapberry bugs with intermediate-sized beak lengths; and (3) non-native goldenrain tree (Koelreuteria elegans) with comparatively flat capsules that permit ready access to the seeds.
The authors wrote that Hurricane Harvey “was locally catastrophic for the flooded soapberry bug study populations, with populations at 11 of the 15 monitored sites going locally extinct and remaining so for at least 4.5 months and seven additional populations never returning over the 3 years post-hurricane.” All of the drowned bugs were balloon vine associates; the pods are water dispersed; and many of the sites were deeply inundated. Yet those vines are the most regular seed providers in safe times, and favor the quick developing flightless bugs in consequence. Those individuals had little chance of escape.
Adjoining Viewpoint. In an adjoining viewpoint, titled “Spatial Sorting Creates Winners and Losers,” evolutionary ecologists Swanne Gordon and Caleb Axelrod of Cornell University's Department of Ecology and Evolution, said the research provides “evidence of the role of spatial sorting in recolonization by soapberry bugs after a catastrophic event.”
“We are currently experiencing a concerning increase in catastrophic environmental disturbances on Earth, which presents a pressing challenge for both ecological systems and human societies,” Gordon-Axelrod wrote. “These disturbances--encompassing events such as hurricanes, wildfires and droughts--can have marked short-term and long-term impacts on ecosystems.”
Comerford, Carroll and Egan conceived the focus of the paper; Comerford and La performed the data collection; and Comerford and Egan shared writing responsibilities with feedback from Carroll and La.
The project drew financial support from grants from the American Museum of Natural History, American Philosophical Society, Society for the Study of Evolution for dissertation support to Comerford, and the National Science Foundation to Egan and Carroll.
All data collected for this project are freely available in the digital repository Dryad: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.tht76hf4t.