Research interests

Dissertation Research:

Hyla ebraccata, La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica. Photo: Jenny Sun

For my dissertation, I combine population genetics with macroecological theory, specifically the ecological and environmental determinants of species abundances and distributions. In amphibians, as in other taxa, species distribution patterns vary with both latitude and elevation: endemic species are restricted to mountaintops or lowland refugia while congeners that are widely distributed may have broad elevational distributions. Although current distributions necessarily reflect historical patterns of range expansion and contraction, I am using detailed population genetic studies to gauge whether species are limited in their dispersal or recolonization abilities, or restricted by habitat availability or quality.

Study Species: I am testing the hypothesis that dispersal capacity is an ecological trait which determines range by comparing population structure of six Neotropical hylid frogs: Agalychnis callidryas, Agalychnis saltator, Hyla ebraccata, Hyla pseudopuma, Smilisca baudinii, and Smilisca puma.click here for photos of study species

Study Sites: Most of my field work is conducted within the Costa Rican Atlantic lowland forest: La Reserva Tirimbina, La Selva Biological Station, Universidad de EARTH, Cahuita National Park, and various roadside ditches and pastures.

Previous Research:

Centrolenella prosoblepon, El Cope, Panama

I conducted my Master's thesis research with Dr. Karen Lips at Southern Illinois Universisty, Carbondale. I investigated fine-scale gene flow of the Neotropical glass frog, Centrolene prosoblepon at Parque Nacional El Cope, Cocle, Panama. This research combined field-based estimates of movement (via mark-recapture) with mtDNA sequencing to detect the spatial scale that delimits a single population and to test the occurrence of overland movement of a stream-breeding amphibian. The molecular work was conducted in Dr. Ed Heist's lab at SIUC.

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