Plant-Insect Coevolution, Local Adaptation, and Chemical Defense
Investigates how wildflower populations evolve chemical defenses and herbivore resistance across elevation gradients, and why specialized plant-insect interactions sometimes produce maladaptation rather than tight coevolution.
Knowledge Graph (751 nodes, 3309 connections)
Research Primer
Background
Mountain ecosystems like those surrounding the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (RMBL) in Gothic, Colorado, are natural laboratories for studying how plants and the insects that eat them shape one another's evolution. Along the steep elevational gradients of the Gunnison Basin, temperature, snowpack, light, and growing season length change dramatically over short distances. These gradients produce local adaptation, the evolutionary process by which populations become better suited to their home environments through natural selection, resulting in higher fitness at home than away. Researchers test for local adaptation using reciprocal transplant experiments, in which plants or animals from different source populations are grown across multiple sites to see which perform best where. A complementary concept is phenotypic plasticity, the ability of a single genotype to produce different traits (such as leaf thickness or flowering date) under different conditions. Together, adaptation, plasticity, and gene flow (the movement of genes between populations via migration and reproduction) determine whether populations can track a changing climate.
Plants do not sit still while insects eat them. Many species in the mustard family (Brassicaceae), including the native bittercress Cardamine cordifolia and the wildflower Boechera stricta, produce glucosinolates, chemical compounds that deter or poison herbivores. Variation in these defensive chemicals is often maintained by balancing selection, where no single chemical profile is best everywhere, so multiple versions (a defence polymorphism) persist within populations. Insect herbivores, in turn, evolve counter-adaptations: specialists detect, tolerate, or even use these chemicals as cues when choosing which plants to lay eggs on (oviposition host plant choice). When a non-native plant suddenly appears that mimics the chemistry of a native host but kills the larvae, the insect may fall into an evolutionary trap.
Understanding these dynamics matters because climate change is reshuffling mountain environments faster than many populations can respond. The concept of evolutionary rescue asks whether adaptive change can occur quickly enough to prevent decline. Answering that question requires tools from quantitative genetics (the study of multi-gene traits and their heritability), genomics (including chromosomal inversions that lock together blocks of adaptive alleles), and long-term field experiments. The findings below draw on decades of such work at RMBL.
Foundational work
Early work at RMBL and beyond established two pillars of this research area. The first is the chemical ecology of plant-insect interactions. Rodman and Chew showed that oviposition and feeding by crucifer-specialist butterflies tracked the glucosinolate profiles of native and naturalized mustards (Rodman & Chew, 1980), and Chew documented how pierid butterflies distribute eggs across potential host plants (Chew, 1977). Louda and Rodman demonstrated that insect herbivory, not just shade tolerance, shapes where bittercress grows along light gradients in subalpine meadows (Louda & Rodman, 1996).
The second pillar is the resource-allocation and life-history framework developed largely through work on the Mormon fritillary butterfly (Speyeria mormonia) at Gothic. Boggs and Ross showed that adult dietary restriction reduces fecundity while conserving lifespan, because females resorb oocytes under stress (Boggs & Ross, 1993), and later work extended this to larval food limitation carrying effects across life stages (Boggs & Freeman, 2005). These studies, synthesized in broader allocation theory (Boggs, 1992) and a six-principle framework for insect life histories (Boggs, 2009), established how nutrient budgets link foraging, reproduction, and senescence. Classic landscape work by Ricketts showed that the matrix between habitat patches matters: conifer forest was 3-12 times more resistant to butterfly movement than willow thicket, fundamentally changing how we measure patch isolation (Ricketts, 2001). Remington's influential synthesis of hybrid zones provided the biogeographic backdrop for understanding where divergent lineages meet and exchange genes (Remington, 1968).
Key findings
Across these research threads, a central finding is that populations along RMBL's elevational gradient are strongly locally adapted, yet that adaptation is layered and context-dependent. In Boechera stricta, northern and high-elevation genotypes flower up to 24 days earlier than southern and low-elevation genotypes in common gardens (Anderson et al., 2015), low-elevation genotypes carry denser leaf trichomes (Wang et al., 2014), and leaf mass per area declines with elevation (Rodriguez, 2013). Clines in specific leaf area and related traits are consistent between common gardens and natural populations (Anderson et al., 2017). Importantly, local adaptation can arise through conditional neutrality—alleles that help at home but cost little elsewhere—as often as through outright trade-offs (Wadgymar et al., 2017).
A second theme is that chemical defenses and herbivores shape each other's evolution in ways that depend on the abiotic environment. In Boechera stricta, alternative glucosinolate genotypes (BCMA1/3) show contrasting fitness across environments, maintaining a defence polymorphism through balancing selection (Carley et al., 2021). Recent experimental and demographic work shows that drought and herbivory interact to determine whether this polymorphism persists: 62.7% of modeled conditions can support both genotypes, but increasing aridity may drive populations toward a single chemotype (Carley et al., 2025). Herbivore resistance and leaf traits in B. stricta also show concordant clinal variation and plasticity, with water availability and herbivore pressure exerting divergent selection on foliar traits (Jameel et al., 2025). In the related bittercress system, the leaf-mining fly Scaptomyza nigrita prefers shade plants for feeding and oviposition (Affeldt, 2010), responds to jasmonic-acid-induced defenses (Humphrey, 2016), and even experiences cross-resistance, where prior Pseudomonas infection reduces subsequent fly damage (Ortiz, 2011).
A third theme concerns the native butterfly Pieris macdunnoughii and the invasive mustard Thlaspi arvense, which emits the chemical cues butterflies use for host finding but kills their larvae. Larvae feed far less on T. arvense than on native Cardamine (Fisher, 2016), and the presence of the invader depresses local butterfly population growth rates sharply when native host patches become distant (Nakajima & Boggs, 2015). Even so, whole-genome sequencing reveals signatures of local adaptation to T. arvense despite high gene flow, with selection apparently acting on larval feeding ability rather than female choice (Ravikanthachari et al., 2024), and novel hosts can unmask hidden heritable variation in preference (Steward et al., 2022). Meanwhile, the 1977 assisted introduction of Euphydryas gillettii to Gunnison County has produced detectable long-term effects on its host plant population, biasing it toward smaller plants decades later (Ravikanthachari et al., 2024).
Current frontier
Early work in the 1970s through 1990s established the chemical and life-history foundations; studies from 2010-2019 built elevational common-garden infrastructure and linked traits to genotypes; research since 2020 has turned to the harder question of whether adaptation can keep up with climate change. A landmark recent result is that after nine years and over 100,000 transplants of B. stricta across five gardens, local adaptation and gene flow together appear insufficient to rescue populations: the lowest-elevation sites are already demographically unsustainable, and unassisted gene flow is far too spatially restricted—requiring upslope migration of roughly 1,387 meters per standard deviation—to match projected climate shifts (Anderson et al., 2025); (Aitken, 2025). Growth-chamber studies show that elevated CO2 and temperature interact to shift the fitness landscape and can disrupt elevational clines (Denney et al., 2024); (Denney & Anderson, 2025).
New methods are accelerating the field. Chromosome-level genomes for P. macdunnoughii (Steward et al., 2021) and mapping of an adaptive silvering polymorphism to the optix gene in Speyeria (Livraghi et al., 2025) are opening the genetics of butterfly traits. RFID tracking of wild bumble bee foundress queens in Gothic is revealing hidden early-season ecology, including high nest-failure rates and short, frequent foraging trips (Gustilo et al., 2025). Studies of butterfly sensory ecology—microbial dispersal among flowers (Olson et al., 2023), wing optics (Chappell et al., 2023), and the cues used in mud-puddling (von Wallmenich, 2025)—are broadening the field beyond plant-herbivore pairs to whole interaction networks.
Open questions
Major questions remain for the coming decade. How much of the adaptive capacity locked in chromosomal inversions, defence polymorphisms, and cryptic heritable variation can actually be deployed fast enough under warming and drying? Is assisted gene flow or assisted migration ethically and ecologically justified when unassisted dispersal falls short, and what unintended effects might it have on recipient communities, as the E. gillettii introduction suggests? How do interactions among drought, CO2, herbivory, and pathogens jointly reshape selection, given that single-factor experiments can mislead? And how will microhabitat variation, pollinator declines, and shifting phenologies combine to determine which plant-insect partnerships persist in the Gunnison Basin? Answering these will require continued long-term experiments, integration of genomic and demographic models, and close collaboration among researchers, land managers, and the RMBL community.
References
Aitken, S. N. (2025). An uphill grind for wild plant populations. Science. →
Anderson, J. T., et al. (2015). Geographic variation in flowering phenology in Boechera stricta. →
Anderson, J. T., et al. (2017). Integrating viability and fecundity selection to illuminate adaptive clines. →
Anderson, J. T., et al. (2025). Adaptation and gene flow are insufficient to rescue a montane plant under climate change. Science. →
Boggs, C. L. (1992). Resource allocation: exploring connections between foraging and life history strategies. Functional Ecology. →
Boggs, C. L. (2009). Understanding insect life histories and senescence through a resource allocation lens. Functional Ecology. →
Boggs, C. L., Freeman, K. D. (2005). Larval food limitation in butterflies: effects on adult resource allocation and fitness. Oecologia. →
Boggs, C. L., Ross, C. L. (1993). The effect of adult food limitation on life history traits in Speyeria mormonia. Ecology. →
Carley, L. N., et al. (2021). Ecological factors influence balancing selection on leaf chemical profiles of a wildflower. →
Carley, L. N., et al. (2025). Increasing aridity may threaten the maintenance of a plant defence polymorphism. Ecology Letters. →
Chappell, M., et al. (2023). Two sides of the same wing: ventral scales enhance dorsal wing color in Speyeria mormonia. Journal of Experimental Biology. →
Chew, F. S. (1977). Coevolution of pierid butterflies and their cruciferous foodplants. II. Evolution. →
Ortiz (2011). Cross-resistance between Pseudomonas syringae and Scaptomyza nigrita. →
Denney, D. A., Anderson, J. T. (2025). Increased temperature and CO2 induce plasticity and impose novel selection on plant traits. Integrative and Comparative Biology. →
Denney, D. A., et al. (2024). Elevated [CO2] and temperature augment gas exchange and shift the fitness landscape. New Phytologist. →
Nakajima & Boggs (2015). Fine-Grained Distribution of a Non-Native Resource Can Alter Population Dynamics. →
Gustilo, E., et al. (2025). Wild foundress queen bumble bees make numerous, short foraging trips. Ecology and Evolution. →
Humphrey, P. T. (2016). Aversion and attraction to harmful plant secondary compounds. →
Wadgymar et al. (2017). Identifying targets and agents of selection. →
Jameel, M. I., et al. (2025). Herbivory and water availability interact to shape the adaptive landscape in Boechera stricta. Evolution. →
Fisher (2016). Larval feeding behavior on the invasive mustard Thlaspi arvense. →
Livraghi, L., et al. (2025). Genetic basis of an adaptive polymorphism controlling butterfly silver iridescence. Current Biology. →
Louda, S. M., Rodman, J. E. (1996). Insect herbivory as a major factor in the shade distribution of a native crucifer. Journal of Ecology. →
Steward et al. (2022). Novel host unmasks heritable variation in plant preference. →
Olson, N., et al. (2023). The dispersal of microbes among and within flowers by butterflies. Ecological Entomology. →
Affeldt (2010). Oviposition preference of Scaptomyza nigrita on Cardamine cordifolia. →
Ravikanthachari, N., et al. (2024). Impacts of assisted migration. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata. →
Ravikanthachari, N., et al. (2024). Patterns of genetic variation and local adaptation of a native herbivore to a lethal invasive plant. Molecular Ecology. →
Remington, C. L. (1968). Suture-zones of hybrid interaction between recently joined biotas. Evolutionary Biology. →
Ricketts, T. H. (2001). The matrix matters: effective isolation in fragmented landscapes. American Naturalist. →
Rodman, J. E., Chew, F. S. (1980). Phytochemical correlates of herbivory in a community of native and naturalized cruciferae. Biochemical Systematics and Ecology. →
Steward et al. (2021). The genome of the Margined White butterfly (Pieris macdunnoughii). →
Rodriguez (2013). Trait variations of Boechera stricta along an elevation gradient. →
Soto (2014). Trichome density differences in Boechera stricta across an elevational gradient. →
von Wallmenich, T. (2025). Sensory cues and memory in Lepidopteran mud puddling behavior. →
Concept (67) →
phenotypic plasticity
When a genotype produces different phenotypes under differing environmental conditions
herbivory
Consumption of plant material by animals, measured as browse occurrence on host plants
frequency-dependent selection
Selection where individual fitness depends on the local frequency rather than global frequency, creating population structure with groups varying in g...
gene flow
Movement of genes between populations through migration and reproduction
ecological speciation
The formation of new species involves divergence of phenotypes and development of reproductive isolation, where initial divergence results from diverg...
local adaptation
An evolutionary process in which a population evolves to become more suited to its local environment through natural selection, resulting in higher fi...
heritability
The proportion of phenotypic variation in a trait that is due to genetic variation, estimated using parent-offspring regression methods
climate change adaptation
The ability of organisms to adjust to changing climatic conditions through genetic, phenotypic, or behavioral changes
reciprocal transplant experiment
Experimental approach where organisms from different source populations are grown in different environments to test for local adaptation
glucosinolates
Secondary metabolites that mediate interactions with herbivores and pathogens in Brassicaceae
Show 57 more concepts
oviposition host plant choice
The selection of specific plants by female insects for egg-laying that affects larval survival and development
balancing selection
Selection that maintains multiple alleles in a population at frequencies above those expected from mutation alone
evolutionary rescue
A process by which adaptive evolutionary change occurs sufficiently rapidly to counteract a decline in population size under initially unfavorable con...
drought resilience
Ability of forest ecosystems to maintain function during water-limited conditions through adaptive water use strategies
hybrid zone
A geographic region where genetically distinct populations meet and produce offspring of mixed ancestry
quantitative genetics
The study of traits controlled by multiple loci with continuous phenotypic distributions and measurable heritability
cline
A gradual change in a trait across an environmental gradient, where width is expected to be proportional to dispersal distance divided by square root ...
pleiotropic effects
When single genes or alleles influence multiple, seemingly unrelated traits
Resource Availability Hypothesis
Predicts that fast-growing plants in high resource environments invest less in defense because they can easily regrow after herbivory
evolutionary trap
When previously adaptive traits become maladaptive due to rapid environmental change, such that organisms are attracted to resources that reduce their...
light environment
Photosynthetically active radiation levels measured as percentage of full-sun radiation
jasmonic acid-salicylic acid crosstalk
Reciprocal antagonism between plant hormone pathways where jasmonic acid suppresses salicylic acid pathway and vice versa
genome-wide association study
Statistical approach to identify genetic variants associated with traits by scanning the entire genome
anthocyanin biosynthesis
Biochemical pathway producing anthocyanin pigments responsible for purple coloration
sex chromosomes
Chromosomes that determine sex, including different haplotypes in the sex-determining region
population structure
The organization of genetic variation within and among populations, reflecting patterns of gene flow, drift, and selection
shade avoidance syndrome
Suite of plant responses to shade including stem elongation, reduced branching, and accelerated flowering to compete for light
chromosomal inversion
Chromosomal rearrangement where a segment is reversed in orientation, potentially suppressing recombination and maintaining linkage between beneficial...
plant density effects
How plant population density affects individual plant growth, morphology, and susceptibility to herbivory through competition and resource availabilit...
response to selection
conditional neutrality
An individual locus shows strong adaptive fitness effects in one habitat, but little or no cost in other habitats
systemic plant response
Plant ability to produce new volatile organic compounds or change other chemical characteristics when damaged, with these chemicals communicating dama...
viability selection
Selection on body mass accounting for juvenile survival until reproduction but may weaken after recruitment
larval food stress
Nutritional limitation during larval development that affects adult phenotype
linear mixed effects model
Statistical model accounting for both fixed and random effects to analyze hierarchical or repeated measures data
effect sizes
leaf mining behavior
Feeding behavior where insect larvae create tunnels within plant leaves between epidermal layers
gene family expansion
light gradient
Environmental gradient of light availability from open sun through intermediate shade to deep shade habitats
cue similarity
The degree to which novel resources resemble historical resources in their chemical or physical cues
MHC class II
Major histocompatibility complex genes involved in antigen presentation and immune response
Bateman's index
Constancy index that distinguishes between complete constancy, random transitions, and complete inconstancy
metabolic flight capacity
Peak metabolic rate and total energy expenditure during forced flight as measures of dispersal ability
individual-based model
Computational model that simulates individual organisms and their life histories to understand population-level patterns
Microclimate Selection Hypothesis
Females should choose nesting sites that best protect them and their offspring from severe or unpredictable weather events, such as extreme temperatur...
heterozygote deficiency
Lower than expected frequency of heterozygous genotypes in a population
Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium
A principle stating that allele and genotype frequencies remain constant in a population under certain conditions
nutritional ecology
Study of how organisms obtain and use nutrients and how nutrition affects fitness
abiotic selection
Selection pressure from non-biological environmental factors such as rain or wind
adaptive polymorphism
Genetic variation maintained in populations by natural selection where different alleles are favored under different conditions
coalescent simulation
A computational method for simulating genealogies of sampled sequences under neutral evolution
reactive oxygen species
Oxygen-containing reactive molecules with considerable environmental importance due to their high reactivity in mediating redox transformations
cross-resistance
When prior infection by one natural enemy affects the plant's resistance or susceptibility to attack by a different natural enemy
defence polymorphism
Genetic variation in defensive traits maintained within populations
viral operational taxonomic units
Clustered viral sequences representing distinct viral taxa based on genomic similarity thresholds
genome polishing
Computational method to improve genome assembly accuracy by using short reads to correct errors in long-read assemblies
predator-prey interactions
Interspecific interactions between caddisfly larvae and their predators affecting case size and behavior
juvenile fitness
Measures of early-life performance that may predict later survival and reproductive success
genetic constraints
Limitations on evolutionary divergence imposed by genetic architecture and patterns of genetic covariation
antimicrobial resistance
Properties of materials that inhibit microbial growth and decomposition
BC-ratio
The proportion of aliphatic GS derived from branched-chain amino acid (Val and Ile) precursors, representing quantitative trait variation controlled b...
foraging trips
comparative genomics
Approach to compare genome features across multiple species to identify conserved and variable elements.
nesting aggregation
Multiple individuals of solitary nesting species choosing to nest in close proximity to one another
seed dormancy
A state where viable seeds do not germinate immediately even under favorable conditions
snow drought
Below-normal snowpack conditions that can be caused by lack of winter precipitation (dry) or winter precipitation falling as rain rather than snow (wa...
wildlife supply chain
Protocol (45) →
common garden experiment (Brassicaceae)
A large-scale reciprocal transplant experiment across five elevational gardens with factorial snow and temperature manipulations to test local adaptat...
Grasshopper feeding bioassay for plant defense
Choice feeding trials where individual grasshoppers are offered leaves from different plant treatments to measure relative herbivory rates. Herbivory ...
Y-tube olfactometer assay
Controlled choice experiments measuring butterfly oviposition preference between plant species using matched plant materials in screen cages. Preferen...
Elevational gradient phenotypic survey of Thlaspi arvense (Brassicaceae)
Weekly monitoring of plant phenology, morphological traits, and density across an elevational gradient to assess phenotypic plasticity in response to ...
HPLC glucosinolate analysis
Extraction and quantification of desulfated glucosinolates from plant leaves using high-performance liquid chromatography with diode array and charged...
Factorial drought and nutrient stress experiment (Brassicaceae)
Greenhouse factorial experiment manipulating water availability (3 levels) and nutrient supply (2 levels) to test resource limitation effects on fitne...
Principal Component Analysis (Brassicaceae)
Genomic sequencing and demographic modeling using GADMA2 to estimate historical gene flow patterns and migration rates between populations across elev...
Butterfly fecundity and longevity monitoring (Nymphalidae)
Daily monitoring of individual female butterflies including artificial feeding with sucrose solution and daily egg collection. Measures lifetime repro...
Flow-through respirometry (Nymphalidae)
CO2 emission measurement using flow-through respirometry to quantify resting metabolic rate and flight metabolic capacity in individual butterflies. I...
Integral projection model (Brassicaceae)
Construction of Integral Projection Models using vital rate data to project population persistence under different climate scenarios and estimate stoc...
Show 35 more protocols
QTL mapping (Brassicaceae)
Multi-environment QTL analysis using recombinant inbred lines tested across vernalization, photoperiod and temperature treatments to identify genomic ...
QTL mapping using recombinant inbred lines (Brassicaceae)
Common garden experiments using recombinant inbred lines to partition genetic and environmental contributions to phenotypic variation. RILs are plante...
Elevation gradient flower color polymorphism survey (Brassicaceae)
Systematic assessment of flower color variation across environmental gradients using standardized color categories and plot-based sampling. Combines p...
mitochondrial DNA barcoding (Drosophilidae)
Time-calibrated phylogenetic analysis using multiple genes and both maximum likelihood and Bayesian approaches to estimate evolutionary relationships ...
Specific leaf area (SLA) measurement
Standard protocol for measuring leaf traits by scanning fresh leaves, counting trichomes using ImageJ, then drying and weighing leaves to calculate sp...
CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing (Pieridae)
DNA extraction, tagmentation-based library preparation, and Illumina sequencing to generate whole-genome sequence data from butterfly specimens. Modif...
CNAP genome-wide fitness trade-off analysis (Brassicaceae)
Conditional Neutrality-Antagonistic Pleiotropy analysis estimates realized selection coefficients and uses permutation tests to identify genome-wide p...
full-sibling analysis (Pieridae)
Multi-generation breeding program with controlled matings to estimate heritability of preference traits using pedigree-based models accounting for ZW ...
RNA-seq (Drosophilidae)
Illumina GAIIx RNA sequencing of larval samples from different plant treatments followed by differential expression analysis to identify genes respons...
BCMA3 Sanger sequencing and structural variant analysis (Brassicaceae)
Sanger sequencing of BCMA3 alleles from natural accessions combined with Nanopore long-read genome assembly to identify structural genetic variants af...
Larval gut content feeding assay (Pieridae)
A controlled feeding experiment where individual first instar larvae are offered different plant species and their gut content accumulation is monitor...
ImageJ area measurement
Plant biomass consumption by herbivores is quantified using before-and-after digital photographs with standardized reference objects. Image analysis s...
No choice experiment (Plantae)
Controlled experiment where subjects are not given choices, used to test responses under specific conditions without alternatives.
Comparative chromosome painting (Brassicaceae)
Chromosome-specific BAC contigs of Arabidopsis thaliana were used as painting probes to analyze mitotic and meiotic chromosomes of C. cordifolia. Fluo...
Willey-Willey grasshopper census method (Acrididae)
Systematic walking surveys through grasshopper habitat to count and score individuals for wing color morphs (orange vs yellow) across multiple populat...
Controlled greenhouse phenotyping (Brassicaceae)
Standardized greenhouse cultivation of field-collected plant accessions under controlled temperature, light, and nutrition regimes for phenotype chara...
Daily forced flight treatment for butterfly energetics (Animalia)
Daily forced flight protocol involving 3 × 4 minute flight bouts with rest periods, stimulated by gentle brushing, to experimentally increase energy e...
Bateman's index of constancy (Nymphalidae)
Statistical analysis of flower constancy using Bateman's index and modified Cindex with randomization tests to determine whether butterflies exhibit c...
jasmonic acid treatment (Brassicaceae)
Pre-treatment of bittercress plants with jasmonic acid to simulate herbivore-induced plant defenses, followed by controlled bacterial inoculation to t...
Field survey of leaf miner damage patterns (Drosophilidae)
Systematic field survey of natural herbivore damage patterns across different leaf positions on host plants. Quantifies within-host foraging preferenc...
Factorial herbivory and water manipulation in caged common garden (Brassicaceae)
A factorial field experiment manipulating herbivore abundance and water availability using cages with controlled grasshopper access and supplemental w...
Larval dietary restriction in Lepidoptera (Nymphalidae)
Controlled food deprivation during larval development by reducing feeding frequency to half that of controls, creating 3-4 periods of 24h food absence...
454 sequencing (Animalia)
454 sequencing to characterize genetic diversity at the DRB Class II locus in montane voles.
Acrylic leaf imprint stomatal analysis
Acrylic imprints of leaf surfaces are made on glass slides and analyzed under compound microscope to count stomata and measure their diameters.
Greenhouse shade avoidance response experiment
Seedlings were grown under different light quality treatments to measure phenotypic plasticity in response to shade cues, specifically changes in red ...
Controlled crossing experiment (Plantae)
Hand-pollination experiment comparing fitness of selfed vs. outcrossed offspring by controlling pollination source and measuring resulting fruit chara...
MCMCglmm analysis
Estimation of genetic parameters including heritability and genetic variance-covariance matrices using generalized linear mixed models with Bayesian M...
PAR measurement
Standardized measurement of PAR using quantum light sensors during midday cloudless conditions to quantify light environment across study sites.
Densitometer canopy cover assessment (Brassicaceae)
Canopy cover measurement using densitometer to classify habitats as sun (5% shade), deep shade (95% shade), or ecotonal (5-95% shade) environments.
ONT long-read genome assembly with dual assembler approach (Pieridae)
Oxford Nanopore long-read sequencing followed by assembly using both FLYE and NECAT assemblers, with iterative polishing using Racon and Medaka, then ...
Phylogenetic Generalized Least Squares regression
Used phylogenetic generalized least squares (PGLS) regression and phylogenetic ANOVA to test relationships between acoustic call frequencies, body siz...
RFID tracking of bumble bee foraging behavior
Custom-built RFID system using paired antenna cards and microSD data logging to continuously track individual bee movements in and out of nest boxes. ...
RMBL Warming Meadow Soil Carbon Protocol (Brassicaceae)
Systematic sampling of soil fungal communities across vegetation disturbance gradients in subalpine meadows using replicated plot design with grid-bas...
Fitness component quantification (Brassicaceae)
Comprehensive measurement of multiple fitness components including survival, reproductive success, fecundity, and growth rates to assess life history ...
population dynamics simulation
Simulations to model how fine-grained distribution of non-native resources affects native consumer population dynamics.
Publication (153) →
Genetic mechanisms underlying maladaptation in specialized species interactions
The persistent maladaptation of <i>Pieris macdunnoughii</i>: Constraints on adaptation to an evolutionary trap
Ecological factors influence balancing selection on leaf chemical profiles of a wildflower
Integrating viability and fecundity selection to illuminate the adaptive nature of genetic clines
Ecological contexts of balancing selection in nature
Phenological responses to multiple environmental drivers under climate change: insights from a long-term observational study and a manipulative field experiment
Heritable plant phenotypes track light and herbivory levels at fine spatial scales
Plasticity in functional traits in the context of climate change: A case study of the subalpine forb Boechera stricta (Brassicaceae)
Herbivory and water availability interact to shape the adaptive landscape in the perennial forb, Boechera stricta
Climate change shifts natural selection and the adaptive potential of the perennial forb <i>Bochera stricta</i> in the Rocky Mountians
Show 143 more publications
The Visual Ecology of <i>Speyeria mormonia</i>
The Boechera model system for evolutionary ecology
A gain of function polymorphism controlling complex traits and fitness in nature
Climate change disrupts local adaptation and favours upslope migration
Aversion and attraction to harmful plant secondary compounds jointly shape the foraging ecology of a specialist herbivore
Small spaces, big impacts: contributions of micro-environmental variation to population persistence under climate change
Ecological causes and consequences of flower color polymorphism in a self pollinating plant (<i>Boechera stricta</i>)
Adaptation and gene flow are insufficient to rescue a montane plant under climate change
Understanding insect life histories and senescence through a resource allocation lens
Novel host unmasks heritable variation in plant preference within an insect population
Fitness costs of butterfly oviposition on a lethal non-native plant in a mixed native and non-native plant community
The evolution of quantitative traits in complex environments
Increased temperature and CO2 induce plasticity and impose novel selection on plant traits
Transgenerational and within-generation plasticity in response to climate change: insights from a manipulative field experiment across an elevational gradient
Experience may outweigh cue similarity in maintaining a persistent host plant-based evolutionary trap.
Bumble bee queen plasticity and social regulation of traits
Fine-Grained Distribution of a Non-Native Resource Can Alter the Population Dynamics of a Native Consumer
Pre- and post-ingestive defenses affect larval feeding on a lethal invasive host plant
Evolutionary and ecological responses to anthropogenic climate change
Effects of an introduced mustard, Thlaspi arvense, on soil fungal communities in subalpine meadows
Young inversion with multiple linked QTLs under selection in a hybrid zone
Genes involved in the evolution of herbivory by a leaf-mining drosophilid fly
Resource availability alters fitness trade-offs: implications for evolution in stressful environments
The genome of the Margined White butterfly (Pieris macdunnoughii): sex chromosome insights and the power of polishing with PoolSeq data
Larval food limitation in butterflies: effects on adult resource allocation and fitness
Increasing aridity may threaten the maintenance of a plant defence polymorphism
Genetic tradeoffs and conditional neutrality contribute to local adaptation
Impacts of assisted migration: An introduced herbivore has short-term and long-term effects on its native host plant population
Mining the plant-insect interface with a leafmining <i>Drosophila</i> of <i>Arabidopsis</i>
Insect herbivory as a major factor in the shade distribution of a native crucifer (Cardamine cordifolia A. Gray, bittercress)
Coevolution of pierid butterflies and their cruciferous foodplants. II. The distribution of eggs on potential foodplants
Strong selection genome-wide enhances fitness tradeoffs across environments and episodes of selection
Local adaptation to habitat-specific herbivory and light levels in <i>Cardamine cordifolia</i>
Phytochemical correlates of herbivory in a community of native and naturalized cruciferae
The green-veined white (Pieris napi L.), its Pierine relatives, and the systematics of divergent character sets (Lepidoptera, Pieridae)
<i>Cardamine cordifolia</i> Pollination effects on seed and fruit production
The maintenance of flower colour polymorphism in self-pollinating <i>Boechera stricta</i>
Within population variation in the demography of Speyeria mormonia (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae)
No evidence that gut microbiota impose a net cost on their butterfly host
The dispersal of microbes among and within flowers by butterflies
Effects of increased flight on the energetics and life history of the butterfly <i>Speyeria mormonia</i>
Identifying targets and agents of selection: Innovative methods to evaluate the processes that contribute to local adaptation
Patterns of genetic variation and local adaptation of a native herbivore to a lethal invasive plant
Carry-over effects of larval food stress on adult energetics and life history in a nectar-feeding butterfly
Insect herbivory reshapes a native leaf microbiome
Mating systems and sexual division of foraging effort affect puddling behavior by butterflies
Life history QTLs and natural selection on flowering time in <i></i>Boechera stricta<i></i>, a perennial relative of <i></i>Arabidopsis<i></i>
The matrix matters: effective isolation in fragmented landscapes
Effects of Plant Diversity on Selection for Insect Resistance Traits in <i>Boechera stricta</i>
The effect of adult food limitation on life history traits in Speyeria mormonia (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae)
Habitat preference of an herbivore shapes the habitat distribution of its host plant
Diversity and abundance of phyllosphere bacteria are linked to insect herbivory
Weather and the "regulation" of subalpine populations
The Relationship between Soil Properties and Variation in the Morphology and Phenology of non-native mustard plant <i>Thlaspi arvense</i> in Subalpine Meadows
Microgeographic patterns of genetic divergence and adaptation across environmental gradients in <i>Boechera stricta</i>(Brassicaceae)
Larval feeding behavior and leaf components that affect the survival of <i>Pieris macdunnoughii</i> on the invasive mustard <i>Thlaspi arvense</i>
How do the effects of herbivory and light gradients impact the overall plant fitness within different environments?
Oviposition behavior and offspring performance in herbivorous insects: consequences of climatic and habitat heterogeneity
Herbivory by leaf miners in response to experimental shading of a native crucifer
The effects of flowering phenology and plant fitness within and across a light quality gradient for a native mustard, <i>Cardamine cordifolia</i>
Larval Feeding Ability on a Drought-Stressed Invasive Plant
Elevated [CO2] and temperature augment gas exchange and shift the fitness landscape in a montane forb
Dynamics and structure of a native Pieris population in the presence of a non-native, toxic larval host plant
Investigating the relationship between plant morphology, density, and herbivory of <i>Thlaspi</i>
Genetic basis of plant-insect interactions: insect recruitment to <i>Boechera stricta</i>
An uphill grind for wild plant populations
Combined Effects of Aridity and Herbivory on Plant Performance
Barriers to Gene Flow across a Light Gradient in Cardamine cordifolia.
Evidence for a single, ancient origin of a genus-wide alternative life history strategy
Understanding the importance of coniferous understory versus open meadows for bees in times of drought
<i>Scaptomyza nigrita</i> herbivory and inducible glucosinolates in <i>Cardamine cordifolia</i>
Trait variations of <i>Boechera stricta</i> along an elevation gradient
Concentration of glucosinolates in relation to habitat and insect herbivory for the native crucifer Cardamine cordifolia
How diploidization turned a tetraploid into a pseudotriploid
Trichome density differences in Boechera stricta across an elevational gradient.
Evolution and genomic basis of the plant penetrating ovipositor: a key morphological trait in herbivorous Drosophilidae
Delayed population explosion of an introduced butterfly
Evolutionary genetics of plant adaptation
Biotic factors influencing feeding preferences of <i>Scaptomyza nigrita</i> (Drosphilidae) on its host plant, <i>Cardamine cordifolia</i> (Brassicaceae)
Barriers to gene flow in natural populations of grasshoppers. II. Maintenance of narrow hybrid-zones between morphs of Arphia conspersa on Black Mesa, Colorado
Floral herbivory: a possible mechanism maintaining a flower color polymorphism in a selfing species, Boechera stricta.
Checkerspot butterflies: a historical perspective
Complete Genome Sequences for <i>Pseudomonas sp.</i> Strains 29A and 43A
Geographic variation in flowering phenology in Boechera stricta: testing for adaptive response to climate across the species range
Resource allocation as a driver of senescence: Life history tradeoffs produce age patterns of mortality
Oviposition preference of the leaf mining fly, <i>Scaptomyza nigrita</i> (Drosophilidae) on its native host plant, <i>Cardamine cordifolia</i> (Brassicaceae)
Butterfly foraging behavior: can butterflies detect nectar in flowering plants?
Wild foundress queen bumble bees make numerous, short foraging trips and exhibit frequent nest failure: Insights from trap-nesting and RFID tracking
Effects of bacterial endophytes on plant-insect interactions
Testing for the genetic basis of cold tolerance in a wild mustard
Evolution in an ancient detoxification pathway is coupled with a transition to herbivory in the Drosophilidae
Abundance and Identification of Hymenopteran Parasitoids in Euphydryas gilletti
Genetic basis of an adaptive polymorphism controlling butterfly silver iridescence
Does infection by endophytic bacteria influence plant susceptibility to herbivory in nature?
Mud puddling by butterflies is not a simple matter
Investigating Herbivore Relationships to Boechera stricta in a Climate Change Context.
Predator and prey species have opposing responses to recreational trail use
Reproductive allocation from reserves and income in butterfly species with differing adult diets
Environmental and Genetic Effects of Elevation on Plant Defense
Phenology and Phenotypic Variation of <i>Thlaspi arvense</i> Along an Elevational Gradient
Scale of plasticity and local adaptation in <i>Boechera stricta </i> along an altitudinal gradient
Plant community light efficiency: measuring light response as a function of both photosynthesis irradiance.
Jasmonate-induced plant defenses hinder growth in Cardamine cordifolia (Brassicaceae)
Climate Change Affects Boechera stricta Genotypes Through Local Maladaptation
Conservation Lessons from long-term studies of Checkerspot Butterflies
Herbivore effect on stature, fruiting and leaf dynamics of a native crucifer
Flower preference and constancy in four butterfly species
The population structure of Erebia epipsodea (Lepidoptera: Satyrinae)
Two sides of the same wing: ventral scales enhance dorsal wing color in the butterfly Speyeria mormonia
Local adaption in <i>Boechera stricta</i> in the context of climate change
Conflict of interest? Investigating the costs and benefits of herbivore defense using the model plant <i>Boechera stricta</i>
Effects of larval dietary restriction on body morphology, with implications for flight and life history
Sensory cues and memory in Lepidopteran mud puddling behavior
Plant-herbivore coevolution: lupines and lycaenids
A general model of the role of male-donated nutrients in female insects' reproduction
Accounting for the nested nature of genetic variation across levels of organization improves our understanding of biodiversity and community ecology
Resource specialization in puddling Lepidoptera
The use of fluorescent pigments to study insect behaviour: investigating mating patterns in a butterfly population
Development to diapause in a population of <i>Euphydryas gillettii</i> (Nymphalidae): effects of egg cluster size and habitat parameters
Cross-resistance between the parasites <i>Pseudomonas syringae</i> and <i>Scaptomyza nigrita</i> in the native crucifer <i>Cardamine coridifolia</i>
Emergence patterns in male butterflies: a hypothesis and a test
Evolution of herbivory in Drosophilidae linked to loss of behaviors, antennal responses, odorant receptors and ancestral diet
Rates of nectar feeding in butterflies: effects of sex, size, age, and sugar concentration
Local Adaptations and Fitness of Transplants in the Lewis Flax – Flax Rust Coevolutionary System
Clonal integration of induced resistance to herbivory damage in <i>Chamerion angustifolium</i>
Resource allocation: exploring connections between foraging and life history strategies
Coevolution: patterns of legume predation by a lycaenid butterfly
Does butterfly diversity predict moth diversity? Testing a popular taxon at local scales
Plant resources and butterfly habitat selection
Community College Students in the Field: A review of a Community Conversation on Successful Programs and Strategies
A study of key characteristics for distinguishing several Drosophila affinis subgroup species, with a description of a new related species
The comparative biology of longevity and lifetime energetics
Duration of female availability and its effect on butterfly mating systems
Population structure and recommendations for conservation of the narrowly endemic alpine butterfly Boloria acrocnema (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae)
Non-adaptive" hilltopping behavior in male checkerspot butterflies (Euphydryas editha)
Colorado checkerspot butterflies: isolation, neutrality, and the biospecies
Phenology: An Integrative Environmental Science
Some observations on spatial distribution in a montane population of Euphydryas editha
Variation in generation time in Frasera speciosa (Gentianaceae), a long-lived perennial monocarp
Antibody development to identify components of IIS and mTOR signaling pathways in lepidopteran species, a set of non-model insects
Suture-zones of hybrid interaction between recently joined biotas
Community composition in mountain ecosystems: climatic determinants of montane butterfly distributions
The role of field stations in the preservation of biological diversity
Dataset (40) →
Data from: Ecological factors influence balancing selection on leaf chemical profiles of a wildflower
Balancing selection is frequently invoked as a mechanism to maintain variation within and across populations. However, rigorous tests demonstrating ba...
Effects of herbivory by a translocated butterfly on plant size and seed set of Lonicera involucrata
Assisted migration consists of the introduction of a species to previously inhabited areas or to new suitable regions. Such introductions have been to...
Data from: A gain-of-function polymorphism controlling complex traits and fitness in nature
Identification of the causal genes that control complex trait variation remains challenging, limiting our appreciation of the evolutionary processes t...
natural_populations_individual
This file contains data from transects in natural populations on individual plants. This dataset supports the section on the methods and results calle...
greenhouse_experiment
This file contains data from the greenhouse experiment.
no_choice_experiment
This file contains the data for the no choice experiment
natural_populations_plot
This file contains the data to analyze the environmental correlates of flower color variation. The results are laid out in the text (Environmental cor...
choice_experiment
This file contains the data for the choice experiment.
common_garden
This file contains the data for family-level analyses of the common garden experiment.
Data from: Integrating viability and fecundity selection to illuminate the adaptive nature of genetic clines
Genetically-based trait variation across environmental gradients can reflect adaptation to local environments. However, natural populations that appea...
Show 30 more datasets
Diversity and abundance of phyllosphere bacteria are linked to insect herbivory
Simultaneous or sequential attack by herbivores and microbes is common in plants. Many seed plants exhibit a defence trade-off against chewing herbivo...
Novel host plant unmasks heritable variation in plant preference within an insect population
Introductions of novel plant species can disturb the historical resource environment of herbivorous insects, resulting in strong selection to either...
Carry-over effects of larval food stress on adult energetics and life history in a nectar-feeding butterfly
Stressful juvenile developmental conditions can affect performance and fitness later in life. In holometabolous insects such as butterflies, developme...
Data from: Microgeographic patterns of genetic divergence and adaptation across environmental gradients in Boechera stricta (Brassicaceae)
Abiotic and biotic conditions often vary continuously across the landscape, imposing divergent selection on local populations. We used a provenance tr...
Carpenter_Meadow_transect_2011
This file contains phenotypic and fitness data on naturally-recruiting Boechera stricta plants in 5 transects. Jill Anderson collected these data at t...
Carpenter_Meadow_transect_2010
This file contains phenotypic and fitness data on naturally-recruiting Boechera stricta plants in 5 transects. Jill Anderson collected these data at t...
Individual level data for RILs (Recombinant Inbred Lines)
This file contains the individual level data for selection analyses and estimates of response to selection in the recombinant inbred lines (RILs) plan...
Data from: Strong selection genome-wide enhances fitness trade-offs across environments and episodes of selection
Fitness trade-offs across episodes of selection and environments influence life-history evolution and adaptive population divergence. Documenting thes...
Family level averages for the Recombinant Inbred Lines (Colorado)
This file contains family-level average trait values for the recombinant inbred lines (RILs) in the Colorado garden. Columns include: family, leaf num...
Data from: Transgenerational and within-generation plasticity in response to climate change: insights from a manipulative field experiment across an elevational gradient
Parental environmental effects, or transgenerational plasticity, can influence an individual’s phenotype or fitness, yet remain underexplored in the c...
Carpenter_Meadow_experiment
This file contains data from the experiment at Carpenter Meadow to assess natural selection on flowering in local genotypes. Jill Anderson collected d...
Data from: No evidence that gut microbiota impose a net cost on their butterfly host
Gut microbes are believed to play a critical role in most animal life, yet fitness effects and cost benefit-tradeoffs incurred by the host are poorly ...
Repeated measures data accompanying the paper: Effects of Increased Flight on the Energetics and Life History of the Butterfly Speyeria mormonia
Data are in microsoft excel .xlsx format. Descriptions of each data type, including units, are in "comments" associated with the headers on each data ...
21 MHC Class II DRB alleles from Microtus montanus
FASTA file of 21 MHC Class II Mimo-DRB alleles recovered from a wild population of montane vole (Microtus montanus). Samples were obtained between 200...
Data for: Increasing aridity may threaten the maintenance of a plant defense polymorphism
It is unclear how environmental change influences standing genetic variation in wild populations. Here, we characterized environmental conditions that...
Ecological causes and consequences of flower color polymorphism in a self-pollinating plant (Boechera stricta)
Intraspecific variation in flower color is often attributed to pollinator-mediated selection, yet this mechanism cannot explain flower color polymorph...
Data from: Effects of increased flight on the energetics and life history of the butterfly Speyeria mormonia
Movement uses resources that may otherwise be allocated to somatic maintenance or reproduction. How does increased energy expenditure affect resource ...
Phenotypic plasticity and adaptive evolution contribute to advancing flowering phenology in response to climate change
Anthropogenic climate change has already altered the timing of major life history transitions, such as the initiation of reproduction. Both phenotypi...
An organizing feature of bumble bee life history: worker emergence promotes queen reproduction and survival in young nests
Bumble bee queens initiate nests solitarily and transition to living socially once they successfully rear their first cohort of offspring. Bumble bees...
Data from: Duplication and population dynamics shape historic patterns of selection and genetic variation at the major histocompatibility complex in rodents
Genetic variation at the MHC is vitally important for wildlife populations to respond to pathogen threats. Because natural populations can fluctuate g...
Data from: Climate change shifts natural selection and the adaptive potential of the perennial forb Boechera stricta in the Rocky Mountains
Heritable genetic variation is necessary for populations to evolve in response to anthropogenic climate change. However, antagonistic genetic correlat...
Data from: Wild foundress queen bumble bees make numerous, short foraging trips and exhibit frequent nest failure: Insights from trap-nesting and RFID tracking
The overwhelming majority of research on wild bumble bees has focused on the social colony stage. Nest-founding queens in the early season are difficu...
Data from: Young inversion with multiple linked QTLs under selection in a hybrid zone
Fixed chromosomal inversions can reduce gene flow and promote speciation in two ways: by suppressing recombination and by carrying locally favoured al...
Integral projection models from reciprocal transplant experiments
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Gothic (CO) Euphydryas gillettii vital rates 1981-1985, 2002-2004
Data were collected during July-September in 1981 through 1985 and during June-September 2002 through 2004. Mark-release-recapture was done for adult ...
Fine-grained distribution of a non-native resource can alter the population dynamics of a native consumer
Map data used in simulations described in: Mifuyu Nakajima and Carol l. Boggs. 2015. Fine-grained distribution of a non-native resource can alter the ...
Data and scripts for the manuscript "Herbivory and water availability interact to shape the adaptive landscape in the perennial forb, <i>Boechera stricta</i>".
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Provenance trial experiments
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Habitat preference of an herbivore shapes the habitat distribution of its host plant
Plant distributions can be limited by habitat-biased herbivory, but the proximate causes of such biases are rarely known. Distinguishing plant-centric...
Coronavirus testing indicates transmission risk increases along wildlife supply chains for human consumption in Viet Nam, 2013-2014
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