Allison Welch

Assistant Professor

Department of Biology

College of Charleston

email me

(843) 953-5451

Teaching

• Bio 211: Biodiversity, Ecology and Conservation Biology
• Bio 334: Herpetology

Research

Students interested in research opportunities in my lab are encouraged to contact me.

Amphibian conservation

Amphibians are one of the most imperiled groups of animals, and many amphibian population declines appear to reflect complex interactions among disease, compromised habitat, environmental contaminants, and climate change.  We are particularly interested in how anthropogenic habitat modification affects amphibian populations.  Virtually all habitats on Earth have been impacted by humans, making it essential to understand the challenges facing populations in human-altered environments.

Current and recent projects in the lab include:

• Tadpole vulnerability to multiple environmental stressors - pesticides, salinity, predators and competitors (with undergrads Jacob Oster, Liza Wood, Jennifer Thomas, and alumna Amanda Roberts)
• Upland habitat requirements of SC endangered Carolina gopher frogs, Lithobates capito (with undergrad Kevin Maginn, in cooperation with USFS)
• Amphibian community dynamics during longleaf pine restoration (Ryan Wenzel, current MES student)
• Chytrid fungal infection of a critically endangered neotropical leaf frogs, Agalychnis moreletii (with Tyler Lawson, MES alumnus, and Martin Jones, CofC Math Dept.)

Sexual selection

Males in many species have evolved conspicuous signals used in mate attraction, and females in some species have evolved to prefer more elaborate signals. Why? One possibility is that these sexually-selected signals reflect genetic variation in male quality. My previous work with gray tree frogs (Hyla versicolor and H. chrysoscelis) shows that preferred signals indicate high genetic quality, translating into enhanced offspring performance.

We are currently exploring the inheritance of these signals, their correlations with other traits, and what limits further evolution of mating signals and mate preferences.