|
Allison Welch
Assistant Professor Department
of
Biology (843) 953-5451 |
|
Teaching
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.