Kenyon Students General topics I have collaborated with students in two areas of research, linked conceptually by the process of dispersal of individuals within and between populations. These two areas are the ecology of seed dispersal by ants, and the population structure of fish in headwater streams.
Ants disperse seeds of many plants.
We use field monitoring, experimental methods, and spatial modeling to address these questions. This is an important question because headwater streams are especially influenced by the materials flowing into them from surrounding land - the aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems are linked intimately. In Knox County, Ohio, agricultural practices are highly varied, but of sufficient quality to allow the Kokosing River to be designated an Ohio Scenic River. We are looking for genetic markers to allow us to detect potential problems in headwater streams, and we are using genetic markers to better understand the population structure of fish in linear, non-equilibrium systems such as the Kokosing River watershed. Depending on whether we wish to examine potential response to selection or to measure fine-scale genetic structure, we use allozyme markers or RAPDs analysis.