Back to Biology
faculty page
I and my students study the evolutionary biology of plants.
Potential student projects include work on either floral
evolution or bryophyte floristics.
I also am available to jointly advise students working on conservation biology
in the Santa Monica National Recreation Area, where the other advisor is
a member of the park staff.
To listen to my like-radio show on evolutionary concepts: https://www.csun.edu/~hcbio028/EvolutionReport.html
For bryophyte images see: https://www.csun.edu/~hcbio028
Technical Publications (*student)
Not-yet reivewed MS:
Hybridizing
Penstemon species between pollination syndromes
- Sagar T*, Wilson P. 2009. Niches of common
bryophytes in a semi-arid landscape. Bryologist 112(1): in press.
- Wilson P, Wolfe AD, Armbruster WS, Thomson JD. 2007. Constrained
lability in floral evolution: counting convergent origins of hummingbird
pollination in Penstemon and Keckiella. New Phytologist 176: 883-890.
- Yip, KL, Wilson P, Toren D, Kellman KM. 2007. Pleuridium
mexicanum (Ditrichaceae) new to the U.S.A. from California. Bryologist
110: 510-513.
- Thomson JD, Wilson P. 2007. Explaining
evolutionary shifts between bee and hummingbird pollination: Convergence,
divergence, and directionality. International Journal of Plant Sciences
169: 23-38.
- Sagar T*, Wilson P. 2007. Bryophytes
of the Santa Monica Mountains. Pp. 63-92 in D. A. Knapp (ed.) Flora
and ecology of the Santa Monica Mountains. Southern California Botanists
special publication 4, Fullerton, CA.
- Lancaster J*, Wilson P, Espinoza RE. 2006. Physiological benefits as precursors of sociality:
Why banded geckos band. Animal Behavior 72: 199-207.
- Castellanos MC*, Wilson P, Keller S*, Wolfe A,
Thomson JD. 2006. Anther evolution: pollen presentation
strategies when pollinators differ. American Naturalist
167: 288-296+10 pages of Appendix.
- Kerby JL*, Riley SPD, Katz LB, Wilson P.
2005. Barriers and flow as limiting factors
in the spread of an invasive crayfish(Procambarus clarkii) in southern
California streams. Biological Conservation 126: 402-409.
- Fenster C, Armbruster S, Wilson
P, Dudash M, Thomson JD.
2004. Pollination syndromes and floral specialization. Annual Review
of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics 35: 375-403.
- Kimball S*, Wilson P, Crowther
J. 2004. Local
ecology and geographic ranges of plants in the Bishop Creek
watershed of the eastern Sierra Nevada, California, USA. Journal of Biogeography 31: 1637-1657.
- Castellanos MC*, Wilson P,
Thomson JD. 2004. 'Anti-bee' and 'pro-bird' changes during the evolution of hummingbird
pollination in Penstemon flowers.
Journal of Evolutionary Biology 17: 876-885
- Wilson P, Castellanos MC†, Wolfe A,
Thomson JD. 2006. Shifts between bee- and bird-pollination
among penstemons. Pp. 47-68 in NM Waser and J Ollerton (eds.)
Plant-pollinator interactions: from specialization to generalization.
University of Chicago Press.
- Wilson P, Castellanos MC*,
Hogue JN, Thomson JD, Armbruster WS. 2004. A multivariate search for pollination syndromes among penstemons. Oikos 104: 345-361.
- Motzkin G, Foster D, Allen A, Donohue K, Wilson
P. 2004. Forest landscape patterns, structure, and composition.
Pp. 171-188 in DR Foster and JD Aber (eds.) Forests in time: the environmental
consequences of 1,000 years of change in New England. Yale University
Press, New Haven.
- Castellanos MC*, Wilson P,
Thomson JD. 2003. Pollen transfer by hummingbirds and bumblebees, and the divergence
of pollination mode in Penstemon.
Evolution 57: 2742-2752.
- Castellanos MC*, Wilson P,
Thomson JD. 2002. Dynamic
replenishment of nectar in Penstemon (Scrophulariaceae). American Journal of Botany 89:111-118.
- Wilson P, Valenzuela M*. 2002.
Three naturally occurring Penstemon hybrids. Western North American
Naturalist 62: 25-31.
- Chari J*, Wilson P. 2001.
Factors limiting hybridization between Penstemon spectabilis and
Penstemon centranthifolius (Scrophulariaceae). Canadian Journal of Botany 79: 1439-1448.
- Thomson J, Wilson P, Valenzuela
M*, Malzone M*. 2000. Pollen
presentation and pollinator syndromes, with special reference
to Penstemon. Plant Species
Biology 15: 11-29.
- Dilley J*, Wilson P, Mesler
MR. 2000. The radiation of Calochortus: Generalist
flowers moving through a mosaic of potential pollinators.
Oikos 89: 209-222.
- Motzkin G, Wilson P, Foster
DR, Allen A. 1999. Vegetation patterns in heterogeneous
landscapes: the importance of history and environment.
Journal of Vegetation Science 10: 903-920.
- Wilson P, Stine M. 1996. Floral
constancy in bumble bees: handling efficiency or perceptual
conditioning? Oecologia 106: 493-499.
- Wilson P, Buonopane M, Allison
T. 1996. Reproductive biology of the monoecious clonal shrub
Taxus canadensis. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club
123: 7-15.
- Wilson P, Thomson JD. 1996.
How do flowers diverge? Pp. 88-111 in D. Lloyd and S.
C. H. Barrett (eds.). Floral biology. Chapman & Hall,
New York.
- Wilson P. 1995. Selection
for pollination success and the mechanical fit of Impatiens
flowers around bumble bee bodies. Biolological Journal of the Linnean
Society 55: 355-383.
- Wilson P. 1995. Pollination
in Drosera tracyi : selection is strongest when resources
are intermediate. Evolutionary Ecology 9:382-396.
- Wilson P. 1994. The east-facing
flowers of Drosera tracyi. American Midland Naturalist
131: 366-369.
- Wilson P, Thomson JD, Stanton
ML, Rigney LP. 1994. Beyond floral Batemania: gender biases
in selection for pollination success. American Naturalist 143:
283-296.
- Wilson P. 1992. On inferring
hybridity from morphological intermediacy. Taxon 41: 11-23.
- Mesler MR, Cole J, Wilson P. 1991.
Natural hybridization in western gooseberries (Ribes subgenus
Grossularia: Grossulariaceae). Madroño 38:
115-129.
- Wilson P, Thomson JD. 1991.
Heterogeneity among floral visitors leads to discordance between
removal and deposition of pollen. Ecology 72: 1503-1507.
- Gurevitch J, Wilson P, Teese P, Stone JL, Stoutenburgh
RH. 1990. Competition among old-field perennials at different
levels of soil fertility and available space. J. Ecol. 78:
727-744.
- Wilson P, Norris DH. 1989.
Pseudoleskeella in North America and Europe. The Bryologist
92: 387-396.
Writings of a much lighter sort
Other writings by my students
- Dorsey A.* 2007. Dudley, with special reference to those
growing in the Santa Monica Mountains. Pp. 93-107 in D. A. Knapp (ed.)
Flora and ecology of the Santa Monica Mountains. Southern California Botanists
special publication 4, Fullerton, CA.
- Zander RH, Jiménez JA, Sagar T.* 2005. Didymodon
bistratosus (Pottiaceae) in the New World. Bryologist 108: 540-543.
- Gershwin L.* 2001. Systematics and biogeography
of the jellyfish Aurelia labiata (Cnidaria: Scyphozoa).
Biological Bulletin. 201: 104-119.
- Gershwin L.* 1999. Clonal and population variation
in jellyfish symmetry. Journal of Marine Biology Association U. K.
79: 993-1000.
Classes
Link to my major prof
James Thomson, pollination biology, University of Toronto,
http://www.zoo.utoronto.ca/thomsonlab/