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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)
- Wilson P, Jordan, E*. 2009. Hybrid
intermediacy between pollination syndromes in Penstemon, and the role of
nectar in affecting hummingbird visitation. Botany 87: 272-282.
- Wilson P. 2009. Striking example of avatars
evolving together among local communities. New Phytologist 182: 293-295.
- Sagar T*, Wilson P. 2009. Niches of common
bryophytes in a semi-arid landscape. Bryologist 112(1): 30-41.
- Thomson JD, Wilson P. 2008. Explaining
evolutionary shifts between bee and hummingbird pollination: Convergence,
divergence, and directionality. International Journal of Plant
Sciences 169: 23-38.
- 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.
- 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.
Current and past M.S. students & thesis topics
- Lena Ayala Coleman - Mosses of Sequoia National Park.
- Jocelyn Holt - Pollination of the endangered Pentachaeta
lyonii.
- Wyndee Haley - Do hummingbird foraging choices explain pollination
syndromes?
- Ann Dorsey - Life-history tradeoffs and rarity in Dudleya
of the Santa Monica Mountains.
- Tarja Sagar - Bryophytes of the Santa Monica Mountains.
M.S. 2007. Now NPS employee.
- Joanne Moriarte - Bobcat reproduction. M.S. 2006. Now NPS employee.
- Elizabeth Jordan - Hybrid intermediacy between pollination syndromes.
M.S. 2004. Now college instructor.
- Jacob Kerby - Invasive crayfish. M.S. 2003. Now assistant professor
U of S. Dakota.
- Jeannie Chari - Speciation in penstemon. M.S. 2000. Now associate professor College
of the Canyons.
- James Dilley - Diversification of generalist lily flowers. M.S.
1999. Now USFS employee.
Links to collaborators
