Research

Population Ecology and Genetics

My dissertation focused on investigating coexistence of multiple cytotypes. Historically, it was believed that a tetraploid had to outcompete its diploid progenitor to persist. The idea was that a tetraploid formed, spread, and caused the diploid to be geographically restricted and rare (Stebbins, 1947, 1971). We now know that closely related polyploids and their diploid progenitors can both remain extant.

Theory: To understand stability of coexisting cytotypes, I designed a new matrix population model with demographic and environmental stochasticity. Here, I identified that stable coexistence is very probable among mixed-cytotypes, even when reproductive isolation is absent. See Gaynor et al. 2025 and our R package, AutoPop. To find out more about this project, check out my 2024 Polyploidy Webinar.

The genetic consequences of mixed-cytotype populations with ongoing gene flow among cytotypes are mostly unknown. Therefore, this model has been extended to the Modern Synthesis with the incorporation of genotypes, mutation, and more. To find out more about our genetic model check out my 2021 Polyploidy Webinar.

Nature: Much of my population-level work has focused on autopolyploid Galax urceolata (Diapensiaceae), which includes diploid, triploid, and tetraploid cytotypes co-occurring throughout the Southern Appalachians. Along with ongoing population genetic research, we investigated the cytogeography of G. urceolata in relation to stomatal cell size, soil chemistry, soil fungal and bacterial community composition, and broad-scale climate. To hear more about this work, check out my talk at Evolution 2024.

Methods: Identifying ploidal diversity is a crucial first step to understanding the impact of WGD on patterns of biodiversity. To address shortcomings of available ploidal level inference methods, I developed the easy-to-use R package nQuack. To hear more about this project, check out the second half of my 2024 Polyploidy Webinar.

Phylogenetics and Beyond

To understand the long-term consequences of WGD on ecological and community dynamics, phylogenetic-scale analyses are necessary.

At a community level, the effects of genome duplication remains unclear, therefore with Drs. Julienne Ng and Robert Laport we used a community phylogenetic approach to began to unravel the influence of genome duplication in communities of Rosaceae and Brassicaceae species. We tested (1) whether polyploid species are more distantly related to diploids within the same community than co-occurring diploids are to one another and (2) whether polyploid species tend to exhibit greater ecological success than diploid species. We did not find a consistent pattern, suggesting whole genome duplication impact on community structure may not be very black and white.

As part of my NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology, I am currently working on developing new phylogenetic comparative methods that incorporate admixture proportions and gene-tree discordance to reconstruct ancestral niche dynamics. This method will then be used to understand the consequences of whole-genome duplication on species ecology by classifying niche dynamics among Galax urceolata (Diapensiaceae) mixed-cytotype populations and across the phylogeny of the order Ericales.