Tropical Conservation Biology and Environmental Science - M.S. Program Seminars
Upcoming seminars
Seminar Title: Coevolution and macroevolution of leafflower trees (Phyllanthaceae: Glochidion) and leafflower moths (Lepidoptera: Epicephala) in Southeastern Polynesia and the Pacific
Speaker: Dr. David Hembry, Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, University of Texas Permian Basin
When: Monday, 4 December, 4:00 PM
Where: In-person at UH Hilo, Wentworth Building, Room 1 and online via Zoom https://hawaii.zoom.us/j/96547023084
Meeting ID: 965 4702 3084
Passcode: TCBES
Abstract: Understanding the role of biotic interactions in the generation and maintenance of biological diversity is a central goal of both evolutionary ecology and macroevolution. Brood pollination mutualisms—such as those between figs and fig wasps, or yuccas and yucca moths, in which specialized insects pollinate host plants’ flowers as adults, but consume floral tissue of the same plants as larvae—have evolved only a few times in the entire coevolutionary history of insects and angiosperms. However, these interactions offer numerous opportunities to ask questions about the evolution of mutualistic and parasitic interactions. Here, I present research on the macroevolutionary history of the association between leafflower plants (Phyllanthaceae: Glochidion) and their brood pollinating leafflower moths (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae: Epicephala). Glochidion is a genus of approximately 300 species of tropical trees, distributed from tropical Asia and Australia through the Pacific islands as far as Southeastern Polynesia (Cook Islands, French Polynesia, and the Pitcairn Islands). Specifically, I focus on the endemic radiation of Glochidion on oceanic islands in French Polynesia and the Cook Islands to show that despite extremely high species-specificity, these brood pollination interactions can be highly dynamic and labile over macroevolutionary timescales. I then examine the ways we can use species interaction network approaches to complement our understanding of these macroevolutionary dynamics in both oceanic island and continental leafflower-leafflower moth communities.
Fall 2023 Weekly Seminar Schedule
All seminars speakers are subject to change
Date | Speaker | Affiliation | Title |
---|---|---|---|
Aug 28 | Dr. Noelani Puniwai | University of Hawaiʻi | ʻOiwi Stories; Climate change, management, and restoryation |
Sep 18 | Moana Ulu Ching, Corie Yanger, Shalan Crysdale | Conservation International, Three Mountain Alliance, The Nature Conservancy | Finding funding: Grant Writing and Reporting Strategies for Graduate Students, Researchers, & NGOs PANEL FOCUS: Tips and tricks for successful grant searching, writing, & reporting |
Sep 25 | Dr. Celia T. Bardwell-Jones | Philosophy and Gender & Women's Studies, UH Hilo | What does Decolonial Conservation Ethics Look LIke? Rethinking the Nature of Elemental Nature |
Oct 2 | Dr. Scott A. Bonar | USGS Arizona Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Unit, University of Arizona | How you can ethically influence people about natural resources conservation |
Oct 9 | Dr. Travis S. Mandel | Department of Computer Science, UH Hilo | Exploring and Developing Computer Vision Algorithms for Hawaiʻi Island Datasets |
Oct 16 | Franny Kinslow Brewer | Big Island Invasive Species | Committee Utilizing Social Psychology to Enhance Conservation Behavior |
Oct 23 | Dr. Rosie ʻAnolani Alegado | Sea Grant College Program, Microbial Ecology & Evolution in Hawaiʻi Laboratory, Ulana ʻIke Sea Grant Center of Excellence, SOEST Maile Mentoring Bridge Program, Center for Microbial Oceanography | O ke kahua ma mua, ma hope o ke kūkulu: What is Indigenous data sovereignty & knowledge stewardship? |
Oct 30 | Dr. Amber Wright | School of Life Sciences UH Mānoa | Behavior, Population, and Community Ecology |
Nov 6 | Dr. Susan Cordell | Forest Service, Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry, Pacific Southwest Research Station | Restoration of Hawaiian Ecosystems – a personal journey |
Nov 13 | Dr. Patrick Hart | Department of Biology, UH Hilo | How bird song can inform conservation and management of Hawaiʻs birds |
Nov 20 | Dr. Erica Newman | Department of Integrative Biology University of Texas at Austin | Towards a dynamic macroecology |
Nov 27 | Dr. Andrew J Rominger | School of Life Sciences, UH Mānoa | Data hungry models and data ethics in the study of biodiversity on Indigenous homelands |
Dec 4 | Dr. David Hembry | Department of Biology, University of Texas Permian Basin | Coevolution and macroevolution of leafflower trees (Phyllanthaceae: Glochidion) and leafflower moths (Lepidoptera: Epicephala) in Southeastern Polynesia and the Pacific |
Past Seminars
Details of past seminars can be found in our Archived Seminars Section