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Category Archives: Molecular Ecology, the journal
Harry Smith, the founder of Molecular Ecology, has died
We’ve received word that Harry Smith, the founder of Molecular Ecology, passed away yesterday. Smith had a prolific and well-regarded career studying the molecular basis of plants’ responses to their environments. In particular, he helped to demonstrate how plants perceive … Continue reading
Posted in community, Molecular Ecology, the journal, science publishing
Tagged Harry Smith, in memoriam
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Estimating the ticks and tocks of molecular clocks
Like many undergraduate students, I learned about the linear, universal molecular clock: the homogeneous rate of nucleotide change over time. When I sat down to actually do analyses of molecular data, I was confounded by the array of options to treat DNA … Continue reading
Posted in evolution, Molecular Ecology, the journal, mutation, software
Tagged molecular clock
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A molecular how-to for hibernating this winter
As the academic semester ends, I see the tell-tale signs of the upcoming holiday hibernation. The weary eyes of teaching assistants peeking over piles of final exams. Students who may have mentally been on break before finals even started. A little … Continue reading
C.L. Gloger's favorite owl
Biologists love clines. We’ve been mentally masticating on clines for decades. Clines in body size. Clines in color. Clines in heart size! Clines that go in circles! Recognizing clinal patterns in phenotypes or genotypes is fun, but discovering the mechanisms behind … Continue reading
Posted in adaptation, Molecular Ecology, the journal, population genetics
Tagged ABC, Birds, Clines
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Exotic gene flow surveillance
Exotic forest plantations often cover large areas and, as such, may contribute female gametes, male gametes and/or zygotes to native stands. In seed plants, these three components of exotic gene flow have not been distinguished, though they will have different … Continue reading
Isolation by environment explains why the grass isn't always greener
Ever since Sewall Wright introduced isolation by distance in 1943, the interplay between genetic differentiation and geographic distance has been a foundational, sometimes frustrating, aspect of population genetics studies. But distance isn’t just distance. The walk to my car isn’t any longer when … Continue reading
All in the family: hierarchical social and genetic structure in the Old World monkey Theropithecus gelada
Complex, multi-level animal societies have evolved convergently across many taxa but we know little about the mechanisms behind their formation and their associated fitness benefits. In their Molecular Ecology paper published online last week, Snyder-Mackler et al. addressed these questions … Continue reading
The latest gadget for the molecular ecologist’s toolkit
Designing a sampling scheme to collect an organism of interest for a population genetic/genomic study can be fraught with difficulty. How best to sample? Randomly? Or, along a grid? How many individuals to sample? Thirty? Or, perhaps, the sample size … Continue reading
Is genetics a requirement for restoration?
The fields of conservation and genetics have relied heavily on one another for quite a while now (they even made an aptly named journal together!). Using genetic information is now an accepted, and even expected, step in recognizing and protecting … Continue reading
The Tortoise Time Warp
Recent advances in genetic data analysis continue to provide the ability to reveal some amazingly detailed (and previously unattainable) information about species’ evolutionary history. In this recent study from Molecular Ecology, Dr. Ryan Garrick and colleagues use a variety of … Continue reading
Posted in Molecular Ecology, the journal, phylogenetics, speciation
Tagged ABC, microsatellite, radiation
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