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Allison Welch Research Associate and Adjunct Professor Department of Biology 205 Fort Johnson (843) 953-9186 |
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Research
Publications
Teaching
CV |
Teaching
Current courses:
● Bio 211: Biodiversity, Ecology and Conservation Biology
Past courses:
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Bio 334: Herpetology
Laborator
● Bio 341: General Ecology Laboratory
As a postdoc
in UNC’s SPIRE
postdoctoral program, I developed and taught the following courses at
historically minority universities in
● Ecology at
● Evolution at
● Ecology at
Research
My research focuses on the ecology
and evolution of behaviors and signals involved in mate choice. In particular, I am examining how the genetic
consequences of mate choice drive the evolution of male signals and female
preferences. To address this question, I
use ecological experiments, quantitative genetics, tests of functional
mechanisms, and behavioral studies in my research with gray tree frogs (Hyla versicolor and H. chrysoscelis). My overall
goal is to understand how natural selection, environmental variation, genetic
variation, and functional constraints interact to influence the evolution of a
complex set of traits.
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Listen to Hyla
versicolor |
Females can enhance the genetic
quality of their offspring by mating with males with high genetic quality. This genetic benefit predicts the evolution
of female preferences for male traits that signal genetic quality. In gray tree frogs, females prefer male
calls of long duration. My work shows
that long calls indicate high genetic quality that can lead to enhanced
offspring performance, and that the ecological conditions experienced by the
offspring can affect this relationship between male call duration and offspring
performance.
In order for male displays to signal genetic quality that can provide a genetic benefit of mate choice, display traits must be linked, genetically and functionally, with offspring fitness. To understand how male displays serve as indicators of genetic quality, I am investigating functional relationships between male quality, call production, and offspring growth and development in gray tree frogs. Work with undergraduate collaborators has linked male call duration with offspring feeding behavior and offspring lipid stores, suggesting possible proximate bases for the link between sire call duration and offspring fitness. We are currently examining the effects of male body condition, social competition, and parasite load on call production to understand proximate factors that influence male attractiveness.
Students interested in collaborating are encouraged to contact me.
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Research
Publications
Teaching
CV |
Publications
Welch, A.
M. 2003.
Genetic consequences of a female mating preference in gray tree frogs
are context dependent. Evolution 57: 883-893. pdf
Doty, G. V.* and A. M. Welch. 2001.
Advertisement call duration indicates good genes for offspring feeding
rate in gray tree frogs (Hyla versicolor). Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 49:
150-156. * undergraduate coauthor pdf
Semlitsch, R.
D.,
Bultman, T.
L., A. M. Welch, R. A. Boning and T. I. Bowdish. 2000.
The cost of mutualism in a fly-fungus interaction. Oecologia 124: 85-90. pdf
Welch, A. M.,
R. D. Semlitsch and H. C. Gerhardt.
1998. The handy-dandy kitchen
device–Response. Science 282:
1994.
Welch, A. M.,
R. D. Semlitsch and H. C. Gerhardt.
1998. Call duration as an
indicator of genetic quality in male gray tree frogs. Science
280: 1928-1930. pdf
Bultman, T.
L., J. F. White Jr., T. I. Bowdish and A. M. Welch. 1998.
A new kind of mutualism between fungi and insects. Mycological
Research 102: 235-238.
Bultman, T.
L., J. F. White Jr., T. I. Bowdish, A. M. Welch and J. Johnston. 1995.
Mutualistic transfer of Epichloe
spermatia by Phorbia flies. Mycologia
87: 182-189.
Welch, A. M.
and T. L. Bultman. 1993. Natural release of Epichloe typhina ascospores and its temporal relationship to fly
parasitism. Mycologia 85: 756-763.
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Research
Publications
Teaching
CV |