Dissertation Research: Microevolutionary Dynamics and Conservation Genetics of the Rare Vernal Pool Sunflower Lasthenia Conjugens (Asteraceae)

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Vernal pools are ephemeral wetlands that are home to many endemic plants and animals.At Travis Air Force Base in California, a restoration project is in progress to create new vernalpools that will have similar levels of biological diversity as natural pools. The proposed researchfocuses on the federally endangered vernal pool endemic annual plant called "Contra Costagoldfields" (Lasthenia conjugens; Asteraceae). The primary goals of the proposed study are tocompare changes in levels and patterns of genetic variation over time in natural vs. artificialpools and to assess the relationship between insect-pollinator activity and genetic variation. Toachieve those goals, a kind of genetic fingerprinting technique will be used to measure geneticvariation and that information will be compared to information obtained by making detailedobservations of pollinator activity.The results of this research will have broad scientific implications and will help guideapplied, conservation management decisions. More broadly, this study will contribute to ourunderstanding of the genetics and evolution of species endemic to the unique and rapidlydisappearing vernal pools. Few detailed studies of any vernal pool species have ever beenconducted. From a conservation management perspective, this study will assess theeffectiveness of an ecological approach to habitat restoration in preserving the genetic integrityof a species and in preserving important plant-pollinator relationships.