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David M. Green
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David M. Green
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I
employ evidence from biochemical and molecular genetic variation in frogs and
toads to decipher the relationships of species, the structure of populations,
and mechanisms of evolutionary change.
Compared to the attention given to the factors that influence population size and persistence, little has been paid to what determines the extent of a species' range. Yet population declines and species endangerment are only a facet of the greater issue of species range expansion and contraction. My research centres on species ranges and boundaries and thus looks beyond traditional population-level approaches to understanding biodiversity origins and maintenance. Range edge populations are reasoned to be genetically depauperate and isolated, and therefore prone to local extinction. These same parameters govern a species' endangerment and risk of decline thus a solid basis for assessing endangerment will benefit from comprehension of the range edge. The range edge is also predicted to be limited by gene flow from the range centre constraining local adaptation.
Amphibian
species are demonstrably in global decline and they often have complex local
or regional population dynamics. They are excellent subjects for ecology, conservation
biology, and molecular genetics as they exhibit a range of life history strategies
and breed in discrete sites such as ponds where they are easily sampled. They
are not highly mobile and have characteristic patterns of dispersal. I am analyzing
ecological data and genetic variation to estimate population structure and gene
flow, as a measure of dispersal, in common and endangered species of frogs,
toads and salamanders in Canada and in the tropics.
My continuing study of Fowler's toads (Bufo fowleri) at Long Point, Ontario has now run continuously for over two decades. It has charted how the number of animals has fluctuated, how radical year-to-year changes in age structure depend upon recruitment of juveniles and winter survival, and how far and fast both adults and juveniles disperse. Through this work, Fowler's toad is the one of the most thoroughly studied of amphibians. I chair the Recovery Team for Fowler's Toad, a federally recognized Threatened species in Canada.
By seeking to understanding range edge populations more fully, my research program aims towards understanding the biology of extinctions, the persistence of populations, and the conservation of species.
I am the former
Chair of the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC),
which determines the conservation status of Canadian wildlife, and current Co-chair
of its Amphibians and Reptiles Specialist Subcommittee. I am also formerly a member of the Science Advisory Council of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (Canada). I am Canadian of the IUCN Amphibian Specialist Group, an international network of professionals and volunteers organized to survey, map and monitor amphibian populations across the globe. I am a former President of the Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles (SSAR).
Lecture Courses
REDM
400 Science and Museums
Field Courses
BIOL 328 Biological Diversity in East Africa
BIOL 329 East African Ecology
NRSC 300 Natural History in East Africa
Current Graduate Students
Jay Ploss- M.Sc. (2007 - )
Modelling and mapping habitat for Spring salamanders
Jean-Sebastien Roy - M.Sc. (2006 - )
Nuclear vs. cytoplasmic genetic variation in hybridizing toads
Trond Sigurdsen- Ph.D.. (2003 - )
Evolutionary origins of modern amphibians
Vanessa Kilburn - M.Sc. (2005 - )
Epidemiology of chytridiomycosis in Panamanian frogs
Marie-Pier Prairie - M.Sc. (2005 - )
Landscape ecology of an amphibian community
Shavonne
Meyer - M.Sc. 2007 Julie
Lee-Yaw - M.Sc. 2007 Tricia
Markle - M.Sc. 2006 Arthur
Whiting - M.Sc. 2004. Jacqueline Brinkman
- M.Sc. 1999.
Previous Students
Landscape history, dispersal and the genetic structure of amphibian populations.
The phylogeographic history of the wood frog (Rana sylvatica)
Phylogeography of salamander populations
Population ecology of Western Chorus frogs, Pseudacris triseriata
Alex
Smith - Ph.D. (1999 - ).
Population ecology and genetics of Fowler's toads, Bufo fowleri.
Leslie Bol - M.Sc. 2002.
Amphibian recruitment success at a landscape scale
Heather
Gray - Ph.D. 2000.
Biological
significance of colour pattern and variation in the green poison frog, Dendrobates
auratus.
Structure and evolution of supernumerary chromosomes in the Pacific giant salamander,
Dicamptodon tenebrosus.
Timothy F. Sharbel - M.Sc. 1996.
Molecular genetic composition, origin,and evolution of B-chromosomes in the
frog Leiopelma hochstetteri.
Clifford W. Zeyl - Ph.D. 1996.
Sex, parasitic DNA, and adaptation in experimental populations of Saccharomyes
cerevisiae and Chlamydamonas reinhardtii.
Hinrich Kaiser - Ph.D. 1993.
"Systematics and biogeography of eastern Caribbean frogs".
Clifford W. Zeyl - M.Sc. 1991.
"Genome evolution in the primitive frog, Leiopelma hochstetteri."
Carol A. Maine - M.Sc. 1991.
"Newtonian cooling and reptilian thermal ecology."
Green, D.M. 2009. The future of amphibians. Chapter 14, In R.L. Carroll, The Rise of Amphibians. John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London. (In press)
Räsänen, K. and D.M. Green . 2008. Acidification and its effects on amphibian populations. In Amphibian Biology, Volume 8. Conservation and Ecology. H. Heatwole (ed.), Surrey Beatty and Sons, Chipping Norton, Australia. (in press).
Lee_Yaw, J.A., J.T. Irwin and D.M. Green . 2008. Post_glacial range expansion from northern refugia by the wood frog, Rana sylvatica. Molecular Ecology 17:867–884.
Green, D.M . and S. K. Sessions. 2007. Karyology and Cytogenetics. pp. 2756-2841. In Amphibian Biology, Volume 7. Systematics. H. Heatwole and M. Tyler (eds.), Surrey Beatty and Sons, Chipping Norton, Australia. Frost, D.R. T. Grant, J.Faivovich, R.H. Bain, A. Haas, C.F.B. Haddad, R.O. de Sa, A. Channing, M. Wilkinson, S.C. Donnellan, C.J. Raxworthy, J.A. Campbell, B.L. Blotto, P. Moler , R.C. Drewes, R.A. Nussbaum, J.D. Lynch, D.M. Green, and W.C. Wheeler. 2007. Is The Amphibian Tree of Life really fatally flawed? Cladistics 23:1-11.
Teske, P.R., S.A. Lourie, C.A. Matthee and D.M. Green . 2007. Hippocampus queenslandicus Horne, 2001 - a new seahorse species or yet another synonym? Australian J. Zool. 53:139-145.
Smith, M.A, and D.M. Green . 2006. Sex, isolation and fidelity: unbiased long distance dispersal in a terrestrial amphibian. Ecography 29:649-658.
Frost, D.R., T. Grant, J. Faivovich, R. Bain, A. Haas, C.F.B. Haddad, R. de Sá, A. Channing, M. Wilkinson, S.C. Donnellan, C. Raxworthy, J.A. Campbell, B.L. Blotto, P. Moler, R.C. Drewes, R.A. Nussbaum, J.D. Lynch, D.M. Green and W. Wheeler. 2006. The amphibian tree of life. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 297:1-370
Green, D.M. 2005. Designatable units for status assessment of endangered species. Conservation Biology 19:1813-1820.
Ouellet, M., I. Mikaelian,, B.D. Pauli, J. Rodrigue, and D.M. Green. 2005. Historical evidence of widespread chytrid infection in North American amphibian populations. Conservation Biology 19:1431-1440.
Lourie, S.A., D.M. Green and A.C.J. Vincent. 2005. Dispersal, habitat differences and comparative phylogeography of Southeast Asian seahorses seahorses (Syngnathidae: Hippocampus). Molecular Ecology 14:1073-1094.
Green, D.M. 2005. Designatable units for status assessment of endangered species. Conservation Biology 19:1813-1820
Ouellet, M., I. Mikaelian,, B.D. Pauli, J. Rodrigue, and D.M. Green . 2005. Historical evidence of widespread chytrid infection in North American amphibian populations. Conservation Biology 19:1431-1440
Smith, M.A, and D.M. Green . 2005. Are all amphibian populations metapopulations? Dispersal and the metapopulation paradigm in amphibian ecology. Ecography 28:110-128
Carroll, R.L., J. Irwin and D.M. Green . 2005. Thermal physiology and the origin of terrestriality in vertebrates. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 143:345-358
Green, D.M. 2005. The biology of amphibian declines. pp. 58 - 72. In Declining Amphibians: a United States’ Response to the Global Phenomenon. M.J. Lannoo (ed.). University of California Press, Berkeley.
Smith, M.A, and D.M. Green . 2004. Phylogeography of Bufo fowleri at its northern range limit. Molecular Ecology (in press)
Green, D.M.
2004. Structure and evolution of B-chromosomes in amphibians. Cytogenetic and
Genome Research 106:235-242
Green, D.M. 2003. The ecology of extinction: population fluctuation and decline in amphibians. Biological Conservation. 111:331-343.
Green, D.M., and C. Parent. 2003. Variable and asymmetric introgression in a hybrid zone in the toads, Bufo americanus and B. fowleri. Copeia 2003:34-43.
Blaustein, A.R., T.L. Root, J. M. Kiesecker, L.K. Belden, D.H. Olson and D.M. Green,. 2002. Amphibian phenology and climate change. Conservation Biology 16:1454-1455.
Green, D.M. 2002. Chromosome polymorphism in Archey's Frog (Leiopelma archeyi) from New Zealand. Copeia 2002:204-207.
Blaustein, A.R., L.K. Belden, D.H. Olson, D.M. Green, T.L. Root and J. M. Kiesecker. 2001. Amphibian breeding and climate change. Conservation Biology 15:1804-1809.
Freedman, W., L. Roger, P. Ewins and D.M. Green. 2001. Species at risk in Canada. pp. 26-48. in Politics of the Wild. R. Boardman and K.Beazley (eds.). Oxford Univ. Press., Don Mills, Ontario.
Green, D.M. 2000 How do amphibians go extinct? Pp. 29-35. in L. Darling (ed.), Proc. Biology and Management of Species and Habitats at Risk. British Columbia Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks, Victoria.
Brinkman, J.N., S.K. Sessions, A. Houben, and D.M. Green. 2000. Structure and evolution of supernumerary chromosomes in the Pacific Giant salamander, Dicamptodon tenebrosus. Chromosome Research 8:477-485
Abourachid, A. and D.M. Green. 1999. Origins of the frog-kick? Alternate-leg swimming in primitive frogs, familes Leiopelmatidae and Ascaphidae. Journal of Herpetology. 33:657-663.
Sharbel, T.F., D.M. Green, and A. Houben. 1998. B chromosome origin in the endemic New Zealand frog Leiopelma hochstetteri through sex chromosome devolution. Genome 41:14-22.
Green, D.M. 1997. Perspectives on amphibian population declines: defining the problem and searching for answers. Herpetological Conservation 1:291-308.
Website
composed by David M. Green
Last updated 23 February, 2008
Illustrations not to be used without permission
 Redpath
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