The University of Arizona

Post-Doctoral Fellow

Alice worked at The University of Arizona as a Post-Doctoral Fellow

Ben Bolt-Palito Blanco ISD

Science Teacher

Taught Biology, Anatomy & Physiology, Environmental Systems and IPC

Falfurrias High School

Science Department Chair

Alice worked at Falfurrias High School as a Science Department Chair

Tx-ESA

Consultant

Environmental Consulting, Endangered Species Surveys, Native plant & water conserving landscape design

Texas A&M University-Kingsville

Associate Professor

Alice worked at Texas A&M University-Kingsville as a Associate Professor

South Texas Ambrosia, Ambrosia cheiranthifolia, Historical Perspective, Current Status, and Future Management.

Texas Academy of Science

South Texas Ambrosia, Ambrosia cheiranthifolia, Historical Perspective, Current Status, and Future Management.

Texas Academy of Science

Ecological requirements of Physaria thamnophila, an endangered Tamaulipan thornscrub plant.

Southwestern Naturalist

A significantly greater proportion of brush-cleared plots had the Zapata bladderpod Physaria thamnophila than did uncleared plots. However, density of P. thamnophila, especially density of seedlings, was correlated positively with a canopy-cover index on the four sites studied. These apparently contradictory results may have been due to facilitation of seeds and seedlings of P. thamnophila by litter. Litter, normally associated with shrubs, was spread across the site by brush-clearing. Beneficial effects of brush-clearing (without disruption of soil) on P. thamnophila suggest that fire may have been part of its environment in the past. The four populations of P. thamnophila that we studied fluctuated widely in size and in rates of reproduction and establishment from year to year

South Texas Ambrosia, Ambrosia cheiranthifolia, Historical Perspective, Current Status, and Future Management.

Texas Academy of Science

Ecological requirements of Physaria thamnophila, an endangered Tamaulipan thornscrub plant.

Southwestern Naturalist

A significantly greater proportion of brush-cleared plots had the Zapata bladderpod Physaria thamnophila than did uncleared plots. However, density of P. thamnophila, especially density of seedlings, was correlated positively with a canopy-cover index on the four sites studied. These apparently contradictory results may have been due to facilitation of seeds and seedlings of P. thamnophila by litter. Litter, normally associated with shrubs, was spread across the site by brush-clearing. Beneficial effects of brush-clearing (without disruption of soil) on P. thamnophila suggest that fire may have been part of its environment in the past. The four populations of P. thamnophila that we studied fluctuated widely in size and in rates of reproduction and establishment from year to year

Natural hybridization: How low can you go and still be important?

Ecology

This paper examines two assumptions that have formed the basis for much of the past and present work on hybrid zones. These assumptions derive from the observation that crosses between genetically divergent individuals (e.g., from different subspecies, species, etc.) often give rise to genotypes that are less fertile or less viable than those produced from crosses between genetically similar individuals. The first assumption is that natural hybridization will not affect the evolutionary history of the hybridizing forms because there is a low probability of producing novel genotypes with higher relative fitness. The second viewpoint is more extreme in that it assumes that all hybrid genotypes will be less fit. Even if rare gene flow does occur it will thus not contribute to patterns of diversification or adaptation because the hybrids will always be selected against. Examples from both plant and animal hybridization are discussed that are not consistent with these assumptions. Numerous instances of natural hybridization are used to demonstrate that extremely low fertility or viability of early-generation hybrids (e.g. F₁, F₂, B₁) does not necessarily prevent extensive gene flow and the establishment of new evolutionary lineages. In addition, it is demonstrated that various hybrid genotypes have equivalent or higher fitness than their parents in certain habitats.