Mitchell, NoraUniversity of Minnesota Duluth. Department of Biology2021-01-132021-01-132020https://hdl.handle.net/11299/217753Department of Biology Seminar by Nora Mitchell, Assistant Professor at University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire, Friday, October 16, 2020, at 3:00 pm on Zoom, hosted by: Dr. Briana GrossCharismatic megafauna may dominate the posters of conservation agencies, but charismatic megaFLORA are excellent and attention-grabbing taxa for esearching [sic] the ecology and volution [sic] of plants. Understanding the evolution and function of diversity in a group as large and varied as flowering plants requires evidence at many taxonomic, geographic, and temporal scales. I combine approaches from the microevolutionary to macroevolutionary scales to understand the history of two iconic plants: Protea of South Africa and Helianthus (sunflowers) of Texas. Using a combination of population genomics and phylogenomics, I find evidence for cryptic hybridization and species-level relationship in Protea that allow for a deeper understanding of trait evolution. I use experimental evolution to show that hybridization speeds adaptive evolution in Texas sunflowers, and phylogenetic comparative studies to place the role of hybridization in adaptive evolution in a larger context. Both of these systems allow for investigation into the mechanisms generating the astonishing diversity of plants.en-USPostersUniversity of Minnesota DuluthBiology SeminarsSeminarsDepartment of BiologyVirtual eventsOther