Invasion Biology
Biological invasions are one of the greatest threats to native biodiversity and ecosystems. Invasions are also wonderful large-scale unplanned natural experiments to observe and quantify contemporary evolution in the wild. Work in the SEEC Lab focuses on model systems of the northern pike invasion to Southcentral Alaska and introductions of salmonids around the globe.
Select SEEC Lab Papers
Westley, P.A.H, E.J. Ward, and I.A. Fleming. 2012* Fine-scale local adaptation in an invasive freshwater fish has evolved in contemporary time. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 280: 20122327.
Westley, P.A.H. 2011. What invasive species reveal about the rate and form of contemporary phenotypic change in nature. American Naturalist 177: 496-509.
Muhlfeld, C. C., R. P. Kovach, R. Al-Chokhachy, S. J. Amish, J. L. Kershner, R. F. Leary, W. H. Lowe, G. Luikart, P. Matson, D. A. Schmetterling, B. B. Shepard, P. A. H. Westley, D. Whited, A. Whiteley, and F. W. Allendorf. 2017. Legacy introductions and climatic variation explain spatiotemporal patterns of invasive hybridization in a native trout. Global Change Biology 23: 4663-4674.