Daniel Anstett

I am studying rapid evolution to climate change in scarlet monkeyflower, Mimulus cardinalis. In particular, I am investigating evidence of adaptation to severe drought throughout California and Oregon, using range-wide seed collections spanning six years. This is done by measuring resistance to drought throughout and traits that mediate drought performance in a greenhouse. These results will be placed in demographic models to associated real population demography with adaptive evolution. I will also be measuring evolution to drought at the molecular level through next-generation sequencing approaches. 

I am also interested in the biogeography of species interactions and continental differences in the traits that mediate these interactions. In particular I have studied latitudinal gradients in herbivory and plant defence throughout my Ph.D. I am also actively involved in studying plant chemical defence evolution in Onagraceae, and evolution of chemical defence genes across latitudinal gradients.