Research

Hawaii Dimensions of Biodiversity  We are using the Hawaii Island chronosequence to understand out how communities of arthropods assemble over time, and particularly the relative roles and timing of ecological processes (migrating into a community, trophic levels) and evolutionary processes (adaptation and speciation).  Rosemary Gillespie, Berkeley Evolab, and colleagues from University of Maryland, Cornell, British Museum, and University of Hawaii

Adaptive evolution and community assembly of island spiders  We have multiple projects including adaptive radiation of Hawaiian Tetragnatha spiderscolor polymorphism in Hawaiian Happy Face spidersadaptive radiation of Hawaiian Ariamnes spiders, and studies on spiders from different islands systems in the Pacific & Indian oceans. Ashley Adams, Susan Kennedy, Henrik Krehenwinkel, and Rosemary Gillespie

Island Digital Ecosystem Avatars (IDEA) Project:  Moorea   The IDEA Project is attempting to digitize an entire island ecosystem from ‘genes to satellites’, to build advanced computational models of a range of complex socio-ecological systems, particularly islands (coupled natural-human systems) and cities (built environment).  George Roderick and colleagues from CRIOBE-CNRS-EPHE, ETH Zürich, and Oxford.

Moorea Biocode  The Moorea Biocode is the first comprehensive inventory of all non-microbial life in a complex tropical ecosystem.  George Roderick and Jeremy Andersen and based at UC’s Gump South Pacific Research Station in French Polynesia.

Pacific Peperomia This project uses a phylogenomic approaches to unravel the origins and biogeography of one of most diverse angiosperm radiations in the Pacific.  Jun Ying Lim.

Habitat evolution in the Hawaiian flora  This project examines the interplay between habitat evolution, dispersal and diversification in the diverse and unique Hawaiian flora, using novel hierarchical Bayesian models. Jun Ying Lim

Spolas parasitoids of Hawaii  Wasps in the genus Spolas play an important, yet unknown role in control of native insects of Hawaii. Natalie Graham and Bob Peck

Insect parasitoids of the Big Island, Hawaii  We are using collections, rearing, and metabarcoding of gut contents to understand the role of parasitoids in Hawaiian biological communities.  Natalie Graham with collaborators Bob Peck, Pat Conant, Paul Banks, and Savannah Miller

Diffuse interactions between invasive and native species  Invasive and native species have unpredictable impacts on pollination networks in Hawaii contain Jennifer Imamura and George Roderick

Assessing the importance of invasive species in native ecosystems  We are using metabarcoding and machine learning to understand the importance of invasive species.  Noriyuki Suzuki, Henrik Krehenwinkel, Jeremy Andersen, George Roderick, Rosemary Gillespie

Biodiversity Inventory of Spiders of Sulawesi, Indonesia. In 2015 we received a NSF grant for a “Biotic Inventory of Terrestrial Vertebrates, Spiders, and Haemosporidian Parasites of Sulawesi, Indonesia” (PI Jim McGuire, co-PIs Rauri Bowie, Rosemary Gillespie, Susan Perkins (AMNH)). The first expedition was in summer 2016, when Pete Oboyski represented the arthropod contingent from Berkeley. Anna Holmquist now has a NSF GRFP to study the spiders of the island, and finished her first expedition in September 2017. Anna Holmquist, Rosemary Gillespie

Chemical recognition in spiders  This project investigates the role of chemical cues in the speciation and adaptive radiation of Hawaiian Tetragnatha spiders in the context of inter- and intra-species interactions (species and mate recognition). Ashley Adams

How do spiders choose different substrates?  This project investigates the role of chemical cues in the speciation and adaptive radiation of Hawaiian Tetragnatha spiders in the context of environmental interactions organisms have with their surrounding abiotic environment. Jenny Xu, Ashley Adams

Role of invasive plants on Hawaiian arthropods  Gregg Stephenson, Ashley Adams

Venom and its role in spider mating,  Shuanger Li, Ashley Adams

Evolution of silk genes in non-web building Tetragnatha spiders  Cory Berger, Ashley Adams

Repeated evolution of elongated leg spines in the green spiny-legged Tetragnatha spiders  Anna Wood, Ashley Adams

Biocontrol retrospectives, George Roderick and Jeremy Andersen

Tetragnatha multilocus phylogeny, Susan Kennedy

Spider gut contents, Susan Kennedy

Spider microbiomes, Susan Kennedy, Sophia Tsau