https://meep-lab.com/tag/trait-evolution/Trait EvolutionWowchemy (https://wowchemy.com)en-ushttps://meep-lab.com/media/logo.svghttps://meep-lab.com/tag/trait-evolution/https://meep-lab.com/ongoing/cosexuality/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://meep-lab.com/ongoing/cosexuality/<p>Mosses have diverse reproductive systems, making them useful for studying how sexual strategies evolve. This project examines transitions among reproductive modes in mosses, with a focus on connections among sexual system, genome structure, and chromosome evolution. We are especially interested in cases where mosses depart from separate male and female functions and evolve cosexual or otherwise complex reproductive strategies. Using comparative genomics, phylogenetic approaches, and analyses of reproductive traits, this work asks how often these transitions occur, what genomic changes accompany them, and whether similar evolutionary patterns appear across independent moss lineages. A related part of this project explores sex chromosomes and intragenomic conflict in mosses, asking how reproductive traits and genome evolution influence one another over evolutionary time. Together, this research connects moss reproductive biology to larger questions about trait evolution, genome evolution, and the origins of biological diversity.</p>https://meep-lab.com/ongoing/systematics/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://meep-lab.com/ongoing/systematics/<p>Western North America is home to diverse and ecologically important mosses in the genus <em>Syntrichia</em>, including species that dominate biological soil crusts, tolerate extreme drying, and occupy a wide range of dryland and montane habitats. This project investigates relationships among western <em>Syntrichia</em> lineages, with an emphasis on species complexes where morphology, geography, ecology, and evolutionary history may not tell the same story. We use field collections, herbarium material, genomic data, and comparative analyses to clarify patterns of relatedness, population structure, and trait variation. A major goal is to understand how evolutionary history and environmental variation interact to shape traits involved in stress tolerance, reproduction, and habitat use. This work also incorporates controlled growth studies to distinguish flexible environmental responses from more fixed differences among lineages or populations. This project connects moss systematics with questions about adaptation, biogeography, and the evolution of survival strategies in dry and variable environments.</p>