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Research Synopsis:

My research lies at the interface of ecology, evolution, and behavior. In all of my work, I rely heavily on experimentation with natural populations. Additionally, I utilize laboratory experiments, theoretical modeling, and population genetic analyses.

The overarching goal of my research is to understand how behavior facilitates population and evolutionary diversification. Because mate choice is a potent selective force that can be critical in the formation of novel phenotypes and new species, I focus on the evolution of mating behavior and its role in ecological and evolutionary processes. In particular, I seek to understand why individuals choose the mates they do and evaluate how individual mate choice decisions promote evolutionary diversification. My research is especially directed at understanding the selective dynamics affecting the evolution of mating behaviors in potential hybrid zones and the role mating behavior plays in the speciation process.

My research also addresses how parasites affect the evolution of host behaviors and courtship traits. An extended goal of this research is to examine how host behaviors affect the population dynamics of pathogens and their evolution. Because hosts of the same species can differ radically in physiology and behavior (e.g., males and females differ in both), pathogens face a potentially unpredictable selective environment among different host types. Addressing how pathogens respond to such variation evolutionarily is a goal of my research.
 

Representative Publications:

Pfennig, K. S., A. J. Chunco and A. C. Reynolds. 2007. Ecological selection and relative hybrid fitness: hybrids succeed on parental resources. Evolutionary Ecology Research 9: 341-354.

Pfennig, K. S. and M. J. Ryan. 2007. Character displacement and the evolution of mate choice: an artificial neural network approach. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 362: 411-419.

Pfennig, K. S. and M. J. Ryan. 2006. Reproductive character displacement generates reproductive isolation among conspecific populations: an artificial neural network study. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 273: 1361-1368.

Pfennig, K. S. and D. W. Pfennig. 2005. Character displacement as the “best of a bad situation”: reduced fitness resulting from selection to minimize resource and mate competition. Evolution 59: 2200-2208.

Pfennig, K. S. 2003. A test of alternative hypotheses for the evolution of reproductive isolation between spadefoot toads: support for the reinforcement hypothesis. Evolution 57: 2842-2851

Pfennig, K. S. and M. A. Simovich. 2002. Differential selection to avoid hybridization in two toad species. Evolution 56: 1840-1848.

Pfennig, K. S. and R. C. Tinsley. 2002. Different mate preferences by parasitized and unparasitized females reduces sexual selection. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 15: 399-406.

Pfennig, K. S. 2001. Evolution of pathogen virulence: the role of variation in host phenotype. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B 268: 755-760.

Pfennig, K. S. 2000. Female spadefoot toads compromise on mate quality to ensure conspecific matings. Behavioral Ecology 11: 220-227.

Pfennig, K. S., K. Rapa and R. McNatt. 2000. Evolution of male mating behavior: male spadefoot toads preferentially associate with conspecific males. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 48: 69-74.

Pfennig, K. S. 1998. The evolution of mate choice and the potential for conflict between species and mate-quality recognition. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B 265: 1743-1748.