Lisa McDonald
Research Interests
My dissertation research focuses on the way in which plant cardenolide chemistry influences the arthropod community of Apocynum cannabinum, Apocynum androsaemifolium, and their putative hybrid, Apocynum x floribundum. I am particularly interested in the specialist herbivores that feed on these toxic plants and sequester cardenolides from them for their own defense.
The primary topics my research addresses are:
- geographic variation in chemistry and morphology of the three plant taxa and the role this variation may play in arthropod community assembly
- the role that plant chemistry plays in structuring specialist herbivore populations
- heritability of cardenolide sequestration ability by a specialist herbivore, the dogbane tiger moth, Cycnia tenera.
Education
- 2000 - B.S., Central Michigan University
- 2004 - M.S., Central Michigan University
Contact Information
Lisa McDonald
Graduate Student
Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
569 Dabney Hall
University of Tennessee
Knoxville, TN 37996-1610
Phone:
(865) 974-6158
Fax: (865) 974-3067
Email: lisa.mcdonald@utk.edu