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RESEARCH INTERESTS
Plant Evolution-the genus Mimulus
new Mimulus species in Mexico
chromosome numbers of Mimulus
inter-crossability of Mimulus species
population dynamics of Mimulus guttatus in relation to Global Warming
PUBLICATIONS
I am growing plants of little-known and apparently new species of Mimulus from the north western Mexico. They were collected and kindly supplied by Dr. Toni Van Devender of the Desert Museum, Tucson, AZ. The two dozen populations are being grown under uniform conditions and compared morphologically. Their chromosome numbers are being ascertained (n=16 and n=32, so far). The various populations are being intercrossed (strong crossing barriers, so far). Earlier studies revealed three new species in north western Mexico (published).
I am studying the "fail-safe" pollination mechanisms in Mimulus verbenaceus. It grows by desert seeps where there are few, in any, pollinators. The flowers are found to self-pollinate successfully when the senesceing flowers slide down the pistil. The anthers brush the stigmas in the process. How the varying distances between the anthers and stigmas affects the amount of self-pollination is being studied presently.
For 30 years, I have been following the demography of 16 populations of Mimulus guttatus in the side canyons of Big Cottonwood Canyon, Salt Lake County, Utah. The populations increase in size, bud off new populations, decrease in size, go extinct, and move around in response to environmental factors-chiefly, shading and the availability of water. The directions of these changes coupled with the lengthening of the growing season provides a clear, local example of global warming.
Selected Publications
Vickery, R. K., Jr. (1999) Remarkable waxing, waning, and wandering of population of Mimulus guttatus: An unexpected example of global warming. Great Basin Naturalist 59: 112-126. A 25-year longitudinal study.
Vickery, R. K., Jr. (1997) A systematic study of the Mimulus wiensii complex (Scrophulariaceae: Mimulus section Simiolus, including M. yecorensis and minutiflorus, new species from Western Mexico, Madrono 44: 384-393.
Vickery, R. K., Jr. (1995) Speciation in Mimulus, or, can a simple flower color mutant lead to species divergence? Great Basin Naturalist 55: 177-180.
Symposium talk at the XV International Botanical Congress, Yokohama, Japan. Spet. 1993.
Vickery, R. K., Jr. (1995) Speciation by aneuploidy and polyploidy in Mimulus (Scrophulariaceae). Great Basin Naturalist 55: 174-176. Symposium talk at the National Institute of Genetics, Mishima, Japan. Sept. 1993.
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