Systematics
Pressures of development, particularly in tropical countries, are causing an alarming increase in the rate of species extinction, making the current resurgence in systematics especially timely. Given the reasonable estimate that systematists have only discovered and named perhaps 10% of the species on earth, and the fact that only a tiny fraction of those species have been studied in any detail, there is much work to be done in a short time. Many species will go extinct before we even know them; it is no wonder that systematists feel as though they are watching a huge, diverse library burn down before a card catalog has been prepared (or before anyone has read even 1% of the books!). Newly developed methods for data gathering and analysis of phylogenetic relationships position us on the threshold of a deep understanding of the history of the biological world. Loss of biological diversity is thus a disaster, both from an economic standpoint (How many organisms useful for food, medicine, or technology will go extinct?) and from a broader intellectual standpoint (How did the diversity of species come to be the way it is?).
- Chicita F Culberson, Senior Research Scientist
Identification and chemistry of lichen products - Clifford Cunningham, Professor
Evolution and biogeography of marine invertebrates - Mary W. Eubanks, Adjunct Professor
Maize Evolution and Improvement - Francois M Lutzoni, Associate Professor
Evolution of symbiotic systems - Paul S Manos, Professor
Systematics and phylogeography of flowering plants - John M Mercer, Associate Professor Of The Practice
Molecular evolution, Evolution, Mathematical biology, Morphometrics - Kathleen M. Pryer, Professor
Evolutionary biology of early land plants - V. Louise Roth, Associate Professor
Morphological and molecular evolution in mammals: size, shape, and ontogeny - Richard R Searles, Professor Emeritus
Seaweed flora of the Southeastern US and the Caribbean. - Jonathan Shaw, Professor
Evolution and diversity of bryophytes - Rytas Vilgalys, Professor
Phylogenetic systematics and molecular evolution in fungi - Richard A White, University Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus and University Marshal
Comparative anatomy of vascular plants - Robert L Wilbur, Professor Emeritus
Systematics of vascular plants - Anne D. Yoder, Professor and Director, Duke Lemur Center
Phylogeny and evolution of mammals, ; conservation genetics; historical biogeography and biodiversity of Madagascar
Duke Biology Box 90338 Durham, NC 27708 Phone: 919-660-7372 Fax: 919-660-7293