Collin Peterson

Collin Peterson

Feb 01, 2015

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Broadening our scope for a more complete phylogeography of aspen

Thanks to our knowledgeable backers, including scientists from the Washington Native Plant Society, geologists, and other aspen enthusiasts, new stands of aspens considered "Pleistocene relics" have been brought to our attention. For instance, the Northeast portion of the Olympic Mountains in Washington state escaped Pleistocene glaciation, acting as a refuge for herbaceous plants and aspen during the ice age. There are also aspen throughout western Washington (outside of the Missoula flood's path) whose relatedness to aspens in eastern Washington, the Olympics, and the Willamette Valley is unknown. Additionally, there is a "lost forest" of Ponderosa Pines near Fort Rock, OR, which also contains mysterious aspens. Due to geographic isolation, these stands have undergone unique environmental pressures, thus likely have unique genotypes. We hope to unveil this through sequencing.

In order to more wholly understand the origin of Willamette Valley aspen, we must understand their relatedness to aspen in nearby areas. If we receive enough funding, we hope to broaden our sampling scope to include these Pleistocene relics, giving us the ability not only to determine whether Willamette Valley aspen came with the Missoula floods, but also to establish a more complete phylogeography of west coast aspen, something which is currently poorly understood.

Here's a description of Fort Rock's "Lost Forest".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_Forest_Research_...


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About This Project

In the Willamette Valley, there are mysterious stands of aspen far separated from any other wild aspens, whose origin is completely unknown. We believe these trees were brought here by cataclysmic floods originating in Montana ≈15,000 years ago. Through in-depth genetic comparison of these “lost aspens" with others throughout the west, we can determine their origin. This could be the first study showing dispersal of any species by massive floods.

Blast off!

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