Featured Publications

  • Life Histories and Arms Races

    Do differences in lifespan influence the evolution of mutualisms? A new model considers this questions for plants and pollinators.

    Download the paper

  • Variability and Predictability

    Do some species bet on uncertainty? A study using the Niwot LTER sensor network array tests if fluctuations predict where plants live in the alpine.

    Download the paper

  • Dispersal in Patchy Landscapes

    Do habitat characteristics shape a plant’s dispersal strategy? An empirical test of theoretical predictions in California vernal pool goldfields.

    Download the paper

Seed dispersal and dormancy

Do seed dispersal strategies reflect adaptation to environmental variability?
Van Den Elzen, C., N. Sigman, and N.C. Emery. 2023. Functional Ecology 37 (7): 1922-1934. DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.14336.

Dispersal Evolution in Temporally Variable Environments: Implications for Plant Range Dynamics.
Oldfather, M.F., C.L. Van Den Elzen, P. Heffernan, and N.C. Emery. 2021. American Journal of Botany 108 (9): 1584-1594. DOI: 10.1002/ajb2.1739

Geographic variation in dispersal distance facilitates range expansion of a lakeshore plant in response to climate change.
LaRue, E., N.C. Emery, L. Briley and M.R. Christie. 2019. Diversity and Distributions 25:1429-1440. DOI: 10.1111/ddi.12951

Habitat specialization in extreme environments

Divergent community trajectories with climate change across a fine-scale gradient in snow depth.
Oldfather, M. F., S. C. Elmendorf, ‡E. Van Cleemput, J. J. Henn, J. D. Huxley, C. T. White, H. C. Humphries, Marko J. Spasojevic, Katharine N. Suding, Nancy C. Emery. 2023. Journal of Ecology 112: 126–137. DOI: 10.1111/1365-2745.14223

Demographic responses of hybridizing cinquefoils to changing climate in the Colorado Rocky Mountains.
Carscadden, K.A., M. Oldfather, D. Doak, and N.C. Emery. 2023. Evolution & Ecology. DOI:https://doi-org.colorado.idm.oclc.org/10.1002/ece3.10097

Climate variation influences flowering time overlap in a pair of hybridizing montane plants.
Carscadden, K.A., D. Doak, and N.C. Emery. 2022. Western North American Naturalist 82 (1): 128-145. DOI: 10.3398/064.082.0112

Evolutionary-informed conservation strategies

Eco-evolutionary dynamics in restored communities and ecosystems.
LaRue, E., S. Chambers, and N.C. Emery. 2017. Restoration Ecology 25 (1): 19-26. DOI: 10.1111/rec.12458

Evolution of plant materials for restoration: Insights from the applied and basic literature.
Espeland, E.K., N.C. Emery, K.L. Mercer, S.A. Woolbright, K.M. Kettenring, P.L. Gepts, and J.R. Etterson. 2017. Journal of Applied Ecology 54 (1): 102-115. DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.12739

The population biology of mitigation: impacts of habitat creation on an endangered plant species.
Halbur, M.M., C.M. Sloop, M.J. Zanis and N.C. Emery. 2014. Conservation Genetics 15 (3): 679-695