John N Thompson

About

The page provides a list of lab members and visitors associated with The John N Thompson Lab, which focuses on coevolution and the organization of biodiversity. The lab's research encompasses several major problems related to coevolution, including the spatial scale of coevolutionary mosaics, specialization, adaptation, speciation, and the genomic structure of coevolution. It also investigates the evolution of complex traits and correlations in coevolving interactions, as well as links to other evolutionary and ecological processes. The lab explores coevolution in large webs of interacting species, emphasizing the geographic mosaic of coevolutionary patterns. The research aims to understand the organization and dynamics of biodiversity through these various lenses.

Research topics

• Biology
• Ecology
• Evolutionary biology
• Genetics
• Botany
• Zoology

Selected publications

• Indirect effects drive coevolution in mutualistic networks

  Nature · 2017-10-01 · 305 citations

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• The geographic mosaic of coevolution in mutualistic networks

  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 2018-11-07 · 112 citations

  articleOpen access

  Ecological interactions shape adaptations through coevolution not only between pairs of species but also through entire multispecies assemblages. Local coevolution can then be further altered through spatial processes that have been formally partitioned in the geographic mosaic theory of coevolution. A major current challenge is to understand the spatial patterns of coadaptation that emerge across ecosystems through the interplay between gene flow and selection in networks of interacting species…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Extreme diversification of floral volatiles within and among species of<i>Lithophragma</i>(Saxifragaceae)

  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 2019-02-14 · 82 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Significance A major challenge in biology is to understand how complex traits important for ecological interactions between species coevolve and diversify across contrasting ecosystems. Floral scents are complex, and are often composed of a diverse array of chemicals important for interactions between plants and pollinators, herbivores, and microbial symbionts. We studied diversification of floral scents among populations of all woodland star species ( Lithophragma ) across far-western North Ame…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Indirect effects shape species fitness in coevolved mutualistic networks

  Nature · 2023 · 33 citations

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Coevolution Creates Complex Mosaics across Large Landscapes

  The American Naturalist · 2019-04-26 · 26 citations

  articleOpen accessCorresponding

  The spatial distribution of populations can influence the evolutionary outcome of species interactions. The variation in direction and strength of selection across local communities creates geographic selection mosaics that, when combined with gene flow and genomic processes such as genome duplication or hybridization, can fuel ongoing coevolution. A fundamental problem to solve is how coevolution proceeds when many populations that vary in their ecological outcomes are connected across large la…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• Evolution of Specificity in Insect/Plant Interactions

  NSF · $356k · 1991–1994

• The geographic mosaic of coevolving plant-insect lineages

  NSF · $641k · 2009–2015

• Evolution of Specificity in Insect/Plant Interactions: The Relationship of Oviposition Preference and Larval Performance

  NSF · $241k · 1987–1991

Frequent coauthors

• Ingrid M. Parker

  University of California, Santa Cruz

  30 shared

• Joel E. Cohen

  30 shared

• Robert J. Cabin

  25 shared

• Pamela O’Neil

  University of New Orleans

  25 shared

• Paulo R. Guimarães

  Universidade de São Paulo

  25 shared

• Jane Molofsky

  25 shared

• Fred W. Allendorf

  University of Montana

  25 shared

• Syndallas Baughman

  University of Vermont

  25 shared

Education

• PhD

  University of Illinois System

  1977

Awards & honors

• Darwin-Wallace Medal for Major Contributions to Evolutionary…
• Per Brinck Oikos Award for Contributions to the Science of E…
• Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Sc…
• Fellow of the California Academy of Sciences
• Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Letters

Similar researchers at University of California, Santa Cruz

• Beth Alison Shapiroh-89
• Auston Marmaduke Kilpatrickh-83
• Peter T Raimondih-61