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Allison Welch Assistant Professor Department of Biology (843) 953-5451 |
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Teaching
● Bio 211: Biodiversity, Ecology and Conservation Biology
● Bio 334: Herpetology
Research
Students interested in
research opportunities in my lab are encouraged to contact me.
My research focuses on the ecology
and evolution of behaviors and signals involved in mate choice. In particular, I am examining how the genetic
consequences of mate choice drive the evolution of male signals and female
preferences. To address this question, I
use ecological experiments, quantitative genetics, tests of functional
mechanisms, and behavioral studies in my research with gray tree frogs (Hyla versicolor and H. chrysoscelis). My overall
goal is to understand how natural selection, environmental variation, genetic
variation, and functional constraints interact to influence the evolution of a
complex set of traits.
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Females can enhance the genetic
quality of their offspring by mating with males with high genetic quality. This genetic benefit predicts the evolution
of female preferences for male traits that signal genetic quality. In gray tree frogs, females prefer male
calls of long duration. My work shows
that long calls indicate high genetic quality that can lead to enhanced
offspring performance, and that the ecological conditions experienced by the
offspring can affect this relationship between male call duration and offspring
performance.
In order for male displays to signal genetic quality that can provide a genetic benefit of mate choice, display traits must be linked, genetically and functionally, with offspring fitness. To understand how male displays serve as indicators of genetic quality, I am investigating functional relationships between male quality, call production, and offspring growth and development in gray tree frogs. Work with undergraduate collaborators has linked male call duration with offspring feeding behavior and offspring lipid stores, suggesting possible proximate bases for the link between sire call duration and offspring fitness. We are currently examining the effects of male body condition, social competition, and parasite load on call production to understand proximate factors that influence male attractiveness.