LOWER LAKE – "When the Darwinian struggle for existence is more like a cakewalk: how mild conditions and helpful neighbors influence the evolution of plants" is the free lecture that will be presented at the McLaughlin Reserve on Saturday, June 20.

It will be presented by Dr. Erin K. Espeland, USDA ARS, Northern Plains Agricultural Laboratory, Pest Management Research Unit of Sidney, Mont.

Evolution through natural selection is constantly occurring all around us. Historically people have thought of biological evolution as occurring along time lines of hundreds of thousands of years, but examples such as the accumulation of herbicide resistance in weed species have taught us to think about evolution on human time scales.

The intimacy with which plants respond to their environment, and how populations evolve as a result of this response, is a fascinating way to examine evolutionary processes over short periods of time. Plants tend to occur near other plants, either of the same species or of different species.

Interactions between plants have traditionally been thought of as competitive, with each plant preventing others’ access to water, nutrients, and light. However, it also turns out that plants can actually help one another survive. This positive interaction in survivorship is not only a force of natural selection, but it can also streamline the process of adaptation in a more general way.

Not all plant populations are equal in their ability to adapt, and plant populations have very different evolutionary challenges compared to animal populations.

In a conservation and restoration context, we see that many plant populations will need to undergo adaptive evolution in order to persist when faced with new pest invasions and with climate change.

Dr. Espeland's research at McLaughlin reserve helps us understand that some environmental factors are more important than others in driving evolution in plant populations, and these factors can affect both the direction and the rate of adaptation.

For more information call 707-995-9005, e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit

http://nrs.ucdavis.edu/mcl/index.html .

UC Davis - McLaughlin Reserve is located at 26775 Morgan Valley Road, Lower Lake.