Part 1, Plant Evolution and Bird Migration

In the weeks to follow, I will introduce you to why this plant evolutionary biologist studies birds. This adaptation of a talk that I gave at a symposium featured at the Botany 2016 conference shows unexpected linkages between plant evolution and bird migration.

The map in the slide above (click to enlarge) shows connections between temperate regions of western North America and western South America. Areas adjacent to the Pacific Ocean within these regions have Mediterranean climates. Precipitation falls mostly in the winter; and in some parts of California, there is on average no precipitation in the summer.

Shown in the slide:

Pectoral Sandpiper (lower left)
Baird’s Sandpiper (upper middle)
Leptosiphon ambiguus (upper left)
Navarretia paradoxiclara (upper right)