Robert S. Boyd

Professor 

Plant Ecology

OFFICE: 026 Life Sciences Building
LAB: 004 Life Sciences Building

PHONE: (334) 844-1626 FAX: (334) 844-1645
e-mail: boydrob@auburn.edu



Boyd shows the Auburn flag on top of Mont Albert, Quebec, Canada, during post-conference
field trip of 6th International Conference on Serpentine Ecology, June 2008

Honors and Awards

Melanotrichus boydi, "Boyd's Black-Haired Bug," feeding on a flower (purple morph) of the Ni hyperaccumulator Streptanthus polygaloides

Editorial Boards

Research

Hyperaccumulation
I have a major interest in metal hyperaccumulators. These are plants that take unusually large amounts of metals into their tissues. Often they grow on soils derived from ultramafic (serpentine) rocks. My students and I are interested in exploring this phenomenon in several ways. First, we are exploring the function of hyperaccumulated metals, focussing primarily on their possible use in defense against plant natural enemies. We also want to learn about the ecosystem level consequences of metal hyperaccumulation. In surveys of arthropods from Ni hyperaccumulating plants from California, New Caledonia, and South Africa, we have found a number of high-Ni herbivores. These herbivores are mobilizing metal into local food webs.

We have two main on-going projects in this area:
  1. We are exploring the minimum levels of metals that can have defensive benefits for plants. One effort is using the polyphagous lep Spodoptera exigua as a "bioassay" organism. This is a collaborative project with Dr. Bill Moar of AU's Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology. 

    2.
  2. We are examining population-level variation in one of the few Ni hyperaccumulators known from continental North America, Streptanthus polygaloides. There is quite a bit of variation among populations of this species and so we are exploring that by studying morphological, molecular, and interbreeding aspects of these populations. Through these studies we plan on resolving the taxonomy of this group and gain perspectives on the evolution and spread of Ni hyperaccumulation in this plant. This is a collaborative project with Dr. Nishanta Rajakaruna at San Jose State University in California, and Kevin Burgess from Columbus State University in Georgia. We are also in contact wtih Dr. Michael Wall of the San Diego Natural History Museum, who is studying the phylogeography of Melanotrichus boydi. We hope to combine plant and bug phylogenies to understand the evolution of both bug and host.
 Streptanthus polygaloides, a Ni hyperaccumulator endemic to California's Sierra Nevada

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Boyd: out standing in a field of Ni hyperaccumulators in Southern Oregon 
 

International Conferences on Serpentine Ecology
Every several years since 1991, an international group of botanists/geologists/ecologists has gathered to discuss the ecology of serpentine (ultramafic) areas. The first conference was at the University of California, Davis, the second in Noumea, New Caledonia, the third at Kruger National Park in South Africa, the fourth at the National Botanical Garden in Havana, Cuba, the fifth in Siena, Italy and the last (sixth) in Bar Harbor, Maine, in June 2008. Besides the presentation of papers and posters, the conferences feature field trips to local ultramafic locations.
The next is planned for Coimbra, Portugal, in 2011.



The Scientific Committee for the Sixth International Conference on Serpentine Ecology
Bar Harbor, Maine: June 2008

Conservation Biology
We are also interested in several areas loosely grouped here under Conservation Biology. Several students and I have conducted studies of rare and (sometimes) endangered plant species. These studies include geographic and population surveys, studies of population biology, and exporation of management techniques (mowing, burning, etc.). Ongoing projects in this area include the research of M.S. student Kyle Paris on Morefield's Leather Flower and a collaborative effort with Dr. Les Goertzen of my department on the phylogeography of 2 federally endangered Alabama Clematis species.

We have also collaborated on more broad projects. We completed a 5+ year study of coastal dune restoration techniques at Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge in southern Alabama. This project examined responses to these techniques of both the vegetation and the federally endangered Alabama beach mouse (collaboration with Dr. Mike Wooten of my department). We also set up a long-term study of restoration techniques for mountain longleaf pine stands in the Talladega National Forest (Alabama), working with Dr. Les Goertzen and Curtis Hansen of AU's John D. Freeman Herbarium.

Classes

Intro Biology: I teach some courses in the General Biology Program. Recently, these include our 1st semester class for non-majors (Introduction to Biology) and the 2nd course in our majors biology sequence (Organismal Biology).

Plant Ecology: This course is for undergraduates and graduate students and is an introduction to ecological topics involving plants. The course has a strong field component and students learn the scientific names of many of our local "plant friends" as well as take a memorable 3-day field excursion to Dauphin Island, Alabama.


Spring 2005: Plant Ecology students immersed in their subject (Citronelle pond swamp) in Monroe County,
southern Alabama


Ecology: In summers since 2004 I have taught our Ecology course. This class is an undergraduate level overview of the broad field of ecology.

Conservation Biology: In 2003 I began to teach Conservation Biology. This is an undergraduate/graduate level course that surveys the broad discipline of Conservation Biology. The course is taught every Fall.

Plant-Animal Interactions: Dr. Debbie Folkerts and I team-teach Plant-Animal Interactions, a graduate-level only course taught every other year (next offered Fall 2010) 

Graduate Students

    COMPLETED
    CURRENT

Undergraduate Students

Guest Editor: Insect Science Special Issue "Insect Adaptations to Heavy Metals" Volume 16, No. 1, Feb. 2009


Edited Book: Ultramafic Ecology

Publications: Hyperaccumulation

Publications: Conservation Biology


Educational Publication

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