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email:  paulbarber@ucla.edu
phone:  (310) 794-5349
fax:  (310) 206-3987&
office:  Botany 414B
lab:  Botany 414, 420
homepage:  http://www.eeb.ucla.edu/Faculty/Barber/

research interests:  Evolution of conservation of marine biodiversity, Coral reefs, Evolutionary and population genetics, Natural selection and adaptation.

Education

B.S., Ecol. & Evol. Bio., University of Arizona 1991
Ph.D., Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley 1998

Research Interests

Our laboratory integrates genetics, ecology, oceanography and geology to understand the processes that promote speciation in marine environments, creating marine biodiversity hotspots. For the past decade, we have focused on the fish and invertebrates of the coral reefs of the Coral Triangle, the global epicenter of marine biodiversity. Through a comparative approach, we are examining the relative importance of tectonic history, physical oceanography, and organismal ecologies in limiting genetic connectivity and promoting evolution and lineage diversification. Our recent work focuses on integrating empirical models of connectivity with predictions from geographically explicit models of contemporary and historical ocean currents. We work closely with conservation organizations such as Conservation International to translate our basic science into information that can help guide conservation planning, protecting these endangered reef ecosystems. We are also interested in the role of natural selection and adaptation in shaping population genetic patterns, particularly the role of the genetic basis of energetic performance of mitochondrial in size selective mortality of marine larvae.

Selected Publications

Crandall, E.D., Fey, M., Grossberg, R.K. and Barber, P.H.. 2008. Contrasting demographic history and phylogeographical patterns in two Indo-Pacific gastropods Molecular Ecology 17: 611-626 .

Allen, G.R., Drew, J., and Barber, P.H.. 2008. Cirhilabrus beauperryi, a new wrasse (Pisces: Labridae) from Melanesia International Journal of Ichthyology 14: 129-140 .

Vogler, C., Benzie, J., Lessios, H., Barber, P.H., and Worheide, G.. 2008. A threat to coral reefs multiplied? Four species of crown of thorns starfish Biology Letters .

Vigliola, L., Doherty, P.J., Meekan, M.G., Drown, D.M., Jones, M.E., and Barber, P.H.. 2007. Genetic identity determines risk of post-settlement mortality of a marine fish Ecology 88: 1263-1277 .

Hedgecock, D., Barber, P.H., and Edmands, S.. 2007. Genetic approaches to measuring connectivity Oceanography 20: 22-31 .

Barber, P.H., and Boyce, S.L.. 2006. Estimating diversity of Indo-Pacific coral reef stomatopods through DNA barcoding of stomatopod larvae Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B 273: 2053-2061 .

Barber, P.H., Palumbi, S.R., and Erdmann, M.V.. 2006. Comparative phylogeography of three codistributed stomatopods: origins and timing of regional lineage diversification in the Coral Triangle Evolution 60: 1825-1839 .

Wares, J.P., Barber, P.H., Ross-Ibarra, J., Sotka, E.K., and Toonen, R.J.. 2006. Mitochondrial DNA and population size Science 314: 1388-1389 .

Cheroske, A.G., Barber, P.H., and Cronin, T.W.. 2006. Evolutionary variation in the expression phenotypically plastic color vision in Caribbean mantis shrimps, genus Neogonodactylus Marine Biology 150: 213-220 .

Richlen, M.L. and Barber, P.H.. 2005. A technique for the rapid extraction of microalgal DNA from single live and preserved cells Molecular Ecology Notes 5: 688-691 .