Kirsten Fisher

California State University, Los Angeles

The Fisher lab is broadly interested in the ecology and evolution of mosses in extreme environments, and we currently use ecological genomics to address questions about reproductive ecology, demography, and genetic diversity in populations of the desert moss, Syntrichia caninervis.

For the Dimensions project, my students and I will be investigating areas such as:

  1. population sex ratios and their correlation with (macro)environmental variables
  2. microhabitat niche partitioning between male and female mosses within populations
  3. the extent of population differentiation along environmental versus geographic gradients
  4. the frequency and direction of migration between populations
  5. and the influence of mosses on hypolithic microbial community composition.

Fisher Lab Members on the 3D Moss Project

Ugbad Farah – Master’s Student

Simone Benjamin – Master’s Student

Amy Vasquez – Graduate Research Assistant

Former Master’s Students on the 3D Moss Project

Alexandra Garcia

Jameka Jefferson

Contact

kfisher2@calstatela.edu

Fisher Lab Website

Publications

Baughman, J.T., Payton, A.C., Paasch, A.E., Fisher, K., and S.F. McDaniel. 2017. Multiple factors influence population sex ratios in the Mojave Desert moss Syntrichia caninervis (Pottiaceae). American Journal of Botany 104: 733-742

Williams, T.M., Isabel, N., Fisher, K., and S.L. Thompson. Genetic and morphological reassessment of classical hybrid zones throughout California and Nevada shed a new light on reproductive barriers between native and exotic poplar species (Populus sp., Salicaceae). Canadian Journal of Botany, In review.

Fisher, K., Kouyoumdjian, C., Roy, B., Talavera-Bustillos, V., and M. Willard. 2016. Building a culture of transparency. AAC&U Peer Review 18: 8-11

Paasch, A.E., Fisher, K., Mishler, B.D., and L.R. Stark.  2015. Decoupling of sexual reproduction and genetic diversity in the female-biased Mojave Desert moss Syntrichia caninervis (Pottiaceae). International Journal of Plant Sciences 176: 751-761

Bassett, C., K. Fisher, and R.E. Farrell Jr. 2015. The complete peach dehydrin family: characterization of three recently recognized genes. Tree Genetics and Genomes 11:126

Fisher, K. 2011. Sex on the edge: reproductive patterns across the geographic range of the Syrrhopodon involutus (Calymperaceae) complex. The Bryologist 114: 674-685.

Fisher, K.  2008.  Bayesian reconstruction of ancestral gene expression in the LEA families reveals propagule-derived desiccation tolerance in resurrection plants.  American Journal of Botany 95(4): 506-515.

Fisher, K., D.P. Wall, K. L. Yip, and B.D. Mishler.  2007.  Phylogeny of the Calymperaceae, with a rank-free systematic treatment.  The Bryologist 110(1): 43-73.

Fisher, K.  2006.  Rank-free monography: a practical example from the moss clade Leucophanella. Systematic Botany 31: 13-30.

La Farge, C., B.D. Mishler, J.A. Wheeler, D.P. Wall, K. Johannes, S. Schaffer, and A.J. Shaw.  2000.  Phylogenetic relationships of the Haplolepideous mosses.  The Bryologist 103(2): 257-276.