Professor of Plant Biology

Ph. D. Cornell University 1988

W. K. Kellogg Biological Station 
Michigan State University
Hickory Corners, MI 49060
Phone: (269) 671-2269
Fax: (269) 671-2351
Email: connerj@msu.edu

Research Interests

Members of my lab group conduct studies integrating ecology, evolution, behavior, and genetics. Our goal is to attack problems at the interface of these areas in novel ways. Currently most of these studies deal with plant-insect interactions, especially pollination. 

I am interested in understanding the processes by which natural and sexual selection in plants and insects produces adaptation to a variable environment; to this end we measure the strength of selection acting in present-day populations and combine this with genetic work to predict short-term evolutionary change.  A closely related interest is how different traits evolve to work together as an adaptively integrated unit; the model system we use for this work is the evolution of flower size and shape. I am also interested in the application of these basic concepts to environmental problems, including invasive species, biological control, ecological effects of transgene escape, global climate change, and conservation genetics.

Our research combines laboratory, greenhouse and field work, and includes quantitative and molecular genetic studies of adaptive traits, artificial selection to re-create ancestral floral traits, field measurements of fitness, including molecular genetic determination of paternity, and pollination ecology, including pollinator observations and measurements of pollen removed and deposited by insects.

Students in my lab can choose to do research in any area of plant-insect interactions, evolutionary ecology, behavioral ecology, conservation biology, and/or ecological genetics. Topics of current and recent student projects include phenotypic plasticity and genotype-environment interaction in a wildflower, allocation of energy to male vs. female reproduction in hermaphroditic plants, mate choice in spadefoot toads, and effects of increased UV-B radiation on fitness in plants.

• Detailed research description
• Teaching goals and experience
• Curriculum Vitae (PDF)
• Undergraduate research opportunities

Conner, J.K. and A.A. Agrawal. 2005. Mechanisms of constraints: The contributions of selection and genetic variance to the maintenance of cotyledon number in wild radish. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 18: 238-242. PDF

Strauss, S.Y., H. Sahli, and J.K. Conner. 2005. Toward a more trait-centered approach to diffuse (co)evolution: New criteria for its detection. New Phytologist 165: 81-90. PDF (invited, peer reviewed, for special edition)

Conner, J.K. 2004. A Primer of Ecological Genetics. Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, MA.

Agrawal, A.A., J.K. Conner, and J.R. Stinchcombe. 2004. Evolution of plant resistance and tolerance to frost damage. Ecology Letters 7: 199-1208. PDF

Conner, J.K. 2003.  Artifical selection: a powerful tool for ecologists. Ecology 84: 1650-1660. PDF

Conner, J.K., A.M. Rice, C.Stewart, and M.T. Morgan. 2003. Patterns and mechanisms of selection on a family-diagnostic trait: evidence from experimental manipulation and lifetime fitness selection gradients.  Evolution 57: 480-486. PDF

Conner, J.K., R. Franks, and C. Stewart.  2003.  Expression of additive genetic variances and covariances for wild radish floral traits: Comparison between field and greenhouse environments. Evolution 57: 487-495. PDF

Conner, J.K. 2002. Genetic mechanisms of floral trait correlations in a natural population. Nature 420: 407-410. PDF; Data

Agrawal, A.A., J.K. Conner, M.T. Johnson, and R. Wallsgrove. 2002. Ecological genetics of induced plant defense against herbivores in wild radish. Evolution 56: 2206-2213. PDF

Strauss, S.Y., J.K. Conner, and K.P. Lehtila. 2001. Effects of foliar herbivory by insects on the fitness of Raphanus raphanistrum: damage can increase male fitness. American Naturalist 158: 496-504. PDF

Williams, J.L. and J.K. Conner. 2001. Sources of phenotypic variation in floral traits in wild radish, Raphanus raphanistrum (Brassicaceae). American Journal of Botany. 88: 1577-1581. PDF (Cover photo, Sept. 2002)

Conner, J.K. 2001. How strong is natural selection? Trends in Ecology and Evolution 16:215-217. PDF  with permission from Elsevier Science.

Morgan, M.T., and J.K. Conner. 2001. Using genetic markers to directly estimate male selection gradients. Evolution 55:272-281. PDF

Karoly, K. and J. K. Conner. 2000. Heritable variation in an family-diagnostic trait. Evolution 54:1433-1438. PDF

Conner, J. K. 1997. Floral evolution in wild radish: the roles of pollinators, natural selection, and genetic correlations among traits. International Journal of Plant Sciences 158: S108-S120. PDF

Conner, J. K., S. Rush, S. Kercher, and P. Jennetten. 1996. Measurements of natural selection on floral traits in wild radish (Raphanus raphanistrum). II. Selection through lifetime male and total fitness. Evolution 50:1137-1146. PDF

Conner, J. K., S. Rush, and P. Jennetten. 1996. Measurements of natural selection on floral traits in wild radish (Raphanus raphanistrum). I. Selection through lifetime female fitness. Evolution 50:1127-1136. PDF

Strauss, S. Y., J.K. Conner, and S. L. Rush. 1996. Foliar herbivory affects floral characters and plant attractiveness to pollinators: implications for male and female plant fitness. American Naturalist 147: 1098-1107. PDF

Eisner, T., I. T. Baldwin, and J. Conner. 1993. Circumvention of prey defense by a predator: Ant lion vs ant. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 90: 6716-6720. PDF

Conner, J. and S. Via. 1993. Patterns of phenotypic and genetic correlations among morphological and life history traits in wild radish, Raphanus raphanistrum. Evolution 47: 704-711. PDF; Data

Conner, J. 1989. Density-dependent sexual selection in the fungus beetle, Bolitotherus cornutus. Evolution 43: 1378-1386. PDF

Conner, J. 1989. Older males have higher insemination success in a beetle. Anim. Behav. 38: 503-509.

Conner, J. 1988. Field measurements of natural and sexual selection in the fungus beetle, Bolitotherus cornutus. Evolution 42: 736-749. PDF

All Publications

Single copies of the PDF files can be downloaded and printed for the reader's personal research and study.