Dr. Jack Hayes
Professor
Physiological ecology; evolution of physiological traits

Hofstra University
1978, B.A.
Cornell University
1983, M.S.
University of California Riverside, Riverside, CA
1988, Ph.D.

Research Interests

Aerobic capacity model for the evolution of endothermy. My most substantial current project is conducting an experimental test of the aerobic capacity model for the evolution of endothermy (i.e., the physiological ability to elevate body temperature above the environmental temperature). The aerobic capacity model posits that natural selection acted on aerobic capacity and that endothermy resulted as a correlated response. The correlated response is thought to be the consequence of an inescapable mechanistic linkage between basal metabolism and aerobic capacity. This linkage is a fundamental assumption of the aerobic capacity model. Robert Donovan, Marta Labocha, Bernie Wone and I are conducting a large artificial selection experiment that seeks to test this fundamental assumption. This NSF funded project entails directional artificial selection for increased aerobic capacity and correlational artificial selection to alter the correlation between mass-independent basal metabolism and aerobic capacity. Besides the main objectives of this study, the laboratory is using these studies to explore behavioral evolution, condition indices, and mechanistic controls on sex ratio evolution.
Genomic and physiological responses to systemic hypoxia in mammals. Ph.D. student Monica Baze has been using microarrays to investigate the effects of hypoxia on mice. Her work includes laboratory studies of response to hypoxia as well as microarray and genetic studies of mice we collected in Bolivia and Peru. The final part of her dissertation research focuses on the role of hypoxia inducible factor and on immunological responses to hypoxia.

Allometry and the Arrhenius Fractal Supply Model. Ph.D. student Cynthia Downs, I, and our collaborator Dick Tracy are analyzing allometric data sets to test hypotheses proposed by the developers of the metabolic theory of ecology.
Correlations of behavior with physiological performance. This project is focused on testing whether individual variation in physiological performance correlates with the behavior of mice in cold environments.

Selected publications

Storz JF , MM Baze, JL Waite, FG Hoffmann, JC Opazo, and JP Hayes. Complex signatures of selection and gene conversion in the duplicated globin genes of house mice. Genetics (in press)

Sears, MW, Hayes, JP, CS O'Connor, K Geluso, & JS Sedinger. 2006. Individual variation in thermogenic capacity affects above-ground activity of high-altitude Deer Mice. Functional Ecology 20:97-104.

Hayes, JP and JS Shonkwiler. 2006. Allometry, antilog transformations, and the perils of prediction on the original scale. Physiological and Biochemical Zoology 73: 665-674.

Hayes, JP, JS Shonkwiler. 2001. Morphometric indicators of condition: worthwhile or wishful thinking. Pages 8 to 38 in "Body Composition Analysis of Animals: a Handbook of Non-destructive Methods" edited by J. R. Speakman. Cambridge University Press.

Dohm, MR, JP Hayes, T Garland, Jr. 2001. The quantitative genetics of maximal and basal rates of oxygen consumption in mice. Genetics 159:267-277

Hayes, JP. 2001. Mass-specific and whole-animal metabolism are not the same concept. Physiological and Biochemical Zoology 74:147-150.

Hayes, JP, CS O’Connor. 1999. Natural selection on maximal thermogenic capacity of high-altitude deer mice. Evolution 53:1280-1287.

Geluso, K, JP Hayes. 1999. Effects of dietary quality on basal metabolic rate and internal morphology of European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris). Physiological and Biochemical Zoology 72:189-197.

Hayes, JP, SH Jenkins. 1997. Individual variation in mammals. Journal of Mammalogy 78:274-293.

Dohm, MR, JP Hayes, T Garland, Jr. 1996. Quantitative genetics of sprint running speed and swimming endurance in laboratory house mice (Mus domesticus) Evolution 50:1688-1701.

Hayes, JP, JS Shonkwiler. 1996. Altitudinal effects on water fluxes of deer mice: a physiological application of structural equation modeling with latent variables. Physiological Zoology 69: 509-531.

Hayes, JP, JS Shonkwiler. 1996. Analyzing mass-independent data. Physiological Zoology 69: 974-980.

Hayes, JP, T Garland, Jr. 1995. The evolution of endothermy: testing the aerobic capacity model. Evolution: 49:836-847.

Hayes, JP, Garland T, Jr., Dohm, MR. 1992. Individual variation in metabolism and life history: are energetics and life history linked? Functional Ecology 6:5-14.

Hayes JP, Speakman JR, Racey PA. 1992. Sampling bias in respirometry. Physiological Zoology 65:604-619.

Hayes JP. 1989. Altitudinal and seasonal effects on aerobic metabolism in deer mice. Journal of Comparative Physiology B 159:453-459.

Snyder L, Hayes JP, Chappell MA. 1988. Alpha-chain hemoglobin polymorphisms are correlated with altitude in the deer mouse, (Peromyscus maniculatus). Evolution 42:689-697.

Probst JR, Hayes JP. 1987. Pairing success of Kirtland's Warblers in marginal versus suitable habitats. Auk 104:234-241.

Additional Links
Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology Program

University of Nevada Reno
Biology Department m/s 314
Reno, NV 89557

email Dr. Jack Hayes

Office phone
775-784-6188
FAX number
775-784-1302