Dr. Jennifer L. Hollander, Assistant Professor
     
Instructor: Anatomy & Physiology, General Biology
Academic Advisor for Biology Majors

University of Utah
BS Human Biology 1996

University of Nevada, Reno
MS Biology 2002
Ph.D Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology 2007

Contact Information

University of Nevada, Reno
Department of Biology, Mailstop 314
Reno, NV 89557

jhollander@unr.edu

Phone:  775-784-1793
Fax:      775-784-1302 

Research Interests

My primary research interests are in plant-animal interactions.

My early work in this field centered on the dispersal of piñon pine seeds by rodents, and the differences in their effectiveness as dispersers. I have investigated the role of six rodent species as potentially effective dispersers, and found that all scatter hoard piñon pine seeds. If these caches are placed in microhabitats and at depths conducive to seedling establishment, and the caches are not recovered, the probability of effective dispersal is increased.

More recently, I have focused on the dispersal of the twelve North American species of Ephedra. The genus Ephedra is comprised of ~50 species worldwide, and has members native to arid and semiarid regions of Asia, Europe, northern Africa, western North America and South America. Members of the genus Ephedra are gymnosperms, and are one of three extant groups of the order Gnetales. The genus receives a tremendous amount of attention because of its chemistry and evolutionary history, however details about the natural history, including dispersal ecology, of members of the genus remains unknown. The 12 North American members of the genus Ephedra appear, based on morphological structures, to be dispersed by one of three mechanisms: wind, frugivorous birds, and/or seed-caching rodents. Seed morphologies indicative of dispersal by seed-caching rodents has only evolved in North American arid lands. The presence of these different dispersal mechanisms within one genus in one geographical location (North American arid lands) makes Ephedra an ideal candidate for studying the evolutionary molding of dispersal adaptations.

I am also interested in the role of olfaction in rodents locating cached seeds, and whether some seeds have evolved traits to avoid detection by foragers once they have been cached.

Vander Wall, S. B., M. J. Beck, J. S. Briggs, J. K. Roth, T. C. Thayer, J. L. Hollander, and J. M. Armstrong. 2003. Interspecific variation in the olfactory abilities of granivorous rodents. Journal of Mammalogy 84:159-168.

Hollander, J. L., and S. B. Vander Wall. 2004. Effectiveness of six species of rodents as dispersers of singleleaf piñon pine (Pinus monophylla). Oecologia 138:57-65.

Submitted Manuscripts

None Pending.

Manuscripts in Preparation

Hollander, J. L., and S. B. Vander Wall. Dispersal syndromes in North American Ephedra.

Hollander, J. L., and S. B. Vander Wall. Evolution of dispersal syndromes in North American Ephedra.

Hollander, J. L., and S. B. Vander Wall. Predation of Ephedra seeds by harvester ants (Pogonomyrmex sp.) and the interaction of these ants with the rodent dispersers of Ephedra