Dr Jennifer Rowntree

Academic and professional qualifications

PhD in Applied Plant Ecology - University of Manchester (2004)

MSc in Ecology - University of Aberdeen (2000)

BSc in Chemistry and German - University of Sussex (1997)

Previous employment

I joined Manchester Metropolitan as a senior lecturer in Ecological Genetics and Applied Conservation in 2016. Prior to that, I was a lecturer at the University of Manchester. In 2011, I was awarded an NERC fellowship to study the genetics of species interactions, which I began at the University of York and then moved to the University of Manchester in 2012. After my PhD, which I gained from the University of Manchester in 2004, I worked at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew as a Conservation Officer.

Other academic service (administration and management)

I am the programe leader for the Zoo Conservation Biology and Restoration Ecology MSc courses.

Languages

I am fluent in German

Why study Ecology, Ecological Genetics?

Undergraduate courses

I am the unit leader of and co-teach the 2nd year Species Interactions unit with Dr Hannah Mossman.

I co-teach the final year unit Conservation and Genetics of populations with Dr Bradley Cain and the final year Coastal Ecology unit with Prof. Richard Preziosi, Dr Hannah Mossman and Dr Sarah Griffiths.

I contribute to the 1st year unit Comparative Anatomy and Physiology.

Postgraduate teaching

I am the unit leader and co-teach the MSc unit Topics in Conservation and Sustainability with Dr Alex Lees.

I co-teach the MSc Field couse unit with a number of colleagues and the Placement unit with Dr Joachim Frommen.

I contribute to the Restoration Science and Topics in Organismal Genetics units.

Postgraduate supervision (completed/in progress)

Post doctoral supervision:

Dr Graeme Fox - The impact of diet and pollutants on social bees (2019-present)

Dr Latha Raly Vellaniperambil (Daphne Jackson Fellow) - The impact of diet and landscape diversity on honey bee health (2016-2018)

Current postgraduate students:

Principal supervisor

Marciana Galambao (PhD) - Population genetics, endosymbionts and bunchy top virus studies of banana aphid (Pentalonia sp.) in the Philippines 

John Paul Kennedy (PhD) - Genetic insights into climate-driven range expansion of a coastal foundation species

Co-supervisor

Steven Canty (PhD) - Management of marine resources in the mesoamerican reef ecoregion

Jodie Bates (PhD) - Assessing the bacterial zoonotic risks associated with the pet trade

Sara-Xaali O'Reilly Berkeley (PhD) - Community genetics in plant-invertebrate systems

Agnessa Lundy (MPhil) - Rhizophora mangle (red mangrove) population genetic structure in The Bahamas 

Former students:

Principal supervisor

Calum Bridson (PhD) - Interactions between insect gut microbiotas and the environment (completed 2020)

Emily Schofield (PhD) - Temporal dynamism, soil processes and niche complementarity: novel approaches to understanding diversity-function relationships (completed 2020)

Graeme Fox (PhD) - Developments in next-generaion sequencing and bioinformatics for ecological genetics (completed 2019)

Hayley Craig (PhD) - Factors affecting the composition, diversity and function of bacterial communities in mangrove soils (completed 2019)

Katie Hunter (MPhil) - Genetic health of captive elasmobranchs (completed 2017)

Daniel López Mártinez (MPhil) - Mammal biodiversity of Ecuadorian tropical forest (completed 2016)

Richard Sands (MPhil) - Influence of plant genetic diversity on plant-pollinator interactions (completed 2013)

Co-supervisor

Oliver Hughes (PhD) - Orchi-mycorrhiza relationships, propagation of terrestrial and epiphytic orchids from seed (completed 2018)

External examiner roles

University of York, Department of Biology, MSc Biodiversity, Ecology and Ecosystems

Research expertise

I am an Ecological Geneticist and am interested in species interactions and biodiversity conservation. My research focuses on the value of biodiversity and the conservation, population and community genetics of focal groups. My current projects span terrestrial and marine environments and temperate and tropical biomes. These include projects on plant-pollinator, plant-microbial and plant-plant interactions, as well as the population and conservation genetics of key species. For more information visit http://www.ecologicalgenetics.org 

Publications

• Featured Works

• Books (authored/edited/special issues)

  (2014). Eco-Evolutionary Dynamics. Academic Press.

  TW. Schoener, J. Moya-Larano, J. Rowntree, G. Woodward (2014). ADVANCES IN ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH Eco-Evolutionary Dynamics PREFACE. J. MoyaLarano, J. Rowntree, G. Woodward. ELSEVIER ACADEMIC PRESS INC.

  TW. Schoener, J. Moya-Laraño, J. Rowntree, G. Woodward (2014). Preface. Elsevier.

• Journal articles

  JP. Kennedy, GN. Johnson, RF. Preziosi, JK. Rowntree (2021). Genetically-based adaptive trait shifts at an expanding mangrove range margin.

  C. Bridson, L. Vellaniparambil, RE. Antwis, W. Müller, RT. Gilman, et al. JK. Rowntree. (2021). The genetic diversity of honeybee colonies predicts the gut bacterial diversity of individual colony members.

  D. Urquia, G. Pozo, B. Gutierrez, JK. Rowntree, M. de Lourdes Torres (2020). Understanding the genetic diversity of the guayabillo (Psidium galapageium), an endemic plant of the Galapagos Islands. Global Ecology and Conservation. 24, pp.e01350-e01350.

  JP. Kennedy, JM. Sammy, JK. Rowntree, RF. Preziosi (2020). Mating system variation in neotropical black mangrove, Avicennia germinans, at three spatial scales towards an expanding northern distributional limit. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science. pp.106754-106754.

  G. Fox, R. Preziosi, RE. Antwis, M. Benavides-Serrato, FJ. Combe, et al. WE. Harris, IR. Hartley, AC. Kitchener, S. De Kort, A-I. Nekaris, JK. Rowntree. (2019). Multi-individual Microsatellite identification: a multiple genome approach to microsatellite design (MiMi). Molecular Ecology Resources. 19(6), pp.1672-1680.

  EJ. Schofield, JK. Rowntree, E. Paterson, MJ. Brewer, EAC. Price, et al. FQ. Brearley, RW. Brooker. (2019). Cultivar Differences and Impact of Plant-Plant Competition on Temporal Patterns of Nitrogen and Biomass Accumulation. Frontiers in Plant Science. 10, pp.215-215.

  SWJ. Canty, RF. Preziosi, JK. Rowntree (2018). Dichotomy of mangrove management: A review of research and policy in the Mesoamerican reef region. Ocean and Coastal Management. 157, pp.40-49.

  G. Fox, I. Darolti, J-D. Hibbitt, RF. Preziosi, JL. Fitzpatrick, et al. JK. Rowntree. (2018). Bespoke markers for ex-situ conservation: application, analysis and challenges in the assessment of a population of endangered undulate rays. Journal of zoo and aquarium research. 6(2), pp.50-56.

  EJ. Schofield, JK. Rowntree, E. Paterson, RW. Brooker (2018). Temporal dynamism of resource capture: a missing factor in ecology?. Trends in Ecology and Evolution. 33(4), pp.277-286.

  CR. Stevenson, C. Davies, JK. Rowntree (2017). Biodiversity in agricultural landscapes: The effect of apple cultivar on epiphyte diversity. Ecology and Evolution. 7(4), pp.1250-1258.

  RJ. Sands, JK. Rowntree (2016). Interactions between the bumblebee Bombus pascuorum and red clover (Trifolium pratense) are mediated by plant genetic background. PLoS ONE. 11(8),

  JK. Rowntree, D. Fisher Barham, AJA. Stewart, SE. Hartley (2014). The effect of multiple host species on a keystone parasitic plant and its aphid herbivores. Functional Ecology. 28(4), pp.829-836.

  MS. Khudr, T. Potter, J. Rowntree, RF. Preziosi (2014). Community Genetic and Competition Effects in a Model Pea Aphid System. ADVANCES IN ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH, VOL 50: ECO-EVOLUTIONARY DYNAMICS. 50, pp.243-265.

  J. Moya-Laraño, O. Verdeny-Vilalta, J. Rowntree, N. Melguizo-Ruiz, M. Montserrat, et al. P. Laiolo. (2012). Climate Change and Eco-Evolutionary Dynamics in Food Webs. ADVANCES IN ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH, VOL 47: GLOBAL CHANGE IN MULTISPECIES SYSTEMS, PT 2. 47, pp.1-80.

  DA. Springate, N. Scarcelli, J. Rowntree, PX. Kover (2011). Correlated response in plasticity to selection for early flowering in Arabidopsis thaliana. J Evol Biol. 24(10), pp.2280-2288.

  JK. Rowntree, DD. Cameron, RF. Preziosi (2011). Genetic variation changes the interactions between the parasitic plant-ecosystem engineer Rhinanthus and its hosts. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 366(1569), pp.1380-1388.

  JK. Rowntree, DM. Shuker, RF. Preziosi (2011). Forward from the crossroads of ecology and evolution. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 366(1569), pp.1322-1328.

  JK. Rowntree, S. Pressel, MM. Ramsay, A. Sabovljevic, M. Sabovljevic (2011). In vitro conservation of European bryophytes. In Vitro Cellular & Developmental Biology - Plant. 47(1), pp.55-64.

  JK. Rowntree, A. McVennon, RF. Preziosi (2010). Plant genotype mediates the effects of nutrients on aphids. Oecologia. 163(3), pp.675-679.

  JK. Rowntree, RS. Cowan, M. Leggett, MM. Ramsay, MF. Fay (2010). Which moss is which? Identification of the threatened moss Orthodontium gracile using molecular and morphological techniques. Conservation Genetics. 11(3), pp.1033-1042.

  PX. Kover, JK. Rowntree, N. Scarcelli, Y. Savriama, T. Eldridge, et al. BA. Schaal. (2009). Pleiotropic effects of environment-specific adaptation in Arabidopsis thaliana. New Phytol. 183(3), pp.816-825.

  JK. Rowntree, MM. Ramsay (2009). How bryophytes came out of the cold: successful cryopreservation of threatened species. Biodiversity and Conservation. 18(5), pp.1413-1420.

  JK. Rowntree, JG. Duckett, CL. Mortimer, MM. Ramsay, S. Pressel (2007). Formation of specialized propagules resistant to desiccation and cryopreservation in the threatened moss Ditrichum plumbicola (Ditrichales, Bryopsida). Ann Bot. 100(3), pp.483-496.

  JK. Rowntree (2006). Development of novel methods for the initiation of in vitro bryophyte cultures for conservation. Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture. 87(2), pp.191-201.

  V. Sarasan, R. Cripps, MM. Ramsay, C. Atherton, M. McMichen, et al. G. Prendergast, JK. Rowntree. (2006). Conservation In vitro of threatened plants—Progress in the past decade. In Vitro Cellular & Developmental Biology - Plant. 42(3), pp.206-214.

  JK. Rowntree, E. Sheffield (2005). Effects of asulam spraying on non-target ferns. Canadian Journal of Botany. 83(12), pp.1622-1629.

  DD. Cameron, J-K. Hwangbo, AM. Keith, J-M. Geniez, D. Kraushaar, et al. J. Rowntree, WE. Seel. (2005). Interactions between the hemiparasitic angiospermRhinanthus minor and its hosts: From the cell to the ecosystem. Folia Geobotanica. 40(2-3), pp.217-229.

  JK. Rowntree, E. Sheffield, J. Burch (2005). Growth and Development of Mosses are Inhibited by the Common Herbicide Asulam. The Bryologist. 108(2), pp.287-294.

  JK. Rowntree, KF. Lawton, FJ. Rumsey, E. Sheffield (2003). Exposure to Asulox inhibits the growth of mosses. Ann Bot. 92(4), pp.547-556.

• Chapters in books

  MS. Khudr, T. Potter, JK. Rowntree, RF. Preziosi (2014). Intraspecific genetic effects versus competition effects in an agro-model pea aphid system. J. Moya-Laraño, JK. Rowntree, G. Woodward. In: Advances in Ecological Research. Academic Press, pp.243-266.

• Conferences

  AD. Argudo, M. de Lourdes Torres, BM. Gutierrez, M. Mercedes Cobo, J. Rowntree (2017). Identification and Characterization of Polymorphic Microsatellite Loci in Mortino (Vaccinium floribundum Kunth). In: HORTSCIENCE. pp.S292-S293.

  JK. Bailey, MA. Genung, J. O'Reilly-Wapstra, B. Potts, J. Rowntree, et al. JA. Schweitzer, TG. Whitham. (2012). New frontiers in community and ecosystem genetics for theory, conservation, and management. In: New Phytol. England, pp.24-26.