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Select One Avian Science Center Center for Biomolecular Structure and Dynamics Center for Ethics (non strictly CAS, but closely affiliated) Center for Riverine Science Flathead Lake (Yellow Bay) Biological Station (affiliated program) Institute for Medicine and Humanities (not strictly CAS, but closely affiliated) Multicultural Learning Solutions Paleontology Center Stella Duncan Memorial Research Institute Shafizadeh Rocky Mountain Center for Wood and Carbohydrate Chemistry The Writing Center

Contact: Dean Chris Comer
LA 136, Missoula, MT 59812
Telephone: 243-2632
Fax: 406-243-4076

Office Location: BioResearch Building 007
Office Telephone: (406) 243-5503
E-mail: Fred.Allendorf@umontana.edu
Website: http://dbs.umt.edu/research_labs/allendorflab/
Curriculum Vita: View/Download CV

Current Position:

Regents Professor

Research Interests:

My general research interests are in the areas of evolution, population genetics, and conservation biology.  The primary current focus of my research is the application of genetics to the conservation of animals and plants.  We in the Montana Conservation Genetics Laboratory are active in applying the principles of population and evolutionary genetics to the conservation of salmonid fishes and a variety of other species. We are using molecular genetics to describe intraspecific patterns of genetic variation and phylogenetic relationships in many of these species. In addition, we are developing the theory and statistical analysis needed to apply the principles of population genetics to conservation problems. This is being done in association with my colleague Gordon Luikart.  We have written a conservation genetics book (Conservation and the Genetics of Populations) which has recently been published by Wiley-Blackwell.

Mike Schwartz (US Forest Service) and I are co-PIs of a Working Group (Genetic Monitoring: Development of Tools for Conservation and Management) funded by a joint grant from the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) and the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center (NESCent) to bring together national and international scientists to advance the field of genetic monitoring. Rapid recent advances in molecular genetic techniques now make it relatively easy and inexpensive to quantify temporal changes in the genetics of populations.  However, the needed theory is not available to provide guidance about when genetic monitoring would provide valuable information or what genetic data are required for effective genetic monitoring. 

 

Gordon Luikart and I are co-PIs on an NSF grant with the objective to synthesize our work on the genetics and evolution of exploited populations accomplished. We are joined in this by Nils Ryman from Stockholm University.   We currently face worldwide collapse of many commercial and sport fishery stocks.  Many exploited fish, as well as hunted wildlife, are suffering from reductions in population size and isolation as a result of habitat destruction and overharvest.  In addition, rapid genetic adaptation in response to selective harvest (e.g., preferential harvest of individuals with larger body or horn size) is recognized as an important problem in exploited populations.

 

Professor Charles Daugherty (School of Biological Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, VUW) and I direct a collaborative program in Conservation Biology between UM and VUW.  This program takes advantage of the contrasting evolutionary and conservation histories of New Zealand and Montana to offer an internationally based research and education program in conservation biology.   This collaborative program also has supported faculty and graduate student travel to travel to the partner university for field experience and coursework.  Pete Ritchie, VUW, and I are currently in the initial stages of developing molecular genetic approaches to detect regions in the genomes of marine fish that are under selection and will allow us to detect stocks of marine fishes that are not detectable with neutral genetic markers such as microsatellites.

 

Courses:

I will be in Hobart, Tasmania, for the boreal-autumn semester 2009 working with Phillip England, CSIRO Marine & Atmospheric Research.

Education:

B.S. Penn State University, 1971
M.S. University of Washington, 1973
Ph.D. University of Washington, 1975

Post-doctoral Research Fellow, Aarhus University, 1975-1976

NATO Research Fellow, University of Nottingham, 1978-1979

 

Selected Publications:

 

Allendorf, F.W.,and J.J. Hard. 2009. Human-induced evolution caused by unnatural selection through harvest of wild animals. Proceedings National Academy of Sciences, USA 106:9987-9994.

 

Muhlfeld, C. C., Kalinowski, S.T., McMahon, T.E., Taper, M.L., Painter, S., Leary, R.F., and Allendorf, F. W.   2009. Hybridization rapidly reduces fitness of a native trout in the wild. Biology Letters 5:328-331.

 

Mitchell, N.J., Allendorf, F.W., Keall, S.N., Daugherty, C.H. and Nelson, N.J. 2009. Demographic effects of temperature-dependent sex determination: Will tuatara survive global warming? Global Change Biology.

 

Allendorf, F.W., P.R. England, G. Luikart, P.A. Ritchie, and N. Ryman. 2008. Genetic effects of harvest on wild animal populations.  Trends in Ecol. Evol. 23:327-337.

 

Allendorf, F.W., and G. Luikart. 2007. Conservation and the Genetics of Populations. Wiley-Blackwell Publishing.  442 pp.

 

Palsbøll, P.J., Bérubé, M., and F. W. Allendorf. 2007. Defining management units among natural populations from genetic markers. Trends in Ecol. Evol. 22:11-16.

 

Ramstad, K.M., N.J. Nelson, G. Paine, D. Beech, A. Paul, P. Paul, F.W. Allendorf, and C.H. Daugherty.  2007. Species and cultural conservation in New Zealand: Maori traditional ecological knowledge of tuatara. Conservation Biology 21:455-464.

Whiteley, A.R., P. Spruell, and F.W. Allendorf. 2006. Can common species provide valuable information for conservation? Molec. Ecol. 15:2767-2786.

Funk, W.C., A.E. Greene, P.S. Corn, and F.W. Allendorf. 2005. High dispersal in a frog suggests that it is vulnerable to habitat fragmentation. Biology Letters 1:13-16.

Funk, W.C., M.S. Blouin, P.S. Corn, B.A. Maxell, D.S. Pilliod, S. Amish, and F.W. Allendorf. 2005. Population structure of Columbia spotted frogs (Rana luteiventris) is strongly affected by the landscape. Molec. Ecol. 14:483-496.

Ramstad, K.M., C.A. Woody, C.A., G. K. Sage, and F. W. Allendorf.  2004.  Founding events influence genetic population structure of sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) in Lake Clark, Alaska.  Molec. Ecol. 13:277-290. 

 

Marshall, A., K.L. Knudsen, and F.W. Allendorf.  2004.  Linkage disequilibrium between the pseudoautosomal PEPB-1 locus and the sex determining region in chinook salmon.  Heredity 92:85-97.

 

Gemmell, N.J., V. Metcalf, and F.W. Allendorf. 2004.  Mother’s curse: The role of mtDNA in population viability.  Trends in Ecol. Evol. 19:238-244.

 

Whiteley, A.R., P. Spruell, and F.W. Allendorf.  2004.  Ecological and life history characteristics predict population genetic divergence of two salmonids in the same landscape.  Molec. Ecol. 13:3665-3688.

 

Allendorf, F.W., and L.L. Lundquist.  2003.  Population biology, evolution, and control of invasive species.  Conservation Biology 17:24-30.

 

Schwartz, M.K., L.S. Mills, K.S. McKelvey, L.F. Ruggiero, and F.W. Allendorf.  2002.  DNA reveals high dispersal synchronizing the population dynamics of Canada lynx.  Nature 415:520-522.

 

Allendorf, F.W., R.F. Leary, P. Spruell, and J.K. Wenburg.  2001.  The problems with hybrids: Setting conservation guidelines.  Trends Ecol. Evol. 16:613-622.

 

Allendorf, F.W.  1997.  The conservation biologist as Zen student.  Conservation Biology 11:1045-1046.