Alex Kirsch

Master of Biological Science; Evolution, Plant Science, Biotechnology, Research, Stats

[Matthew Kaproth @mkaproth]

HUGE study on oak physiological responses to long term drought. Thankful for the international team that got acorns from Mexico, Costa Rica, Honduras, and the USA. Getting species from a broad environmental range changed what patterns we saw! #oak #drought

[Matthew Kaproth @mkaproth]

Check out my student's work on plant specialists and generalists! @_AlexKirsch surveyed experts to find there are #herbarium traits and range characteristics we use to categorize a plant's abilities. Specialists also tend to be threatened #iucn #RedList https://t.co/XtxsS5tPIk

[Alex Kirsch @_AlexKirsch]

@phytools_liam @mkaproth Thanks so much for the shoutout! Really enjoyed working with phytools throughout the project 😃

[Liam Revell @phytools_liam]

Wow. Check out this neat #Rstats #phytools plot in a new article by @_AlexKirsch & @mkaproth: "Defining plant ecological specialists and generalists: Building a framework for identification and classification." 👉 https://t.co/TZqlwnvzt7

[Matthew Kaproth @mkaproth]

@_AlexKirsch @Ecol_Evol Key findings - specialist plants are often endemic species with low trait plasticity. These species are typically listed as threatened and occur in environments with high precipitation seasonality #bio15 #IUCN @IUCNRedList @MexicoGcco @IntlOakSociety

[Alex Kirsch @_AlexKirsch]

Excited to share @mkaproth and I's publication in @Ecol_Evol! Here we explore what specialization means in plants, and use oaks to make a practical ranking system that lets us explore how specialization emerges across time and space - https://t.co/NfVgXILOfI

[Matthew Kaproth @mkaproth]

Awesome feeling! Manuscript just submitted by @_AlexKirsch based on his generalist/specialist evolution thesis work! #proud @CSET_MNSU

[Matthew Kaproth @mkaproth]

@_AlexKirsch is presenting his thesis Friday @ 2PM CT! He created a framework for identifying plant generalists and specialists. He's done some neat research and it could provide an awesome tool for several fields: #ecology / #conservation / #evolution ! #IUCN #oaks

[Alex Kirsch @_AlexKirsch]

Oaks of Mexico, Central America, AZ, NM (76 Species):
https://t.co/362pjOAqBf

Oaks of Eastern NA (59):
https://t.co/DlztNGvtDS

Oaks of CA Floristic Province (25):
https://t.co/6nG4nACNf4

Oaks of Eurasia (21):
https://t.co/5hJu50eF4P

[Alex Kirsch @_AlexKirsch]

Calling all oak scientists and oak aficionados; your expertise is requested! I'd greatly appreciate survey responses to aid in a study on specialization in Quercus, and on what terminology used in the field actually means. Check out the links below; any response helps!

[Alex Kirsch @_AlexKirsch]

Phylogenetic tree of NA oaks, pruned from Kremer and Hipp 2019. Nodes at tips represent the number of distinct ecoregions (level III) a species inhabits, with larger nodes representing a higher count. Clear clustering of species that tend to span a lot of habitats. Coded in R.