Associate Chairperson
Professor
Postdoctoral Fellow, Rutgers University, 1989
Ph.D., University of Canterbury, 1988
M.Sc., University of Arizona, 1983
B.Sc., University of Arizona, 1979

Program Affiliation: Evolution, Ecology and Behavior | Plant Biology

Research Groups Affiliation: Ecology | Evolution | Plant Biology

Phone: 812/855-1831
Fax: 812/855-6705
Email Lynda

Delph Lab website

I am generally interested in evolutionarily based questions concerning various aspects of flowering plant reproduction.   I consider myself to be an "evolutionary ecologist."  At a more general level, my research focuses on understanding selective forces in natural populations and the extent to which adaptation is slowed or prevented by genetic constraints.

Past research includes: (1) an investigation of the forces that select for unisexuality rather than hermaphroditism, and how this affects other plant traits, (2) the evolution of sexual dimorphism, (3) pollen competition, (4) how flower size and number can affect plant fitness, (5) inbreeding and inbreeding depression, and (6) a multitude of questions on gynodioecious species, including the maintenance of females and the cost of restoration.

My current research revolves around the dioecious plant species Silene latifolia.   It's basically a look at how sexual selection can drive sexual dimorphism and how genetic correlations can constrain adaptive evolution. My collaborators and I are taking a variety of approaches including: artificial selection to change the means of traits as well as the genetic correlations between traits, quantitative-genetic breeding designs, experimental arrays planted in the field, QTL analysis, and among-population studies involving both work in natural populations and the greenhouse.

Students in my lab don't necessarily work on my system.   In fact, most of them work on species and questions that are related, but separate from my own.   For example, my past students have worked on gynodioecious and dioecious species, inbreeding depression, adaptive phenotypic plasticity, pollen competition, and the maintenance of flower color polymorphism.   And while my advisor, David Lloyd, worked on Leavenworthia for his Ph.D., I never have, but two of my former students have!

Bailey, M. F. and L. F. Delph. 2007. A field guide to models of sex-ratio evolution in gynodioecious species. Oikos 116: 1609-1617.

Steven, J. C., L. F. Delph, and E. D. Brodie III.  2007.  Sexual dimorphism in the quantitative-genetic architecture of floral, leaf, and allocation traits in Silene latifolia.  Evolution 61: 42-57.

Delph, L. F., P. Touzet, and M. F. Bailey.  2007.  Merging theory and mechanism in studies of gynodioecy. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 22:17-24.

Scotti, I and L. F. Delph.  2006.  Selective trade-offs and sex-chromosome evolution in Silene latifolia.  Evolution 60: 1793-1800.

Delph, L. F. and T.-L. Ashman.  2006.  Trait selection in flowering plants: how does sexual selection contribute?  Integrative and Comparative Biology 46: 465 - 472.

Delph, L. F., J. L. Gehring, A. M. Artnz, M. Levri, and F. M. Frey.  2005.  Genetic correlations with floral display lead to sexual dimorphism in the cost of reproduction. American Naturalist 166: S31-S41.

Delph, L. F. and D. E. Wolf.  2005.  Evolutionary consequences of gender plasticity in genetically dimorphic breeding systems. New Phytologist 166: 119-128.

Delph, L. F., J. L. Gehring, F. M. Frey, A. M. Artnz, and M. Levri.  2004.  Genetic constraints on floral evolution in a sexually dimorphic plant revealed by artificial selection.  Evolution 58: 1936-1946.

Delph, L. F., F. M. Frey, J. C. Steven, and J. L. Gehring.  2004.  Investigating the independent evolution of the size of floral parts via G-matrix estimation and artificial selection. Evolution and Development 6: 438-448.

Delph, L. F.  2004.  Testing for sex differences in biparental inbreeding and its consequences in a gynodioecious species. American Journal of Botany 91: 45-51.