Brittany BarkerOregon State University | OSU · Oregon IPM Center
Brittany Barker
PhD in Biology
About
46
Publications
8,473
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336
Citations
Introduction
I am interested in how past and current environmental such as climate change and the introduction of non-native species influence animal and plant population dynamics. My current research focuses on 1) building an open-source (R) platform that predicts the phenology and the potential distribution of invasive insect species, and 2) developing predictive models for species that threaten US agricultural and natural resources.
Additional affiliations
October 2018 - October 2021
February 2017 - July 2018
United States Geological Survey, Forest Rangeland and Ecosystem Science Center
Position
- Ecologist
August 2012 - present
Education
August 2005 - July 2012
September 2001 - December 2003
September 1998 - December 2000
Publications
Publications (46)
Introduction
Decision support models that predict both when and where to expect emerald ash borer (EAB), Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), are needed for the development and implementation of effective management strategies against this major invasive pest of ash ( Fraxinus species) in North America and other regions such as...
An improved understanding of when developmental stages of invasive insects are expected to occur and where they could potentially establish and have the potential to support and improve strategic and tactical pest management decisions. We developed and evaluated the predictive performance of a spatialized model that predicts the phenology and risk...
Boxwood blight caused by Cps is an emerging disease that has had devastating impacts on Buxus spp. in the horticultural sector, landscapes, and native ecosystems. In this study, we produced a process-based climatic suitability model in the CLIMEX program and combined outputs of four different correlative modeling algorithms to generate an ensemble...
Invasive pests present a significant threat to agricultural production in the U.S., yet decision support tools that can accurately predict where and when to expect pests have not yet been fully developed and utilized. I will present our spatial modeling tool known as DDRP (Degree-Days, Risk, and Phenological event mapping), which was designed to pr...
The Degree-Day, establishment Risk, and Phenological event mapping system (DDRP) is modeling tool used to predict real-time and forecasted phenology and climate suitability of invasive species, biological control agents, and IPM pests in the conterminous U.S. (Barker et al. 2020). Model outputs can provide guidance on both where and when to conduct...
Boxwood blight, caused by the ascomycete fungus, Calonectria pseudonaviculata (Cps) is an invasive disease of boxwood (Buxus spp.) and related genera (Sarcococca, Pachysandra, others) in the family Buxaceae. We present several models that can be used at varying spatial and temporal scales to predict Cps infection and outbreak risk, along with clima...
Surveillance is one of the core activities of national organizations responsible for human, animal, or plant health, with the goal of demonstrating the absence of infection or infestation, determining the presence or distribution of infection or infestation, and/or detecting as early as possible exotic or emerging pests and pathogens that may be ha...
A wide variety of organisms use the regular seasonal changes in photoperiod as a cue to align their life cycles with favorable conditions. Yet the phenological consequences of photoperiodism for organisms exposed to new climates are often overlooked. We present a conceptual approach and phenology model that maps voltinism (generations per year) and...
Invasive pests present a significant threat to agricultural production in the United States, yet decision support tools that can accurately predict where and when to expect pests have not yet been fully developed and utilized. Here we present our spatial modeling platform known as DDRP (Degree-Days, Risk, and Phenological event mapping), which was...
Boxwood blight, caused by the ascomycete fungi Calonectria pseudonaviculata and C. henricotiae , is an emerging plant disease of boxwood ( Buxus spp.) that has had devastating impacts on the health and productivity of boxwood in both the horticultural sector and native ecosystems. In this study, we predicted the potential distribution of C. pseudon...
The Degree-Day, establishment Risk, and Phenological event mapping system (DDRP) is a process-based (mechanistic) modeling tool used to predict real-time and forecasted phenology and climate suitability of invasive species, biological control agents, and IPM pests in the conterminous US (Barker et al. 2020). Model outputs can provide guidance on bo...
Rapidly detecting and responding to new invasive species and the spread of those that are already established is essential for reducing their potential threat to food production, the economy, and the environment. We describe a new spatial modeling platform that integrates mapping of phenology and climatic suitability in real-time to provide timely...
Seminar given to the Department of Biology at Northern Arizona State. This presentation presents a spatial modeling platform, Degree-Day, establishment Risk, and Pest event maps(DDRP), which was developed to predict the activities (phenology) and climate suitability (risk of invasion) of agricultural pest insects.
Rapidly detecting and responding to new invasive species and the spread of those that are already established is essential for reducing their potential threat to food production, the economy, and the environment. We describe a new multi-species spatial modeling platform that integrates mapping of phenology and climatic suitability in real-time to p...
The bronze birch borer, Agrilus anxius Gory [Coleoptera: Buprestidae], is a major pest of native birch species under stress and of ornamental birch species from Europe and Asia. This flat-headed wood boring beetle is sometimes associated with birch dieback, along with drought, various fungal pathogens, rising temperatures, frost damage, and high so...
Modeling tools that make real-time and forecasted predictions of the potential distribution (risk of establishment) and timing of seasonal activities (phenology) of invasive pest species can help to prevent their establishment, slow their spread, and manage existing populations. We highlight the development of a new multi-species spatial modeling p...
Understanding the factors that influence vegetation responses to disturbance is important because vegetation is the foundation of food resources, wildlife habitat, and ecosystem properties and processes. We integrated vegetation cover data derived from field plots and remotely sensed Landsat images in two focal areas over a 37-yr period (1979-2016)...
A primary goal of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is to safeguard US agricultural and natural resources through early detection of exotic plant pests and weeds. We have developed a spatial modeling platform in R for the prediction of life cycle events (phenology) and climate suitability of invasive insect species in the continental US. This...
A primary goal of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is to safeguard US agricultural and natural resources through early detection of exotic plant pests and weeds. We have developed a spatial modeling platform in R for the prediction of life cycle events (phenology) and climate suitability of invasive insect species in the continental US. This...
The margins of an expanding range are predicted to be challenging environments for adaptation. Marginal populations should often experience low effective population sizes (Ne) where genetic drift is high due to demographic expansion and/or census population size is low due to unfavorable environmental conditions. Nevertheless, invasive species demo...
We highlight development of a new multi-species spatial modeling platform that can be used to predict phenology and climate suitability (risk of establishment) of insects for the 48-state US. Platform development is funded by a series of grants from the USDA APHIS (Animal Plant Health Inspection Service) PPQ (Plant Protection and Quarantine), for d...
Species introductions often bring together genetically divergent source populations, resulting in genetic admixture. This geographic reshuffling of diversity has the potential to generate favorable new genetic combinations, facilitating the establishment and invasive spread of introduced populations. Observational support for the superior performan...
The margins of an expanding range are predicted to be challenging environments for adaptation. Marginal populations should often experience low effective population sizes (Ne) where genetic drift is high due to demographic expansion and/or census population size is low due to unfavorable environmental conditions. Nevertheless, invasive species demo...
Long-term vegetation dynamics across public rangelands in the western United States are not well understood because of the lack of large-scale, readily available historic datasets. The Bureau of Land Management's Soil-Vegetation Inventory Method (SVIM) program was implemented between 1977 and 1983 across 14 western states, but the data have not bee...
The Red-eyed Coquí, Eleutherodactylus antillensis, is a terrestrial frog endemic to the Puerto Rican Bank (Puerto Rico and numerous islands and cays off its eastern coast), in the eastern Caribbean Sea. The species was likely introduced in Saint Croix, an island c. 100 km southeast of Puerto Rico, in the late 1930s, and in Panamá City, Panamá, in t...
Species introductions often bring together genetically divergent source populations, resulting in genetic admixture. This geographic reshuffling of diversity has the potential to generate favorable new genetic combinations, facilitating the establishment and invasive spread of introduced populations. Observational support for the superior performan...
Population genomic analyses reveal a history of range expansion and trait evolution across the native and invaded range of yellow starthistle (Centaurea solstitialis) Abstract Identifying sources of genetic variation and reconstructing invasion routes for non-native introduced species is central to understanding the circumstances under which they m...
Non-native plants are now a pervasive feature of ecosystems across the globe(1). One hypothesis for this pattern is that introduced species occupy open niches in recipient communities(2,3). If true, then non-native plants should often benefit from low competition for limiting resources that define niches. Many plants have evolved larger size after...
The effects of late Quaternary climate on distributions and evolutionary dynamics of insular species are poorly understood in most tropical archipelagoes. We used ecological niche models under past and current climate to derive hypotheses regarding how stable climatic conditions shaped genetic diversity in two ecologically distinctive frogs in Puer...
The Mountain Coqui (Eleutherodactylus portoricensis) is a frog endemic to montane rainforests in the Cordillera Central and Luquillo Mountains of Puerto Rico. Classified as endangered by the IUCN Red List and as vulnerable by the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources of Puerto Rico, this species has undergone considerable decline in the...
Quaternary climatic oscillations caused changes in sea level that altered the size, number and degree of isolation of islands, particularly in land-bridge archipelagoes. Elucidating the demographic effects of these oscillations increases our understanding of the role of climate change in shaping evolutionary processes in archipelagoes. The Puerto R...
Aim Hypotheses proposed for lineage diversification of tropical montane species have rarely been tested within oceanic islands. Our goal was to understand how basin barriers and Pleistocene climatic fluctuations shaped the distribution of diversity in Eleutherodactylus portoricensis (Eleutherodactylidae), a frog endemic to the montane rain forests...
Aim Hypotheses proposed for lineage diversification of tropical montane species have rarely been tested within oceanic islands. Our goal was to understand how basin barriers and Pleistocene climatic fluctuations shaped the distribution of diversity in Eleutherodactylus portoricensis (Eleutherodactylidae), a frog endemic to the montane rain forests...
The G-matrix occupies an important position in evolutionary biology both as a summary of the inheritance of quantitative traits and as an ingredient in predicting how those traits will respond to selection and drift. Consequently, the stability of G has an important bearing on the accuracy of predicted evolutionary trajectories. Furthermore, G shou...
This spreadsheet calculates the Krzanowski statistics discussed in Barker et al. 2010.
Background/Question/Methods
The E-MRGE GK-12 Fellowship Program pairs graduate student fellows in Earth & Planetary Sciences (E&PS) and Biology from the University of New Mexico with middle school science teachers in Belen, Socorro, and Laguna Pueblo, New Mexico. Traditional GK-12 programs pair one fellow with one teacher. However, in Belen, colla...
Questions
Question (1)
I am having trouble finding information on landscape genomics workshops in the U.S. I have limited funds which is why I'm trying to find something close to where I live. I am specifically interested in learning more about methods to analyze NGS data to identify loci associated with climatic variation, designing a good sampling scheme and how one can use SNPs generated from restriction site associated seq (RAD) data (and other platforms) to address landscape genomics questions.
