John Mckay

Assistant Professor

jkmckay@ColoState.edu	McKay Lab Website
C206 Plant Sciences
(970) 491-5730

We seek an understanding of the genetic basis of traits involved in adaptation to particular stresses (e.g. drought) for both applied (crop breeding, conservation, invasive species) and theoretical questions in ecology and evolution. Are adaptations due to: many genetic changes or only a few? New mutations or older alleles that persist at some frequency throughout the species range and history?

Course I Teach:

Evolutionary Ecology (BSPM 526) (Fall Odd Years).

Representative Publications:

C. Ghalambor, J.K. McKay, S. Carroll, D. Reznick. 2007. Adaptive versus non-adaptive phenotypic plasticity and the potential for contemporary adaptation in new environments. Functional Ecology 21: 394–407.

J. Wright, K. Davies, J. Lau*, A. McCall* and J. K. McKay. 2006. Experimental determination of the niche reveals the importance of local adaptation in a species with broad tolerance. Ecology 87: 2433-2439.

J. K. McKay, C. Christian*, S. Harrison, and K. J. Rice. 2005. “How local is local?” Practical and conceptual Issues in the genetics of restoration. Restoration Ecology 13: 432-440.

J. K. McKay, J. H. Richards, and T. Mitchell-Olds. 2003. Genetics of drought adaptation in Arabidopsis thaliana. I. Pleiotropy contributes to genetic correlations among ecological traits. Molecular Ecology 12: 1137-1151.

J. K. McKay and R. G. Latta. 2002. Adaptive population divergence: markers, QTL and traits. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 17: 285-291.