RESEARCH INTERESTS
I am generally interested in how and why plants and their characters evolve through the scale of time and space. My past research experience in pollinator-driven floral evolution has drawn my attention to the key role of flowers and pollination in the diversification of angiosperms.
Flowers, as a major attraction to pollinators, have a decisive impact on the process of speciation and adaptation, and these effects are reflected in the geographical distribution. Pollination relationship and reproductive system, therefore, is vital in understanding the cause and process of plant evolution. I aim to answer several questions regarding the transition between pollination systems (processes) and the micro- and macro-evolutionary consequences of adopting certain systems.
Currently, my specific interest is how the relationship with pollinator affects the diversification, floral evolution, and geographic distribution of plants.
Past research projects include:
Floral evolution in Gesneriaceae
Gesneriaceae (Lamiales) is a family with around 3000 species, mostly in the tropics, exhibiting diverse floral morphology. It is a key system in understanding the evolution of bilateral symmetry. In the evo-devo lab at National Taiwan Universtiy, I engaged in the research combing molecular evolution and molecular developmental biology to disentangle the evolutionary history of floral diversity of the family
See more detail here.
Evolution of ornithophily in East Asia
Ornithophily, the phenomena of bird pollination, is profound and well-studied in America. Research in past decades in southern hemisphere revealed the importance of other nectar specialists than hummingbirds. However, ornithophily still extends to specialist-absent regions, such as East Asia. I am interested in the evolution of the genus Aeschynanthus
(Gesneriaceae) in East and Southeast Asia: most species have typical bird pollination syndromes (but with large variation!) while a few bizarre looking species thrive at the edge of the distribution of its putative pollinator, sunbirds.
Starting from the pollination ecology of generalist passerines pollinated A. acuminatus in Taiwan, I look forward to integrating the ecology and evolution of ornithophily in East Asia and extending to paleotropics.
See more detail here.
