E-mail:
  roosa.leimu@plants.ox.ac.uk

Tel  +44 (0)1865 27500

Last Modified: November 2011

Population ecology, evolutionary plant ecology, plant-animal interactions, conservation biology

Research description

My current research focuses mainly on the ecological and evolutionary challenges of habitat fragmentation and global change for plant populations. More specifically, I am interested in the interactive effects of ‘genetic erosion’ (reduced genetic variation and increased inbreeding) and the changing biotic and abiotic environments. In particular, how such ‘genetic erosion’ influences the adaptive potential of plant populations. I am also interested in the evolution or co-evolution of plant-herbivore interactions in fragmented landscapes, and on research synthesis and publication bias.


Ongoing projects:

Plants and herbivores in fragmented landscapes
I am currently running two projects examining the evolution of plant herbivore interactions in fragmented landscapes. In the first one we examine the potential co-evolution of Vincetoxicum hirundinaria (Asclepiadaceae) and its specialist herbivores (Lygaeus equestris, Abrostola asclepiadis, Euphranta connexa) in a naturally fragmented archipelago environment in the southwestern Finland. Within the project we looking at

•Spatial variation in the strength of interactions and selection: chemistry, fitness, herbivore damage
•Genetic variation in and trade-offs between herbivore resistance and tolerance
•Inbreeding and outbreeding depression and/or benefits in herbivore resistance and tolerance
•Selection on plant mating system by avoidance of inbreeding and herbivory
•Population genetics of the host and the specialist herbivores
•Local adaptation of the herbivores to their sympatric host plant population
•Costs of specialization and alternative host use in the seed feeding bugs
•Spatiotemporal genetic and demographic population dynamics of the seed feeding bugs
For more information see (http://www.sci.utu.fi/projects/biologia/ekologia/kamy/index.htm)

In another recently finished project we examined how inbreeding and outbreeding depression and/or benefits in plant tolerance and resistance against herbivores and in plant fitness vary among fragmented Lychnis flos-cuculi populations depending on their genetic, abiotic and biotic history. We are also interested in looking at the effects of inbreeding and outbreeding on the potential costs and constraints of the two defence strategies and how they vary among populations.

Systematic reviewing by means of meta-analysis
I am using meta-analysis for systematic reviewing of published evidence on topics relevant for plant population ecology and evolutionary plant ecology and, most importantly, for conservation. So far the reviews covered topics like: trade-offs between resistance and tolerance to herbivory; genetic correlations between resistances against multiple natural enemies; associations of population size, genetic variation and fitness; local adaptation of plant populations; phenological changes in response to climate change; inbreeding depression.

Publication bias
I am interested in exploring factors that influence the publication of articles in ecology and the potential bias at the different levels of the publication process. The related work has been conducted in collaboration with Lonnie Aarnssen, Christopher Lortie, Tom Tregenza, Amber Budden and Julia Koricheva. For more information (www.ecobias.org)



Research group

Postdoc
Dr Anne Muola (University of Turku)

Graduate students
MSc Liisa Laukkanen (University of Turku)
MSc Aino Kalske (University of Turku)
Nadine Prill (University of Oxford)

Muola, A., Mutikainen, P., Laukkanen, L., Lilley, M. & Leimu, R. The role of inbreeding and outbreeding in herbivore resistance and tolerance in Vincetoxicum hirundinaria. Annals of Botany, in press

Angeloni, F., Ouborg, N. J. & Leimu, R. 2011. Meta-analysis on the association of population size and life history with inbreeding depression in plants. Biological conservation, 144:35-43
 
Muola, A., Mutikainen, P., Laukkanen, L., Lilley, M. & Leimu, R. 2010. Genetic variation in herbivore resistance and tolerance: the role of plant life-history and type of damage. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 23:2185-2196

Leimu, R. & Fischer, M. 2010. Between-population outbreeding affects plant defence. PlosONE 5(9):e12614

Muola, A., Mutikainen, P., Lilley, M., Laukkanen, L., Salminen, J.-P. & Leimu, R. 2010. Associations of plant fitness, leaf chemistry and damage reflect selection mosaic in plant-herbivore interactions. Ecology 91:2650-2659.

Leimu, R., Vergeer, P., Angeloni, F. & Ouborg, N.J. 2010. Habitat fragmentation, climate change, and inbreeding in plants. Annals of the New York Academy of Science. Eds. Ostfeld, R. S. & Schlesinger W. H. The Year in Ecology and Conservation Biology, pp 84-98.

Leimu, R. 2010. Habitat quality and population size as determinants of the performance of two endangered hemiparasites. Annales Botanici Fennici 47:1-13.

Borsuk, R. M., Aarssen, L. W., Budden, A. E., Koricheva, J., Leimu, R., Tregenza, T. & Lortie, C. J. 2009. To Name or Not to Name: The Effect of Changing Author Gender on Peer Review. Bioscience 59:985-989.

Aarssen, L. W., Lortie, C. J., Budden, A. E., Koricheva, J., Leimu, R. and Tregenza, T.  2009. Does publication in top-tier journals affect reviewer behavior? PlosONE, 4:e6283. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0006283

Leimu, R., and Fischer, M. 2008. A meta-analysis of local adaptation in plants. PlosONE, 3:e4010:1-8. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0004010

Leimu, R., Lortie, C. J., Tregenza, T., Koricheva, J. Budden, A. E. and Aarssen, L. W. 2008. How big are bigwigs?: Reply to Havens. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 6:523

Leimu, R., Lortie, C. J., Tregenza, T., Koricheva, J. Budden, A. E. and Aarssen, L. W. 2008. Does it pay to have a bigwig as a co-author? Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 6:410-411.

Grod, O.N., Budden, A.E., Tregenza, T., Koricheva, J., Leimu, R., Aarssen, L.W. and Lortie, C.J., 2008. Systematic Variation in Reviewer Practice according to Country and Gender in the Field of Ecology and Evolution. PlosONE, 3:9:e3202

Aarssen, L. W., Tregenza, T., Budden, A., Lortie, J., Koricheva, J. & Leimu, R. 2008. Bang for your buck: rejection rates and impact factors in ecological journals. Open Ecology 1:14-19

Leimu, R, Kloss, L. and Fischer, M. 2008. Effects of experimental inbreeding on herbivore resistance and plant fitness: the role of history of inbreeding, herbivory and abiotic factors. Ecology Letters, 11:1101-1110.

Budden, A.E., Aarssen, L. W., Koricheva, J., Leimu, R., Lortie, C.J., & Tregenza, T. 2008. The authors respond to Hammerschmidt et al: Does double-blind review favor female authors? Frontiers in Ecology and the environment 6: 354-355.

Budden, A.E., Aarssen, L., Koricheva, J., Leimu, R., Lortie, C.J. & Tregenza, T., 2008. Response to Whittaker: Challenges in testing for gender bias. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 23:480-481.

Budden, A.E., Lortie, C.J., Tregenza, T., Aarssen, L., Koricheva, J., Leimu, R. 2008. Response to Webb et al.: Double-blind review: Accept with minor revisions. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 23: 353-354.

Budden, A.E., Tregenza, T., Aarssen, L., Koricheva, J., Leimu, R., & Lortie, C. 2008. Double-blind review favors increased representation of female authors. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 23:4-6.

Gienapp, P., Leimu, R. and Merilä, J. 2007. Responses to climate change in avian migration time – microevolution or phenotypic plasticity? Climate Research, 35:25-35

Lortie, C.J., Aarssen, L.W., Budden, A.E, Koricheva, J.K., Leimu, R. & Tregenza, T. 2007. Publication bias and merit in ecology. Oikos, 116:1247-1299.

Kolb, A., Leimu, R. & Ehrlén, J. 2007. Environmental context influences the outcome of a plant-seed predator interaction. Oikos, 116:864-872

Leimu, R., Mutikainen, P. Koricheva, J. & Fischer, M. 2006. How general are positive associations between population size, fitness, and genetic variation? Journal of Ecology, 94:942-952.

Leimu, R. & Koricheva, J. 2006. A meta-analysis of genetic correlations between plant resistance to multiple enemies. American Naturalist, 168:E15-E37

Lehtilä, K., Syrjänen, K., Leimu, R., Garcia, M. B. & Ehrlén, J. 2006. Habitat change and demography of Primula veris: identification of management targets. Conservation Biology, 20:833-843.

Leimu, R. & Lehtilä, K. 2006. Effects of multiple herbivores on the population dynamics of a perennial herb. Basic and Applied Ecology, 7:224-235.

Leimu, R. & Koricheva, J. 2006. A meta-analysis of trade-offs between plant tolerance and resistance to herbivores: combining the evidence from ecological and agricultural studies. Oikos, 112:1-9

Leimu, R., Riipi, M. & Stærk, D. 2005. Food preference and performance of a specialist herbivore: variation among and within host plant populations. Acta Oecologica, 28:325-330.

Leimu, R. & Koricheva, J. 2005. Does scientific collaboration increase the impact of ecological articles? BioScience, 55:438-443.

Ehrlén, J., Syrjänen, K., Leimu, R, Garcia, M. B. & Lehtilä, K. 2005. Land use and population growth of Primula veris: an experimental demographic approach. Journal of Applied Ecology, 42:317-326.

Leimu, R. & Mutikainen, P. 2005. Population history, mating system and fitness variation in a perennial herb with a fragmented distribution. Conservation Biology, 19:1-8.

Leimu, R. & Koricheva, J. 2005. What determines the citation frequency of ecological papers? Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 20:28-32.

Leimu, R. & Koricheva, J. 2004. Cumulative meta-analysis: a new tool for detection of temporal trends and publication bias in ecology. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 271:1961-1966.

Leimu, R. 2004. Variation in mating system of Vincetoxicum hirundinaria (Asclepiadaceae) in peripheral island populations. Annals of Botany 93:107-113.

Leimu, R. & Syrjänen, K. 2002. Effects of population size, seed predation and plant size on male and female reproductive success in Vincetoxicum hirundinaria (Asclepiadaceae). Oikos 98:229-238.

Leimu, R., Syrjänen, K., Ehrlén, J. & Lehtilä, K.2002. Pre-dispersal seed predation in Primula veris: among-population variation in damage intensity and selection on flower number. Oecologia 133:510-516.

Full Publication List (while at this department)

Angeloni, F, Ouborg, N.J, Leimu, R. (2011) Meta-analysis on the association of population size and life history with inbreeding depression in plants Biological Conservation. 144 (1): pp 35-43.
doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2010.08.016.

Muola, A, Mutikainen, P, Laukkanen, L, Lilley, M, Leimu, R. (2011) The role of inbreeding and outbreeding in herbivore resistance and tolerance in Vincetoxicum hirundinaria Annals of Botany. 108 (3): pp 547-555.
doi:10.1093/aob/mcr174.

Uller, T, Leimu, R. (2011) Founder events predict changes in genetic diversity during human-mediated range expansions Global Change Biology. 17 (11): pp 3478-3485.
doi:10.1111/j.1365-2486.2011.02509.x.

Leimu, R, Fischer, M. (2010) Between-population outbreeding affects plant defence PLoS ONE. 5 (9): pp 1-8.
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0012614.

Leimu, R, Vergeer, P, Angeloni, F, Ouborg, N.J. (2010) Habitat fragmentation, climate change, and inbreeding in plants Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. Eds. Ostfeld R.S.Schlesinger W.H.. ISBN: 9781573317917. pp 84-98.
doi:10.1111/j.1749-6632.2010.05450.x.

Muola, A, Mutikainen, P, Laukkanen, L, Lilley, M, Leimu, R. (2010) Genetic variation in herbivore resistance and tolerance: The role of plant life-history stage and type of damage Journal of Evolutionary Biology. 23 (10): pp 2185-2196.
doi:10.1111/j.1420-9101.2010.02077.x.

Muola, A, Mutikainen, P, Lilley, M, Laukkanen, L, Salminen, J.-P, Leimu, R. (2010) Associations of plant fitness, leaf chemistry, and damage suggest selection mosaic in plant-herbivore interactions Ecology. 91 (9): pp 2650-2659.
doi:10.1890/09-0589.1.

Aarssen, L.W, Lortie, C.J, Budden, A.E, Koricheva, J, Leimu, R, Tregenza, T. (2009) Does publication in Top-Tier journals affect reviewer behavior? PLoS ONE. 4 (7):.
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0006283.

Leimu, R, Fischer, M. (2008) A meta-analysis of local adaptation in plants PLoS ONE. 3 (12):.
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0004010.

Leimu, R, Lortie, C.J, Tregenza, T, Koricheva, J, Budden, A.E, Aarssen, L. (2008) How big are bigwigs?: A reply to Havens Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. 6 (10): pp 523

Academy of Finland
BES

Current collaboration

• Prof, Dr Markus Fischer (University of Bern, Switzerland)
• Dr Pia Mutikainen (ETH, Zurich, Switzerland)
• Prof James Bullock (CEH, UK)
• Dr Julia Koricheva (Royal Holloway, University of London, UK)
• Dr Bodil Ehlers (University of Southern Denmark)
• Dr Joop van Loon (Wageningen University)
• Dr Rieta Gols (Wageningen University)