Andrea S. Aspbury
Andrea (lft) & Caitlin (rt) in the field
Department of Biology
Texas State University at
San Marcos
Senior Lecturer
Email: aspbury@txstate.edu
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General Research Interests
My research interests encompass addressing questions in behavioral and population ecology. I am particularly interested in research questions that can be analyzed on multiple scales. Multi-scale approaches are important because processes at lower spatial or temporal scales are not necessarily reflected at higher scales. Therefore, our understanding of a particular system is not complete with an understanding of the system dynamics at only one scale. The issue of scale is one that is reflected in the interacting fields of population ecology and behavioral ecology. The approach of behavioral ecology is to focus on individuals in order to understand the adaptive significance of behaviors, whereas population ecologists focus on populations of interacting individuals to understand the processes that determine the abundance and distribution of species. These pursuits are logically linked because the behavior of individuals will impact the demographic rates of populations, and the patterns of abundance and distribution of populations can in turn affect the behavior of individuals. The usual behavioral ecology approach of focusing on individuals often neglects higher-scale spatial and temporal processes, whereas a higher scale population ecology approach may neglect underlying individual dynamics. Within this framework,I am mostly interested in questions that address how males make decisions concerning mating.
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Research Descriptions
Lekking grouse: GIS based analyses of behavior
Poeciliid fishes: proximate questions on spermatogenesis
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Courses Taught
Organismal Biology (Bio 1431) - Syllabus - Lab Syllabus
Organismal Biology Laboratory Coordinator
Animal Behavior (Bio 4472)
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Publications
D. M. Robinson, A. S. Aspbury, & C. R. Gabor. In press. Differential sperm expenditure by male sailfin mollies, Poecilia latipinna, in a unisexual-bisexual species complex and the influence of spermiation during mating. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology
A. S. Aspbury. 2007. Sperm competition effects on sperm production and expenditure in sailfin mollies, Poecilia latipinna. Behavioral Ecology 18:776-780 (pdf).
Gumm, J. M. R. Gonzalez, A. S. Aspbury, & C. R. Gabor. 2006. Do I know you? Species recognition in an unisexual-bisexual species complex of mollies. Ethology 112:448-457 (pdf)
Aspbury, A. S. & Gabor, C. R. 2004b. Discriminating males alter sperm production between species. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 101:15970-15973. (pdf)
Aspbury, A. S. & Gabor, C. R. 2004a. Differential sperm priming by male sailfin mollies (Poecilia latipinna): Effects of female and male size. Ethology 110: 193-202. (pdf)
Aspbury, A. S. & Gibson, R. M. 2004. Long-range visibility of greater sage grouse leks: a GIS-based analysis. Animal Behaviour 67:1127-1132. (pdf)
Gibson, R.M., Aspbury, A.S., & McDaniel, L.M. 2002. Active formation of mixed-species grouse leks: a role for predation in lek evolution? Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 269: 2503-2507. (pdf)
Aspbury, A. S. & Basolo, A. L. 2002. Repeatable female preferences, mating order, and mating success in the poeciliid fish, Heterandria formosa. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 51: 238-244. (pdf)
Aspbury, A. S. & Juliano, S. A. 1998. Negative effects of drying and prior exploitation on the detritus resource in an ephemeral aquatic habitat. Oecologia 115:137-148. (pdf)
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Current Grants
NSF - REU Supplement with Dr. Gabor 2006 $6000
NSF - RET Supplement with Dr. Gabor 2005 $5890 Supplemental grant for High School Teachers Marty Wise
NSF - DIB, Animal Behavior with Dr. Gabor, 2004 - 2008 $299,497
Species Recognition versus Mate Quality Recognition by Sailfin Molly Males: Asexuals looking for sperm Grant # 0415808