Hugh Britten, Professor
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Office Location: Churchill-Haines 184 |
Education
- Ph.D. (Biology) Montana State University, 1991
- M.S. (Ecology) University of Tennessee, 1985
- B.S. (Biology) Niagara University, 1981
Courses Taught
- Evolution
- Genetics
Research Description
My research is in the area of conservation genetics; that branch of conservation biology concerned with the preservation of genetic diversity in natural populations. My research program involves the use of molecular genetic markers (e.g., microsatellites) to estimate levels of genetic variability and structure in animal populations on a landscape level. This information can be used in conjunction with ecological and other data to inform the management of species of conservation concern. Species that have recently been studied in his lab include the federally endangered Hine's emerald dragonfly and the Uncompahgre fritillary butterfly, the Dakota skipper butterfly (a species of concern in several states), and the Black Hills populations of the northern flying squirrel, red squirrel and three-toed woodpecker.
Our lab also has an ongoing investigation of the prevalence and spread of sylvatic plague (the wildlife form of bubonic plague) in black-tailed prairie dog colonies in Montana, Colorado and South Dakota. PCR-based plague assays and landscape genetics approaches are being used to elucidate the population genetic structures and movement of the plague organism, its vectors (several species of flea), and its host (black-tailed prairie dogs). The goal is to understand how the plague spreads across the prairie landscape.
Representative Publications
- Jones, P.H., L. Wallace, and H.B. Britten. 2009. "Isolation and characterization of 11 microsatellite loci from Oropsylla hirsuta, a vector of sylvatic plague." Molecular Ecology Resources 9: 1041-1044.
- Hanson, D.A., H.B. Britten, M. Restani, and L.R. Washburn. 2007. "High prevalence of sylvatic plague in fleas collected from black-tailed prairie dog burrows in north-central Montana." Conservation Genetics 8: 789-795.
- Hayes, M.A., H.B. Britten, and J. A. Barzen. 2006. "Microsatellite DNA markers reveal extra-pair paternity in a Wisconsin population of sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis)." The Condor 108: 970-976.
- Trudeau, K.M., H.B. Britten, and M. Restani. 2004. "Sylvatic plague reduces genetic variability in black-tailed prairie dogs." Journal of Wildlife Diseases 40: 205-211.
- Britten, H.B., E. Fleishman, G.T. Austin, and D.D. Murphy. 2003. "Genetically effective and adult population sizes in the Apache silverspot butterfly (Speyeria nokomis apacheana) (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae)." Western North American Naturalist 63: 229-235.