Skip to main content

Dr Gemma Beatty


Dr Gemma Beatty
Research Fellow

BSc. Biological Sciences (Hons), 2006,
Queen's University Belfast;
MSc. Molecular Ecology (with Distinction), 2007,
Queen's University Belfast;
PhD. Evolutionary Genetics, 2010;
Queen's University Belfast.

----------------------------------------------------------

Contact Information
Tel: +44 (0)28 9097 2489 (Direct line)
Fax: +44 (0)28 9097 5877
Email: GBeatty03@qub.ac.uk
Room: Medical Biology Centre - 05.017

 

Research Interests

I am interested in using genetic approaches to study the effects of past and present climate change on the distribution ranges of natural populations, and the various factors that determine these ranges.  The research for my MSc investigated the genetics of range-edge populations of the plant Orthilia secunda, and I further developed this in my PhD to study the genetic consequences of postglacial recolonisation and range-edge effects in northern hemisphere Monotropoideae species.

I am currently carrying out a project funded by the Leverhulme Trust, using phylogeographic approaches to elucidate the origin of the Lusitanian flora.

 

Publications

Beatty GE, Provan J (2013) "Postglacial dispersal, rather than in situ glacial survival, best explains the disjunct distribution of the Lusitanian plant species Daboecia cantabrica (Ericaceae)" Journal of Biogeography 40, 335-344 [DOI:10.1111/j.1365-2699.2012.02789.x]
PDF   

Taylor DL, Barrett CF, Beatty GE, Hopkins SE, Kennedy AH, Klooster, MR (2012) "Progress and prospects for the ecological genetics of mycoheterotrophs" In: Mycoheterotrophic Flowering Plants (Ed: Merckx VSFT), pp 245-266, Springer

Wilson CD, Beatty GE, Bradley CR, Clarke HC, Preston SJ, Roberts D, Provan J (2012) "The importance of population genetic information in formulating ex-situ conservation strategies for the freshwater pearl mussel Margaritifera margaritifera L. in Northern Ireland" Animal Conservation 15, 593-602 [DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-1795.2012.00553.x]
PDF    

Doonan J, Beatty GE, Sigwart JD, Provan J (2012) "Extensive local-scale gene flow and long-term population stability in the intertidal mollusc Katharina tunicata (Mollusca: Polyplacophora)"  Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 106, 589-597
PDF    

Beatty GE, Provan J (2011) “Phylogeographic analysis of North American populations of the parasitic herbaceous plant Monotropa hypopitys L. reveals a complex history of range expansion from multiple late glacial refugia” Journal of Biogeography 38, 1585-1599
PDF   

Beatty GE, Provan J (2011) “Comparative phylogeography of two related plant species with overlapping ranges in Europe, and the potential effects of climate change on their intraspecific genetic diversity”  BMC Evolutionary Biology 11, 29
PDF    

Beatty GE, Provan J (2011) “High clonal diversity in threatened peripheral populations of the yellow bird’s nest (Hypopitys monotropa; syn. Monotropa hypopitys)” Annals of Botany 107, 663-670
PDF    

Beatty GE, Provan J (2010) "Refugial persistence and postglacial recolonization of North America by the cold-tolerant herbaceous plant Orthilia secunda" Molecular Ecology 19, 5009-5021
PDF 

Beatty GE, Philipp M, Provan J (2010) "Unidirectional hybridization at a species' range boundary: implications for habitat tracking"  Diversity and Distributions 16, 1-9
PDF

Provan J, Beatty GE, Keating SL, Maggs CA, Savidge G (2009) “High dispersal potential has maintained long-term population stability in the North Atlantic copepod Calanus finmarchicus” Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B 276, 301-307
PDF 

Beatty GE, McEvoy PM, Sweeney O, Provan J (2008) “Range-edge effects promote clonal growth in peripheral populations of the one-sided wintergreen (Orthilia secunda)” Diversity and Distributions 14, 546-555
PDF 

Provan J, Beatty GE, Hunter AM, McDonald RA, McLaughlin E, Preston SJ, Wilson S (2008) “Restricted gene flow in fragmented populations of a wind-pollinated tree” Conservation Genetics 9, 1521-1532
PDF   

Provan J, Booth D, Todd NP, Beatty GE, Maggs CA (2008) “Tracking biological invasions in space and time: elucidating the invasive history of the green alga Codium fragile using old DNA” Diversity and Distributions 14, 343-354
PDF 

Provan J, Beatty GE, Maggs CA, Savidge G (2007) “Expressed sequence tag-derived microsatellites for the cool-water marine copepod Calanus finmarchicus”  Molecular Ecology Notes 7, 1369-1371
PDF