Jeff Huebschman Ph.D. School of Natural Resource Sciences, May 2003 Currently: Assistant Professor Department of Biology 262 Gardner Hall University of Wisconsin-Platteville Platteville, WI 53818 (608) 342-1742 huebschj@uwplatt.edu   Email: jhuebsc1@bigred.unl.edu

Biogeographic patterns in Franklin’s ground squirrels (Spermophilus franklinii)

Major Advisor: H. Genoways

Jeff has wide-ranging interests in the natural world, from birds and butterflies to bats. However, Jeff's primary area of study is in mammalogy. His current research involves examining phylogeographic patterns in the Franklin's ground squirrel, Spermophilus franklinii. This squirrel of the tallgrass prairie biome has always been overlooked, but with the destruction of much of its primary habitat, Franklin's ground squirrel is now reported to be in decline. Results of this research may have implications for the conservation of this animal.

In 1999, we began studying distribution and geographic variation patterns in Franklin’s ground squirrel. In particular, we are assessing morphological and genetic variation within a geographic context. Morphological findings to date indicate a subtle size-gradient. Genetic analyses of the mitochondrial DNA control region indicate distinct geographic structuring. In eastern Nebraska, five populations are represented by six haplotypes. In the most extreme case, two of these populations separated by 30 km are differentiated by 8 base-pair changes within a 550 base-pair region. In contrast, in an area spanning 1000 km from northwest North Dakota to Athabasca, Alberta, six populations share the same haplotype. We suggest these findings indicate the influence of Pleistocene events on the current distribution and genetic structuring of S. franklinii.

See Jeff's page in Mammalogy