Research
Interests
My primary scientific interests lie in evolutionary biology,
and the generation and maintenance of biological diversity.
My recent research has mainly focused on Pacific Island phylogeography,
using some of the more prominent, spectacular Hawaiian land
snail radiations as model systems.
• In collaboration with Dr. Rob Cowie, I am using a molecular
approach to investigate phylogenetics and passive long-distance
dispersal
pathways of succineid snails throughout the Pacific basin
. This work is being done in collaboration with Gary Barker of Landcare
New Zealand and Dr. Marta deMaintenon, UH Hilo, and is
funded by the US National Science Foundation.
• In on-going collaborative efforts with Dr. Mike Hadfield, Director
of the Kewalo Marine Lab and professor of Zoology at UH, I am
participating in analyses of systematic relationships, diversification,
and conservation genetics of the endemic Hawaiian tree snails
of the subfamily Achatinellinae.
I am fortunate enough to be involved in a number of collaborations
on other projects, some of which are listed below:
• Together with Jerry Crow of the Waikiki Aquarium, funded by Hawaii
Sea Grant, I am currently investigating molecular systematics
and evolutionary relationships among the box jellies, or Cubozoa
(Carybdeidae & Chirodropidae). In the Hawaiian Islands, native
box jellies (mainly Carybdea alata) wash onshore periodically
and have an annoying, though not usually life threatening sting,
and can therefore be detrimental to the tourism industry. We
hope to gain insight into the natural history of these poorly
understood species.
• In another recent project I am looking at behavioral ecology
in invasive Jackson's chameleons, in collaboration with Dr. Martin
Whiting of Witswatersrand
University in South Africa and J. Scott Keogh of the Australian
National University.
We are using a protocol developed by Dr. Whiting to quantify
color change with an optic spectrometer and video documentation,
under various staged scenarios including: male/male encounters,
male/female encounters, and predator exposure (using a stuffed
African hawk and plastic-cast snake). The aim is to compare behavioral
responses in introduced chameleons (living in the absence of
hawks and snakes) with responses elicited under the same conditions
in their native Kenya. We are also examining chameleon gut contents
and reproductive status in collaboration with Dr. Fred Kraus
of the Bishop Museum. Dr. Keogh and I will use variable mtDNA
markers to investigate phylogeographic structure and test predictions
based on population genetic theory relating to bottleneck events
and founder effects.
• In collaboration with Chris (Mad Dog) Bird of UH Botany, and
Dr. Rob Toonen and Dr. Brian Bowen of the Hawaii Institute of
Marine Biology, we are investigating the systematics, gene flow,
and stock structure of native Hawaiian opihi (Cellana spp.).
Opihi are an economically and culturally important fisheries
resource that has been severely impacted by harvest pressure.
Data generated in this project could be used to help design marine
protected areas (MPAs) where opihi are allowed to mature and
reproduce in the absence of anthropogenic interference. MPAs
could enhance the fishery as well as the likelihood of persistence
of opihi by providing sustainable sources of larvae to harvested
areas on all of the high islands.
• I
am working with Brian Lynch (brianl@comfsm.fm), an ichthyologist
and associate professor at the College of Micronesia, on the
island of Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia. Brian's
expertise is in the ecology, early life history and systematics
of amphidromous sicydiine gobies of the Western Pacific. Sicydiine
gobies have an amazing life history in which they hatch in
mountain streams and the
larvae wash into the ocean. Following an extended larval period,
they return to freshwater streams where they remain for the rest
of their life. Sicydiine gobies have specialized climbing structures,
fused pelvic fins, that allow them to scale waterfalls during
migration up mountain streams. We are using a molecular approach
to examine geographic speciation patterns and to test morphology
based systematic boundaries.
Selected
Publications
| Holland, B.S. and M.G. Hadfield. Molecular systematic
evaluation of subspecies boundaries and shell chirality in
the endangered Oahu tree snail Achatinella mustelina (Mighels
1845). Submitted
to Pacific Science. In review. |
| 2006 Cowie, R.H. and B.S. Holland. Dispersal is fundamental
to evolution on oceanic islands. Journal of Biogeography
33(2): 193-198. Guest Editorial. |
| 2005 Rubinoff, D. and B.S. Holland. Between the two
extremes: Mitochondrial DNA is neither the panacea nor the
nemesis of phylogenetic and taxonomic inference. Systematic
Biology
54(6): 92-961. |
| 2004
Holland, B.S., M.N. Dawson, G.L. Crow and D.K. Hofmann.
Global phylogeography of Cassiopea (Scyphozoa: Rhizostomeae):
Molecular evidence for cryptic species and multiple invasions
of the Hawaiian Islands. Marine Biology. 145: 1119-1128. |
| 2004 Holland, B.S. and M.G. Hadfield. Origin and diversification
of the endemic Hawaiian tree snails (Achatinellinae: Achatinellidae)
based on molecular evidence. Molecular Phylogenetics and
Evolution. 32(2): 588-600. |
| 2004 Hadfield, M.G., B.S. Holland and K. Olival. Contributions
of Ex Situ Propagation and Molecular Genetics to the Conservation
of Hawaiian Tree Snails. In: Experimental Approaches to Conservation
Biology. (M.Gordon and S.Bartol, eds). University of California
Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles. Pages 16-34. |
| 2004
Rundell, R.J., B.S. Holland, and R.H. Cowie. Molecular
phylogeny and biogeography of endemic Hawaiian succineid
land snails (Pulmonata: Gastropoda). Molecular Phylogenetics
and Evolution 31: 246-255. |
| 2002 Holland, B.S. and M.G. Hadfield. Islands within
an island: phylogeography and conservation genetics of the
endangered Hawaiian tree snail Achatinella mustelina. Molecular
Ecology.
11(3): 365-376. |
| 2001 Holland,
B.S. Invasion without a bottleneck: microsatellite variation
in natural and invasive populations
of the brown mussel, Perna perna (L). Marine Biotechnology
3(5): 407-415. |
| 2000 Apte, S., B.S. Holland, L.S. Godwin, and J.P.A.
Gardner. Jumping ship: a stepping stone event mediating transfer
of a non- indigenous species via a potentially unsuitable
environment.
Biological Invasions 2: 75-79. |
| 2000 Holland, B.S. Genetics of Marine Bioinvasions. In:
Marine Genetics. (A. Sole-Cava, C. Russo and J. Thorpe),
Developments in Hydrobiologia, Kluwer Academic Publishers,
Netherlands.
Pages 63-71. |
| 2000 Holland, B.S. Genetics of marine bioinvasions. Hydrobiologia
420: 63-71. |
| 1999 Holland, B.S., D.S. Gallagher, D.W. Hicks, and S.K.
Davis. Cytotaxonomic verification of a non-indigenous marine
mussel in the Gulf of Mexico. The Veliger 42(3): 280-282. |
| 1992 Gittings, S.R., G.S. Boland, K.J.P. Deslarzes,
C. Combs, B.S. Holland, and T.J. Bright. Mass spawning and
reproductive viability of reef corals at the East Flower
Garden Bank,
northwest Gulf of Mexico. Bulletin of Marine Science 51(3):
420-428. |
| 1991 Lockwood, S.F., B.S. Holland, J.W. Bickham, B.J.
Hanks, and J.J. Bull. Intraspecific genome size variation
in a turtle (Trachemys scripta) exhibiting temperature-dependent
sex
determination. Canadian Journal of Zoology 69: 2306-2310. |
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