Brian Bowen
PhD Georgia (Genetics), 1992
Research Professor, Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology
Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology
SOEST, University of Hawaii
PO Box 1346
Kaneohe, HI 96744
phone: (808) 236-7426
bbowen@hawaii.edu
http://www.hawaii.edu/HIMB/faculty/bowen.html

Phylogeography and Conservation Genetics of Marine Vertebrates
My research program is designed to serve conservation goals by illuminating the evolutionary processes that generate biodiversity. In terrestrial systems, populations are usually defined by discontinuous fragments of habitat. These populations may eventually develop intrinsic reproductive barriers, the starting point for speciation. Hence habitat discontinuities may explain most cases of speciation on land, but what about speciation in the sea, where few such barriers exist? In the sea, the evolutionary rules may be different, or they may operate on a vastly different scale due to the connectivity of a trans-global aquatic medium.

My research goals include:

• resolve the life history traits (especially dispersal ability and habitat specificity) that influence dispersal and population separations in Pacific reef organisms.
• test evolutionary models for how biodiversity is generated in the sea, including predictions for allopatric speciation, the center of accumulation hypothesis, and the center of origin hypotheses.
• expand and refine the library of nuclear introns available for population genetic studies of marine fishes and other aquatic organisms.
• provide phylogeographic surveys in the service of marine conservation, particularly to define management units and to assist the design of marine protected areas.

Professional Societies

American Association for the Advancement of Science
American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists
American Genetics Association
Society for Conservation Biology
Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles
Society for the Study of Evolution

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Editorial Positions

1993-1999 Genetica, Associate Editor
1996-2004 Herpetological Review, Associate Editor
1998-2000 Evolution, Associate Editor
2000-present Molecular Ecology, Editorial Review Board
2003-present Journal of Heredity, Associate Editor

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Awards

1990 American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists,
Stoye award for best student paper in herpetology
1991 Annual Marine Turtle Symposium, award for best student paper
1992 University of Georgia, Charles C. Anderson Memorial Award for
research excellence in a dissertation thesis

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Scientific Publications

Eble, J.A., R.J. Toonen, B.W. Bowen. 2009. Endemism and dispersal: comparative phylogeography of three surgeonfish species across the Hawaiian Archipelago. Marine Biology 156:689–698.

Helfman, G.S., B.B. Collette, D.E. Facey, and B.W. Bowen. 2009. The Diversity of Fishes, Second Edition. Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford, UK

National Research Council. 2010. Sea Turtle Status and Trends: Integrating Demography and Abundance. National Academies Press, Washington, D.C.

Andrews, K.R., L. Karczmarski, W.W.L. Au, S. Rickards, C.A. Vanderlip, B.W. Bowen, R.J. Toonen. 2010. Rolling stones and stable homes; Social structure, habitat diversity, and population genetics of the Hawaiian spinner dolphin (Stenella longirostris). Molecular Ecology 19:732-748.

Gaither, M.R., R.J. Toonen, D.R. Robertson, S. Planes, and B.W. Bowen. 2010. Genetic evaluation of marine biogeographic barriers: perspectives from two widespread Indo-Pacific snappers (Lutjanus spp.). Journal of Biogeography 37:133-147.

McBride, R.S., C.R. Rocha, R. Ruiz-Carus, and B.W. Bowen. 2010. A new species of Elops (Elopiformes: Elopidae) from the North Atlantic Ocean. Zootaxa 2346:29-41.

Gaither, M.R., B.W. Bowen, R.J. Toonen, S. Planes, V. Messmer, J. Earle, D.R. Robertson. 2010. Genetic consequences of introducing allopatric lineages of Bluestriped Snapper (Lutjanus kasmira) to Hawaii. Molecular Ecology 19: 1107 - 1121.

Daly-Engel, T.S., R.D. Grubbs, K.W. Feldheim, B.W. Bowen, R.J. Toonen. 2010. Is multiple paternity beneficial or unavoidable? Low multiple paternity and genetic diversity in the shortspine spurdog shark (Squalus mitsukurii). Marine Ecology Progress Series 403:255-267.

Reece, J.S., B.W. Bowen, K. Joshi, V. Goz, A.F. Larson. 2010. Phylogeography of two moray eels indicates high dispersal throughout the Indo-Pacific. Journal of Heredity 101:391 – 402.

Grant, W.S., F. Lecomte, B.W. Bowen. 2010. Biogeographical contingency and the evolution of tropical anchovies Cetengraulis from temperate Engraulis. Journal of Biogeography 37:1352 – 1362.

Gaither, M.R., R.J. Toonen, L. Sorenson, B.W. Bowen. 2010. Isolation and characterization of microsatellite markers for the Crimson Jobfish, Pristipomoides filamentosus (Lutjanidae). Conservation Genetics Resources 2:169-172.

Craig, M.T., J. Eble, B.W. Bowen. 2010. Origins, ages, and populations histories: Comparative phylogeography of endemic Hawaiian butterflyfishes (genus Chaetodon). Journal of Biogeography 37:2125 – 2136.

Reece, J.S., B.W. Bowen, D.G. Smith, A.F. Larson. 2010. Molecular phylogenetics of moray eels (Murenidae) demonstrates multiple origins of a shell-crushing jaw (Gymnomuraena, Echidna) and multiple colonizations of the Atlantic Ocean. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 57:829 – 835.

Wallace, B.P., A.D. DiMatteo, B.J. Hurley, E.M. Finkbeiner, A.B. Bolten, M.Y. Chaloupka, B.J. Hutchinson, F.A. Abreu-Grobois, D. Amorocho, K.A. Bjorndal, J. Bourjea, B.W. Bowen, R. Briceño Dueñas, P. Casale, B.C. Choudhury, A. Costa, P.H. Dutton, A. Fallabrino, A. Girard, M. Girondot, M.H. Godfrey, M. Hamann, M. López-Mendilaharsu, M.A. Marcovaldi, J.A. Mortimer, J.A. Musick, R. Nel, J.A. Seminoff, S. Troëng, B. Witherington, R.B. Mast. 2010. Regional management units for marine turtles: A novel framework for prioritizing conservation and research across multiple scales. PLoS One 5(12): e15465. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0015465

DiBattista, J.D., C. Wilcox, M.T. Craig, L.A. Rocha, B.W. Bowen. 2011. Phylogeography of the Pacific Blueline Surgeonfish Acanthurus nigroris reveals a cryptic species in the Hawaiian Archipelago. Journal of Marine Biology, Article ID 839134

Eble, J.A., L.A. Rocha, M.T. Craig, B.W. Bowen. 2011. Not all larvae stay close to home: Long-distance dispersal in Indo-Pacific reef fishes, with a focus on the Brown Surgeonfish (Acanthurus nigrofuscus). Journal of Marine Biology, Article ID 518516

Toonen, R.J., K.R. Andrews, I.B. Baums, C.E. Bird, C.T. Concepcion, T.S. Daly-Engel, J.A. Eble, A. Faucci, M.R. Gaither, M. Iacchei, J.B. Puritz, J.K. Schultz, D.J. Skillings, M. Timmers, B.W. Bowen. 2011. Defining boundaries for applying ecosystem-based management: A multispecies case study of marine connectivity across the Hawaiian Archipelago. Journal of Marine Biology, Article ID 460173

DiBattista J.D., Feldheim, K.A., B.W. Bowen. 2011. Microsatellite DNA markers for population genetic and hybridization analysis of two closely related surgeonfish species, Acanthurus nigricans and Acanthurus leucosternon. Conservation Genetic Resources 3:159 – 162.

Schultz, J.K., J.D. Baker, R.J. Toonen, A.L. Harting, B.W. Bowen. 2011. Range-wide genetic connectivity of the Hawaiian monk seal and implications for transplantation. Conservation Biology 25:124-132.

Bjorndal, K.A., B.W. Bowen, M. Chaloupka, L.B. Crowder, S.S. Heppell, C.M. Jones, M.E. Lutcavage, D. Policansky, A.R. Solow, and B.E. Witherington. 2011. Better science needed for restoration in the Gulf of Mexico. Science 330:437 - 438.

Bird, C.E., B.S. Holland, B.W. Bowen, R.J. Toonen. 2011. Diversification of endemic sympatric limpets (Cellana spp.) in the Hawaiian Archipelago. Molecular Ecology 20:2128 – 2141.

Eble, J.,A., R.J. Toonen, L.L. Sorensen, L. Basch, Y. Papastamatiou, B.W. Bowen. 2011. Escaping paradise: Larval export from Hawaii in an Indo-Pacific reef fish, the Yellow Tang (Zebrasoma flavescens). Marine Ecology Progress Series 428:245 – 258

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