https://meep-lab.com/tag/mosses/MossesWowchemy (https://wowchemy.com)en-ushttps://meep-lab.com/media/logo.svghttps://meep-lab.com/tag/mosses/https://meep-lab.com/ongoing/cosexuality/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://meep-lab.com/ongoing/cosexuality/<p>Mosses have diverse reproductive systems, making them useful for studying how sexual strategies evolve. This project examines transitions among reproductive modes in mosses, with a focus on connections among sexual system, genome structure, and chromosome evolution. We are especially interested in cases where mosses depart from separate male and female functions and evolve cosexual or otherwise complex reproductive strategies. Using comparative genomics, phylogenetic approaches, and analyses of reproductive traits, this work asks how often these transitions occur, what genomic changes accompany them, and whether similar evolutionary patterns appear across independent moss lineages. A related part of this project explores sex chromosomes and intragenomic conflict in mosses, asking how reproductive traits and genome evolution influence one another over evolutionary time. Together, this research connects moss reproductive biology to larger questions about trait evolution, genome evolution, and the origins of biological diversity.</p>https://meep-lab.com/ongoing/fog/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://meep-lab.com/ongoing/fog/<p>Atmospheric moisture can be an important water source for mosses, lichens, and other poikilohydric organisms, especially in habitats where rainfall is strongly seasonal. This project examines how fog, marine-layer exposure, and fine-scale microclimate variation shape epiphytic cryptogams and their associated microbial communities. We are interested in whether visible patterns of moss and lichen occurrence reflect underlying changes in morphology, reproduction, chemistry, and host-associated microbiomes. Using field surveys, microclimate monitoring, trait measurements, molecular identification, and microbial community data, this work explores how coastal-to-inland variation affects cryptogam performance and symbiosis. A major goal is to understand how non-rainfall water inputs influence small but ecologically important organisms that live at the boundary between plants, atmosphere, and microbial life. This work connects to broader questions about how changing coastal fog regimes may affect biodiversity, organismal function, and microbial associations in moisture-sensitive communities.</p>