Hsiu-Ping Liu
Research
Assistant Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, University of
Denver
E-mail: hsiupingliu@comcast.net
Tel. 303.871.3535
Education
Ph. D., Department of Environmental, Population, and Organismic Biology, University of Colorado at Boulder, 1994.
M.S., Institute of Fisheries Science, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, 1988.
B.S., with Honors, Department of Aquaculture, National Taiwan University of Marine Science and Technology, Keelung, Taiwan, 1986.
Research Interests
Pyrgulopsis (Phylum: Mollusca, Class Gastropoda, Family Hydrobiidae) is the most diverse genus of nonmarine mollusks in North America with 123 extant species. Pyrgulopsis lives in springs and other permanent waters that are poorly integrated on arid western landscapes. Although the dispersal ability of Pyrgulopsis has never been studied, these gill-breathing animals have an entirely aquatic life cycle and thus are presumably unable to move among hydrographically separated habitats. The spread of Pyrgulopsis within aquatic systems may also be constrained by its direct mode of development (bereft of a free swimming dispersal phase) and frequent restriction to headsprings, which may reflect physiological specialization for these unique environments. The entirely aquatic life cycle and limited vagility of Pyrgulopsis suggest that it should be prone to differentiation on a fine geographic scale and make them an ideal tool for studying biotic response to potential vicariance events. My research on Pyrgulopsis focuses on systematics, biogeography, and conservation genetics. DNA markers were used to infer the phylogenetic relationships of species of Pyrgulopsis. Then this molecular phylogenetic hypothesis was used to test the historical biogeography. I am also applying the knowledge of the evolutionary relationships and population genetic structure to the conservation of endangered species of Pyrgulopsis.
Publications
Hershler, R., Mulvey, M., and H.-P. Liu. 2005. Genetic variation in the Desert Springsnail (Tryonia porrecta): implications for reproductive mode and dispersal. Molecular Ecology (in press).
Liu, H.-P., R. and Hershler. 2005. Molecular systematics and radiation of Western North American Nymphophiline Gastropods. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution (in press).
Hershler, R., H.-P. Liu. 2004. A molecular phylogeny of aquatic gastropods provides a new perspective on biogeographic history of the Snake River region. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 32: 927-937.
Hershler, R., H.-P. Liu. 2004. Taxonomic reappraisal of species assigned to the North American freshwater Gastropod Subgenus Natricola Gregg & Taylor (Rissooidea: Hydrobiidae). The Veliger 47(1): 66-81.