Ramaley Hall, C105 (lab)
Research Interests
Plant Systematics, Tropical Botany, Lichenology, Biodiversity Inventory, Molecular Genetics and Evolution, Taxonomy, Nomenclature, Pollination Biology.
As a biologist, I am broadly interested in the ecology and evolution of all life on Earth, particularly how natural selection and contingency have shaped the evolution of millions of “endless forms most beautiful”. As a natural historian, I am interested in patterns and trends that characterize the histories of these endless forms. Knowledge of evolutionary history is empowering, has real-world applications, and predictive potential.
In attempt to understand the evolution of biodiversity and the ecological functions that biodiversity sustains, I focus on macroevolutionary approaches at or above the species level. Most of my research emphasizes the species-rich (>4,000 taxa) and morphologically diverse tropical plant family Acanthaceae. More recently, I have advanced research in lichenology, both in the southern Appalachians and now in the southern Rocky Mountains with our comprehensive inventory of Colorado's lichen biota. In addition to biodiversity research on Acanths and lichens, I have maintained a long-term interest in the flora of the tepui highlands of northern South America, where I have participated in or co-led numerous plant collecting expeditions to remote locations in effort to provide baseline plant biodiversity information for these highly endemic ecosystems.
Selected Publications (Complete List Available on CV)
Books
Tripp EA, Lendemer JC. 2020. Field Guide to the Lichens of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. With illustrations by Bobbi Angell. University of Tennessee Press, 660 p.
Tripp EA, Luján M. 2018. Venezuelan Ruellia: A Monograph. Memoirs of the New York Botanical Garden, 179 p.
Tripp EA. 2016. Field Guide to the Lichens of White Rocks Open Space. University Press of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, 170 p.
Lendemer JC, Harris RC, Tripp EA. 2013. Lichens and Lichenicolous Fungi of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Memoirs of the New York Botanical Garden, Bronxy, NY. 152 p
Chapters in Books
Dexter KG, Swanepoel W, Loiseau O, Darbyshire I, Nanyeni L, Maiato Gonçcalves F, Lages F, Chase F, Manzitto-Tripp EA. 2023. High endemism of the genus Petalidium (Acanthaceae) in the highlands and escarpments of Angola and Namibia in: Monograph on Endemism in the Highlands and Escarpments of Angola and Namibia (eds: Mendelsohn JM, Huntley BJ, Vaz Pinto P). Ongava Research Centre, Namibia.
Peer-Reviewed Articles
Raynor S, Watts J, Manzitto-Tripp EA. In Press. New and noteworthy reports on Colorado lichens and lichen allies, 3: Sarea cirrhendocarpa, a species new to science from the southern Rocky Mountains. Phytotaxa.
Vagle GL, Lendemer JC, Manzitto-Tripp EA, McCain CM. 2024. Patterns and predictors of lichen rarity in a biodiversity hotspot. Biodiversity and Conservation 01 March 2024.
Darbyshire I, Tchamba J, Manzitto-Tripp EA. 2024. A synopsis of Ruellia (Acanthaceae) in Angola, including two species new to science. Rheedea 33: 246-269.
Swanepoel W, Wyk AE, Dexter KG, Manzitto-Tripp EA. 2024. Petalidium etendekaense (Acanthaceae), a new species from Namibia, with notes on the taxonomic identity of P. glutinosum. Phytotaxa 636: 35-47.
Sharples, MS, Manzitto-Tripp EA. 2024. Origins of cryophilous lineages: evidence from the cosmopolitan angiosperm genus Stellaria. Botanical Journal of the Linnaean Society 141: 191-213.
Manzitto-Tripp EA, Raynor SJ, Anderson Stewart CR. 2023. Diversity of lichens in northern Alabama yields evidence of an exceptionally diverse biota. Southeastern Naturalist 22:170-191.
Loiseau O, Manzitto-Tripp EA, Swanepoel W, Dexter KG. 2023. Net diversification rates of the woody plant genus Petalidium (Acanthaceae) are highest in the ancient and arid Namib Desert. Frontiers in Ecology & Evolution 11:1193728.
Manzitto-Tripp EA, Daniel TF. 2023. Phylogeny and revised classification of New World Ruellia. Taxon 72: 1034-1056.
Kiel CA, Manzitto-Tripp EA, Fisher AE, Porter JM, McDade LA. 2023. Remarkable variation in androecial morphology is closely associated with corolla traits and likely pollinators in Western Hemisphere Justicioids (Acanthaceae: Justicieae). Annals of Botany 132:43-60.
Diaz V, Tripp EA. 2023. A synopsis of the genus Xanthoparmelia in Colorado. Opuscula Philolichenum 22: 1-40.
Koch N, Lenderm J, Manzitto-Tripp EA, McCain CM, Stanton D. 2023. Carbon-concentrating mechanisms are a key trait in lichen ecology and distribution. Ecology 2023: e4011.
Raynor SJ, Kesler J, Allen JR, Manzitto-Tripp EA. 2023. New and noteworthy reports on Colorado lichens and lichen allies, 2: Biatoropsis hirtae and B. minuta. Western North American Naturalist 83: 454-461.
Manzitto-Tripp EA, Luján M, Clark DA. 2022. Ruellia whitneyana, a new species of Acanthaceae from Bolivia. Systematic Botany 47: 1107-1111.
Manzitto-Tripp EA, Lendemer JC, McCain CM. 2022. Most lichens are rare, and degree of rarity is mediated by lichen traits and biotic partners. Diversity and Distributions 28: 1810-1819.
Zhuang Y, Manzitto-Tripp EA. 2022. Co-expression network analyses reveal the molecular evolution and architecture of genes associated with anthocyanin biosynthesis in petals of Ruellia (Wild Petunias; Acanthaceae). BMC Ecology & Evolution: 22: 27.
Warsh, S, Schroeter, I., Manzitto-Tripp EA. 2023. A floristic inventory of two Boulder County Open Space parcels: Heil Valley Ranch and Hall Ranch, Colorado, U.S.A. Madroño 69: 263-285.
Manzitto-Tripp EA, Darbyshire I, Daniel TF, Kiel CA, McDade LA. 2021. Revised classification of Acanthaceae and worldwide dichotomous keys. Taxon 71: 103-153.
Fernandes UG, Manzitto-Tripp EA, Simão-Bianchini R, Kameyama C. In Press. Novelties in Ruellia L. (Acanthaceae) for the Brazilian Cerrado. Systematic Botany.
Sharples, M, Bentz PC, Tripp, EA. 2021. Evolution of apetaly in the cosmopolitan genus Stellaria. American Journal of Botany 108: 869-882.
Tripp EA, Dexter KG, Stone H. 2021. Reproductive character displacement in a diverse genus of tropical plants (Ruellia: Acanthaceae). Ecology & Evolution 11: 4719-4730.
Piatkowski BT, Imwattana K, Tripp EA, Weston DJ, Healey A, Schmutz J, and Shaw AJ. 2020. Phylogenomics reveals convergent evolution of red-violet coloration in land plants and the origins of the anthocyanin biosynthetic pathway. Molecular Phylogenetics & Evolution 141: 106904.
Darbyshire I, Tripp EA, Chase FM. 2019. A taxonomic revision of Acanthaceae tribe Barlerieae in Angola and Namibia. Part. 1. Kew Bulletin 74-75: 1-85.
Allen JL, McMullin TR, Tripp EA, Lendemer JC. 2019. Lichen conservation in North America: a review of current practices and research in Canada and the United States. Biodiversity and Conservation 28: 3103-3138.
Tripp EA, Lendemer JC, McCain CM. 2019. Habitat quality and disturbance drive lichen species richness in a temperate biodiversity hotspot. Oecologia 190: 445-457.
Lendemer JC, Keepers KG, Tripp EA, Pogoda C, McCain C, Kane NC. 2019. A taxonomically broad metagenomic survey of 339 species spanning 57 families suggests cystobasidiomycete yeasts are not ubiquitous across all lichens. American Journal of Botany 106: 1090-1095.
Tripp EA, Lendemer JC. 2019. Highlights from 10 years of lichenological research in Great Smoky Mountains National Park: celebrating the United States National Park Service centennial. Systematic Botany 44: 943-980.
Sharples M, Tripp EA. 2019. RAD sequencing rejects long distance disjunction in Stellaria (Caryophyllaceae) and yields support for a new southern Rocky Mountains endemic. Taxon 68: 280-296.
Daniel TF, Tripp EA. 2018. Louteridium (Acanthaceae): Taxonomy, phylogeny, reproductive biology, and conservation. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 65: 41-106.
Tripp EA, Zhuang Y, Schreiber M, Stone H, Berardi AE. 2018. Ecological and evolutionary drivers of plant flavonoids. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 128: 147-161.
Pogoda CS , Keepers KG, Lendemer JC, Kane NC, Tripp EA. 2018. Reductions in complexity of mitochondrial genomes in lichen-forming fungi shed light on genome architecture of obligate symbioses. Molecular Ecology. DOI: 10.1111/mec.14519
Tripp EA, Zhang N, Schneider H, Huang Y, Mueller GM, Hu Z, Häggblom M, Bhattacharya D. 2017. Reshaping Darwin's tree: impact of the symbiome. TREE 32: 552-555. (http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2017.05.002).
Tripp EA, Tsai YE, Zhuang Y, Dexter KG. 2017. RADseq data resolve nascent radiation of Petalidium (Acanthaceae) in the ultra-arid deserts of Namibia and Angola. Ecology & Evolution 30: 7920-7936.
Tripp EA, Lendemer JC. 2017. Twenty-seven modes of reproduction in the obligate lichen symbiosis. Brittonia 70: 1-14.
Tripp EA, Tsai YE. 2017. Disentangling geographical, biotic, and abiotic drivers of plant diversity in Neotropical Ruellia (Acanthaceae). PLoS ONE 12: e0176021.
Zhuang Y, Tripp EA. 2017. Genome-scale transcriptional study of hybrid effects and regulatory divergence in an F1 hybrid Ruellia (Wild Petunias: Acanthaceae) and its parents. BMC Plant Biology 17: 15.
Tripp EA, Darbyshire I. 2017. Phylogenetic relationships among Old World Ruellia and reinstatement of the genus Dinteracanthus. Systematic Botany 42: 470-483.
Tripp EA. 2016. Is asexual reproduction an evolutionary dead-end in lichens? Lichenologist 48: 559-580. Invited Paper
Tripp EA, Lendemer JC, Barberán A, Dunn R, Fierer N. 2016. Biodiversity gradients in obligate symbiotic organisms: exploring the diversity and traits of lichen propagules across the United States. Journal of Biogeography 43: 1667-1678.
Tripp EA, Lendemer JC. 2015. Candelariella clarkiae and Lecidea hoganii: two lichen species new to science from White Rocks Open Space, City of Boulder, Colorado. The Bryologist 118: 154-163.
Tripp EA. 2015. Lichen inventory of White Rocks Open Space (Boulder, Colorado). Western North American Naturalist. 75: 301-310.
Tripp EA, Lendemer JC. 2014. Sleepless nights: when you cannot find anything to use in describing new taxa but molecules. TAXON 63: 969-971.
Tripp EA, McDade LA. 2014. A rich fossil record yields calibrated phylogeny for Acanthaceae (Lamiales) and evidence for marked biases in timing and directionality of intercontinental disjunctions. Systematic Biology 63: 660-684.
Tripp EA, Hoagland KE. 2013. Typifying an era in biology through synthesis of biodiversity information. Taxon 62: 899-911. Invited Paper
Tripp EA, Fatimah S, Darbyshire I, McDade LA. 2013. Origin of African Physacanthus (Acanthaceae) Via Wide Hybridization. PLoS ONE 8: e55677.
Tripp EA, Daniel TF, Fatimah S, McDade LA. 2013. Phylogenetic relationships within Ruellieae (Acanthaceae), and a revised classification. International Journal of Plant Sciences 174: 97-137.
Tripp EA, Fatimah S. 2012. Comparative anatomy, morphology, and molecular phylogenetics of the African genus Satanocrater (Acanthaceae). American Journal of Botany 99: 967-982.
Tripp EA, Lendemer JC. 2012. Not too late for American biodiversity? New discoveries give hope for mitigation of an extinction epidemic and call for increased inventory and protection of biodiversity in our backyards. BioScience 62: 218-219.
Tripp EA. 2010. Taxonomic revision of Ruellia sect. Chiropterophila (Acanthaceae): a lineage of rare and endemic species from Mexico. Systematic Botany 35: 629-661.
Tripp EA, Manos PS. 2008. Is floral specialization an evolutionary dead-end? Pollination system transitions in Ruellia (Acanthaceae). Evolution 62: 1712-1737.