Gregory P. Cheplick
Professor
Building 6S - Room 319
College of Staten Island/CUNY
phone: (718) 982-3931
fax: (718) 982-3852
email: cheplick@mail.csi.cuny.edu
Population Biology of Plants
Teaching Activities
Undergraduate: General Biology I, General Biology II, Botany, Evolution,
Ecology.
Graduate: Community Ecology, Population Ecology
Research Activities
The first major area of research is in the population biology of coastal
grasses, including their cleistogamous breeding
systems
(flowers that do not open and are self-fertilizing) and seed heteromorphisms (multiple types of seeds that differ in
mass). The
annual dunegrass Triplasis
purpurea has been examined in regard to its life
history, seed heteromorphism and germination,
dispersal, and ability to tolerate sand burial and salt spray.
Purple sandgrass (Triplasis purpurea) at
The second major area of research focuses on the microscopic fungal symbionts (endophytes) that live mutualistically within the leaves of many grasses, including economically important forage and lawn (turf) grasses. It is known that the grass host benefits from the symbiosis because the endophytes produce alkaloids that deter herbivores; also, endophyte-infected plants tend to be larger, more vigorous, and better competitors that uninfected plants. I have been recently examining the effects of endophytes on the ability of grass genotypes to change phenotypically in response to environmental conditions (including stress).
Endophytic hyphae (Neotyphodium lolii) of perennial
ryegrass (Lolium perenne)
at 400X
Recent Publications
Cheplick, G. P. and S. H. Faeth. 2008. Ecology and evolution of the grass-endophyte symbiosis.
Oxford University Press,
Cheplick, G. P. 2007.
Costs of fungal endophyte infection in Lolium perenne
genotypes from
Cheplick, G. P. 2007.
Plasticity of chasmogamous and cleistogamous reproductive
allocation in grasses. In: J. T. Columbus, et al. (eds), Monocots: Comparative Biology
and Evolution, Volume 2, Poales,
pp. 57-65.
Cheplick, G. P. 2006.
Seed rain, seed banks, and seedling recruitment of annuals on a coastal
beach. Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society 133: 379–392.
Cheplick, G. P. 2006. A
modular approach to biomass allocation in an invasive annual (Microstegium vimineum; Poaceae). American Journal of Botany 93: 539-545.
Cheplick, G.
P. 2005. Patterns in the
distribution of American beachgrass (Ammophila
breviligulata) and the density and reproduction of annual plants on a coastal beach. Plant Ecology 180: 59-69.
Cheplick, G.P. (2005) The allometry of reproductive allocation. p. 94-125 in: E. Reekie
and F.A. Bazzaz [eds.] Reproductive Allocation in Plants.
Elsevier-Academic Press,
Cheplick, G.P. (2005) Biomass partitioning and reproductive allocation in the invasive, cleistogamous grass Microstegium vimineum: Influence of the light environment. Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society 132: 214-224.
Cheplick, G. P. 2004. Recovery from drought stress in Lolium perenne (Poaceae): Are fungal endophytes detrimental? American Journal of Botany 91: 1960-1968.
Cheplick, G.P. and K. Kane. (2004)
Genetic relatedness and competition in Triplasis purpurea (Poaceae):
Resource partitioning or kin selection?
International Journal of Plant
Sciences 165: 623-630.
Cheplick, G.P. (2003) Evolutionary significance of genotypic variation in developmental reaction norms for a perennial grass in competition. Evolutionary Ecology 17: 175-196.
Cheplick, G.P. and R. Cho. (2003) Interactive effects of fungal endophyte infection and host genotype on growth and storage in Lolium perenne. New Phytologist 158: 183-191.
Cheplick, G.P. (2002) Size and architectural traits as ontogenetic determinants of fitness in a phenotypically plastic annual weed (Amaranthus albus). Plant Species Biology 17: 71-83.
Cheplick, G.P. and T.P. White. (2002) Saltwater spray as an agent of natural selection: no evidence of local adaptation within a coastal population of Triplasis purpurea (Poaceae). American Journal of Botany 89: 623-631.
Cheplick, G.P. (2001) Quantitative genetics of mass allocation and the allometry of reproduction in Amaranthus albus: relation to soil nutrients. International Journal of Plant Sciences 162: 807-816.
Cheplick, G.P. and T. Chui. (2001) Effects of competitive stress on vegetative growth, storage, and regrowth after defoliation in Phleum pratense L. Oikos 95: 291-299.
Cheplick, G.P., A. Perera, and K. Koulouris (2000) Effect of drought stress on the growth of Lolium perenne genotypes with and without fungal endophytes. Functional Ecology 14: 657-667.
Cheplick, G.P. and H. Demetri. (2000)
Population biology of the annual grass Triplasis purpurea in relation to distance from shore on
Cheplick, G.P. and C.M. Gutierrez, (2000) Clonal growth and storage in relation to competition in genets of the rhizomatous perennial Amphibromus scabrivalvis. Canadian Journal of Botany 78: 537-546.
Cheplick, G. P. and Demetri, H. (1999). Impact of saltwater spray and sand deposition on the coastal annual Triplasis purpurea (Poaceae). American Journal of Botany 86: 703-710.
Cheplick, G. P. and Wickstrom, V. M. (1999). Assessing the potential for competition on a coastal beach and the significance of variable seed mass in Triplasis purpurea (Poaceae). Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society 126: 296-306.
Cheplick, G. P., editor. (1998). Population Biology of Grasses.
Cheplick, G.P.(1998).
Seed dispersal and seedling establishment in grass
populations. In: Population Biology of Grasses [G.P. Cheplick,ed.],
Cheplick, G.P. (1998). Genotypic variation in the regrowth of Lolium perenne following clipping: effects of nutrients and endophytic fungi. Functional Ecology 12: 176-184.
Cheplick, G. P. and Sung, L. (1998). Effects maternal nutrient environment and maturation position on seed heteromorhpism, germination and seedling growth in Triplasis purpurea (Poaceae). International Journal of Plant Sciences 159: 338-350.
Cheplick, G. P. and K. Grandstaff. 1997.
Effects of sand burial on purple sandgrass (Triplasis purpurea): the significance of seed heteromorphism. Plant
Ecology 133:79-89.
.