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Research Summary:
Our research encompasses plant systematics, conservation biology and evolution, especially within species and in
complexes of related species. The uniting element for most of us is our application of molecular markers (often in
combination with traditional systematic methods), particularly DNA sequences or multilocus "anonymous" approaches such
as Inter-Simple Sequence Repeats (ISSRs) and Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphisms (AFLPs). We use these data to
test hypotheses or characterize patterns at the organismal and populational levels. Our studies use a wide range of methods
and tools depending on the study group and question to be asked. These have involved herbarium and anatomical
methods, scanning electron microscopy, phenetic analysis, digital imaging and computer-medioated botanical illustration,
databasing, geographic information system mapping, botanical nomenclature, vegetation sampling, demographic monitoring,
soil analysis, palynology, seed germination, and one or more molecular systematic data sets. We frequently receive visiting
researchers from near (Ohio Wesleyan University) and far away (National Museum of Natural History, Paris, France). We
encourage undergraduates as well as faculty and graduate students elsewhere in the Department to utilize our laboratory as
a resource to study ecological, systematic or evolutionary problems.
Much of my own research focuses on systematic and evolutionary issues in the violet family (Violaceae), especially in some
of the New World genera. This moderate-sized family harbors ca. 900 species and 20-23 genera (including up to 3
undescribed ones). Many groups exhibit intriguing patterns of morphological and ecological diversification. Happily, the
family grows all over the world, making my field work international--and alot of fun! I use my frequent expeditions to Latin
America and Europe as opportunities to involve undergraduates in my research and afford grad students the chance to
study plant groups outside the eastern U.S.
Selected References:
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Ballard, H. E., Jr., D. A. Casamatta, Jr., M. M. Hall, R. A. McCauley,
M. C. Segovia-Salcedo, and R. G. Verb. 2001. Phenetic analyses show
conspecificity between Hispaniolan Viola domingensis Urban and North American Viola macloskeyi sensu lato.
Brittonia 53:122-136.
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Meekins, J. F., H. E. Ballard, Jr., and B. C. McCarthy. 2001. Genetic variation in garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata, Brassicaceae)
using Inter-Simple Sequence Repeats (ISSRs). International Journal of Plant Science 162:161-169.
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Ballard, H. E., Jr. and K. J. Sytsma. 2000. Evolution and biogeography of the woody Hawaiian violets (Viola, Violaceae): Arctic
origins, herbaceous ancestry, and bird dispersal. Evolution 54:1521-1532.
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Nadot, S., H. E. Ballard, Jr., J. B. Creach, and I. Dajoz. 2000. The evolution of pollen heteromorphism in Viola: A phylogenetic
approach. Plant Systematics and Evolution 223:155-171.
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Ballard, H. E., Jr. 2000. Violaceae. In: Rhoads, A. (ed.) Flora of Pennsylvania. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia. pp.
700-710.
Jørgensen, P. M. and H. E. Ballard. 1999. Violaceae. In: Jørgensen, P. M. and S. León-Yánez (eds.), Catalogue of the Vascular
Plants of Ecuador, Monographs in Systematic Botany vol. 75. Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO. pp. 943-946, 956.
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Ballard, H. E., Jr., K. J. Sytsma, and R. R. Kowal. 1999 ["1998"]. Shrinking the violets: Phylogenetic relationships of infrageneric
groups in Viola (Violaceae) based on Internal Transcribed Spacer DNA sequences. Systematic Botany 23:439-458.
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