Jessica A Rick

Interests

Research

Conservation genetics, population genetics, phylogenomics, evolutionary genomics, fisheries, wildlife management

Courses

Scholarly Contributions

Journals/Publications

• Combrink, L. L., Rosenthal, W. C., Boyle, L. J., Rick, J. A., Mandeville, E. G., Krist, A. C., Walters, A. W., & Wagner, C. E. (2023). Parallel shifts in trout feeding morphology suggest rapid adaptation to alpine lake environments. Evolution, 77(7), 1522-1538.
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  Eco-evolutionary interactions following ecosystem change provide critical insight into the ability of organisms to adapt to shifting resource landscapes. Here we explore evidence for the rapid parallel evolution of trout feeding morphology following eco-evolutionary interactions with zooplankton in alpine lakes stocked at different points in time in the Wind River Range (Wyoming, USA). In this system, trout predation has altered the zooplankton species community and driven a decrease in average zooplankton size. In some lakes that were stocked decades ago, we find shifts in gill raker traits consistent with the hypothesis that trout have rapidly adapted to exploit available smaller-bodied zooplankton more effectively. We explore this morphological response in multiple lake populations across two species of trout (cutthroat trout, Oncorhynchus clarkii, and golden trout Oncorhynchus aguabonita) and examine the impact of resource availability on morphological variation in gill raker number among lakes. Furthermore, we present genetic data to provide evidence that historically stocked cutthroat trout populations likely derive from multiple population sources, and incorporate variation from genomic relatedness in our exploration of environmental predictors of feeding morphology. These findings describe rapid adaptation and eco-evolutionary interactions in trout and document an evolutionary response to novel, contemporary ecosystem change.
• Rick, J. A., Brock, C. D., Lewanski, A. L., Golcher-Benavides, J., & Wagner, C. E. (2023). Reference genome choice and filtering thresholds jointly influence phylogenomic analyses. Systematic Biology, syad065. doi:https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.03.10.483737
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  Molecular phylogenies are a cornerstone of modern comparative biology and are commonly employed to investigate a range of biological phenomena, such as diversification rates, patterns in trait evolution, biogeography, and community assembly. Recent work has demonstrated that significant biases may be introduced into downstream phylogenetic analyses from processing genomic data; however, it remains unclear whether there are interactions among bioinformatic parameters or biases introduced through the choice of reference genome for sequence alignment and variant-calling. We address these knowledge gaps by employing a combination of simulated and empirical data sets to investigate to what extent the choice of reference genome in upstream bioinformatic processing of genomic data influences phylogenetic inference, as well as the way that reference genome choice interacts with bioinformatic filtering choices and phylogenetic inference method. We demonstrate that more stringent minor allele filters bias inferred trees away from the true species tree topology, and that these biased trees tend to be more imbalanced and have a higher center of gravity than the true trees. We find greatest topological accuracy when filtering sites for minor allele count >3-4 in our 51-taxa data sets, while tree center of gravity was closest to the true value when filtering for sites with minor allele count >1-2. In contrast, filtering for missing data increased accuracy in the inferred topologies; however, this effect was small in comparison to the effect of minor allele filters and may be undesirable due to a subsequent mutation spectrum distortion. The bias introduced by these filters differs based on the reference genome used in short read alignment, providing further support that choosing a reference genome for alignment is an important bioinformatic decision with implications for downstream analyses. These results demonstrate that attributes of the study system and dataset (and their interaction) add important nuance for how best to assemble and filter short read genomic data for phylogenetic inference.
• Lewanski, A. L., Golcher-Benavides, J., Rick, J. A., & Wagner, C. E. (2022). Variable hybridization between two Lake Tanganyikan cichlid species in recent secondary contact. Molecular Ecology, 31(19), 5041-5059.
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  Closely related taxa frequently exist in sympatry before the evolution of robust reproductive barriers, which can lead to substantial gene flow. Post-divergence gene flow can promote several disparate trajectories of divergence ranging from the erosion of distinctiveness and eventual collapse of the taxa to the strengthening of reproductive isolation. Among many relevant factors, understanding the demographic history of divergence (e.g. divergence time and extent of historical gene flow) can be particularly informative when examining contemporary gene flow between closely related taxa because this history can influence gene flow's prevalence and consequences. Here, we used genotyping-by-sequencing data to investigate speciation and contemporary hybridization in two closely related and sympatrically distributed Lake Tanganyikan cichlid species in the genus Petrochromis. Demographic modelling supported a speciation scenario involving divergence in isolation followed by secondary contact with bidirectional gene flow. Further investigation of this recent gene flow found evidence of ongoing hybridization between the species that varied in extent between different co-occurring populations. Relationships between abundance and the degree of admixture across populations suggest that the availability of conspecific mates may influence patterns of hybridization. These results, together with the observation that sets of recently diverged cichlid taxa are generally geographically separated in the lake, suggest that ongoing speciation in Lake Tanganyikan cichlids relies on initial spatial isolation. Additionally, the spatial heterogeneity of admixture between the Petrochromis species illustrates the complexities of hybridization when species are in recent secondary contact.
• Rick, J. A., Junker, J., Kimirei, I. A., Sweke, E. A., Mosille, J. B., Dinkel, C., Mwaiko, S., Seehausen, O., & Wagner, C. E. (2022). The genetic population structure of Lake Tanganyika's Lates species flock, an endemic radiation of pelagic top predators. The Journal of Heredity, 113(2), 145-159.
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  Understanding genetic connectivity plays a crucial role in species conservation decisions, and genetic connectivity is an important component of modern fisheries management. In this study, we investigated the population genetics of four endemic Lates species of Lake Tanganyika (Lates stappersii, L. microlepis, L. mariae, and L. angustifrons) using reduced-representation genomic sequencing methods. We find the four species to be strongly differentiated from one another (mean interspecific FST = 0.665), with no evidence for contemporary admixture. We also find evidence for strong genetic structure within L. mariae, with the majority of individuals from the most southern sampling site forming a genetic group that is distinct from the individuals at other sampling sites. We find evidence for much weaker structure within the other three species (L. stappersii, L. microlepis, and L. angustifrons). Our ability to detect this weak structure despite small and unbalanced sample sizes and imprecise geographic sampling locations suggests the possibility for further structure undetected in our study. We call for further research into the origins of the genetic differentiation in these four species-particularly that of L. mariae-which may be important for conservation and management of this culturally and economically important clade of fishes.
• Alston, J. M., & Rick, J. A. (2021).

  A Beginner’s Guide to Conducting Reproducible Research

  . Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America, 102(2), 1-14. doi:10.32942/osf.io/h5r6n
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  Reproducible research is widely acknowledged as an important tool for improving science and reducing harm from the "replication crisis", yet research in most fields within biology remains largely irreproducible. In this article, we make the case for why all research should be reproducible, explain why research is often not reproducible, and offer a simple framework that researchers can use to make their research more reproducible. Researchers can increase the reproducibility of their work by improving data management practices, writing more readable code, and increasing use of the many available platforms for sharing data and code. While reproducible research is often associated with a set of advanced tools for sharing data and code, reproducibility is just as much about maintaining work habits that are already widely acknowledged as best practices for research. Increasing reproducibility will increase rigor, trustworthiness, and transparency while benefiting both practitioners of reproducible research and their fellow researchers.
• Klobucar, S. L., Rick, J. A., Mandeville, E. G., Wagner, C. E., & Budy, P. (2021). Investigating the morphological and genetic divergence of arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) populations in lakes of arctic Alaska. Ecology and Evolution, 11(7), 3040-3057.
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  Polymorphism facilitates coexistence of divergent morphs (e.g., phenotypes) of the same species by minimizing intraspecific competition, especially when resources are limiting. Arctic char ( sp.) are a Holarctic fish often forming morphologically, and sometimes genetically, divergent morphs. In this study, we assessed the morphological and genetic diversity and divergence of 263 individuals from seven populations of arctic char with varying length-frequency distributions across two distinct groups of lakes in northern Alaska. Despite close geographic proximity, each lake group occurs on landscapes with different glacial ages and surface water connectivity, and thus was likely colonized by fishes at different times. Across lakes, a continuum of physical (e.g., lake area, maximum depth) and biological characteristics (e.g., primary productivity, fish density) exists, likely contributing to characteristics of present-day char populations. Although some lakes exhibit bimodal size distributions, using model-based clustering of morphometric traits corrected for allometry, we did not detect morphological differences within and across char populations. Genomic analyses using 15,934 SNPs obtained from genotyping by sequencing demonstrated differences among lake groups related to historical biogeography, but within lake groups and within individual lakes, genetic differentiation was not related to total body length. We used PERMANOVA to identify environmental and biological factors related to observed char size structure. Significant predictors included water transparency (i.e., a primary productivity proxy), char density (fish·ha), and lake group. Larger char occurred in lakes with greater primary production and lower char densities, suggesting less intraspecific competition and resource limitation. Thus, char populations in more productive and connected lakes may prove more stable to environmental changes, relative to food-limited and closed lakes, if lake productivity increases concomitantly. Our findings provide some of the first descriptions of genomic characteristics of char populations in arctic Alaska, and offer important consideration for the persistence of these populations for subsistence and conservation.
• Junker, J., Rick, J. A., McIntyre, P. B., Kimirei, I. A., Sweke, E. A., Mosille, J. B., Wehrli, B., Dinkel, C., Mwaiko, S., Seehausen, O., & Wagner, C. E. (2020). Structural genomic variation leads to genetic differentiation in Lake Tanganyika's sardines. Molecular Ecology, 29(17), 3277-3298.
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  Identifying patterns in genetic structure and the genetic basis of ecological adaptation is a core goal of evolutionary biology and can inform the management and conservation of species that are vulnerable to population declines exacerbated by climate change. We used reduced-representation genomic sequencing methods to gain a better understanding of genetic structure among and within populations of Lake Tanganyika's two sardine species, Limnothrissa miodon and Stolothrissa tanganicae. Samples of these ecologically and economically important species were collected across the length of Lake Tanganyika, as well as from nearby Lake Kivu, where L. miodon was introduced in 1959. Our results reveal differentiation within both S. tanganicae and L. miodon that is not explained by geography. Instead, this genetic differentiation is due to the presence of large sex-specific regions in the genomes of both species, but involving different polymorphic sites in each species. Our results therefore indicate rapidly evolving XY sex determination in the two species. Additionally, we found evidence of a large chromosomal rearrangement in L. miodon, creating two homokaryotypes and one heterokaryotype. We found all karyotypes throughout Lake Tanganyika, but the frequencies vary along a north-south gradient and differ substantially in the introduced Lake Kivu population. We do not find evidence for significant isolation by distance, even over the hundreds of kilometres covered by our sampling, but we do find shallow population structure.