Victoria L. Sork
Director, Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden; Professor
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Life Sciences Building 5209
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1496
(310) 825-7755
vlsork@ucla.edu
Areas of Expertise
Evolutionary conservation science, reserve design, conservation of California oaks
Research Description
Victoria Sork is interested in the ecology and evolutionary biology of temperate and tropical tree populations, particularly with respect to contemporary gene movement through pollen and seed dispersal and to historical gene movement. She applies information on ecological and evolutionary processes to environmental questions, such as the design of reserve networks and the conservation of tree species, in light of climate change and landscape alteration. Currently, she is focusing on California oaks, and she has worked on temperate and tropical forest tree species in the United States, Central and South America, and Africa. Professor Sork’s research integrates traditional evolutionary biology with environmental questions into an emerging field of evolutionary conservation science with the ultimate goal of translating science into policy.
Selected Publications
Sork, VL, FW Davis, D Grivet. 2008. Incorporating genetic information into conservation planning for California valley oak. In press in (technical coordinators). Proceedings of the Sixth Symposium on Oak Woodlands: California’s Oaks: Today’s Challenges, Tomorrow’s Opportunities. 2006 October 9-12; Santa Rosa, CA. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-XXX. Albany, CA: Pacific Southwest Research Station, Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture; XXX.
Grivet, D, VL Sork, RD Westfall, and FW Davis. 2008. Conserving the evolutionary potential of California valley oak (Quercus lobata Née): a multivariate genetic approach to conservation planning. Molecular Ecology 17:139-156.
Wang, BC, VL Sork, MT Leong, and TB Smith. 2007. Repercussions of hunting mammals on seed removal and dispersal of the Afrotropical tree, Antrocaryon klaineanum (Anacardiaceae). Biotropica 39:340-347.
Grivet, D, M-F Deguilloux, RJ Petit, and VL Sork. 2006. Contrasting inter-continental patterns of historical colonization in white oaks. Molecular Ecology 15: 4085-4093.
Sork, VL and PE Smouse. 2006. Genetic analysis of landscape connectivity in tree populations. Landscape Ecology 21: 821-836.
Grivet, D, PE Smouse, and VL Sork. 2005. A novel approach to an old problem: tracking dispersed seeds. Molecular Ecology 14: 3585–3595.
Sork, VL, FW Davis, PE Smouse, VJ Apsit, RJ Dyer, J Fernandez-M, and B Kuhn. 2002. Pollen movement in declining populations of California Valley Oak, Quercus lobata: Where have all the fathers gone? Molecular Ecology 11: 1657-1668.
Sork, VL, J Nason, DR Campbell, and JF Fernández. 1999. Landscape approaches to historical and contemporary gene flow in plants. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 14: 219-224.
