Maria Gabriela Bidart

Research Interests:

My research program focuses on ecological and evolutionary processes mediating complex interactions between organisms and the environment.  I am interested in the fields of evolutionary ecology, ecological genomics, chemical ecology, conservation biology, and human ecology.  Projects related to these fields in my lab are aimed at better understanding how different environments and current anthropogenic factors (climate change, biological invasions, chemical herbicides, etc.) affect ecological interactions among species and evolutionary processes.  More recently, I have become interested in how the environment impact humans at both the biological and psychological levels.  I teach the following courses: Evolution (BIOL 3510), Evolutionary Ecology (4290/5290), and Mindful Evolution (BIOL 4900/5800).

Examples of projects that have been completed (or ongoing) in my lab include: 1) Fitness-related and/or transcriptional responses of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana to insect herbivory, increased levels of CO₂ and ultraviolet B radiation; 2) The effects of invasive plant species and chemical herbicides on growth and development of the Northern leopard frog; 3) Local adaptation, oviposition and feeding behavior of common and endangered butterfly and moth species; 4) Plant-plant communication, and the effects of herbivory, pollinators, and competition on plant-plant interactions, and 5) Environmental effects on humans: Yoga, Mindfulness and Nature influences  on physiological and psychological responses of college students. 

Selected Publications:

Dietrich, K.M. and M. G. BIDART. 2022. Effects of a Mindfulness Course on Vital Signs and Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire Scores of College Students. Journal of American College Health. DOI: 10.1080/07448481.2022.2060709

Dietrich, K.M. and M. G. BIDART. 2021. Hatha yoga improves psychophysiological responses of college students in both indoor and outdoor environments. OBM Integrative and Complementary Medicine 6(4):16; (November 12, 2021).

Curtis A., and M.G. BIDART. 2021. Increased temperature influenced growth and development of Lithobates pipiens tadpoles exposed to invasive plant leachates and a triclopyr herbicide. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 40 (9): 2547-2558 (September, 2021). 

Shimola, J., and M.G. BIDART. 2019. Herbivory and Plant Genotype Influence Fitness-Related Responses of Arabidopsis thaliana to Indirect Plant-Plant Interactions. American Journal of Plant Sciences 10, 1287-1299.

Curtis A.N., and M.G. BIDART 2017. Effects of chemical management for invasive plants on the performance of Lithobates pipiens tadpoles. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. Vol. 9999. pp. 1-7. 

Thompson T., and BIDART MG. 2017.  Oviposition preferences of Plutella xylostella for mechanically or herbivore damaged, and plant-plant primed Arabidopsis thaliana.  Journal of Insect Behavior 30, 507-518.

Ryan S., and BIDART MG. 2014. Natal insect experience with host plant secondary chemistry leads to plasticity in oviposition behavior.  Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata 154: 216-227.

BIDART, M.G., and D. Kliebenstein. 2011. An ecological genomic approach challenging the paradigm of differential plant responses to specialist versus generalist insect herbivores. Oecologia 167, 677-89

BIDART, M.G., and D. Kliebenstein. 2008. Differential levels of insect herbivory in the field associated with genotypic variation glucosinolates in Arabidopsis thaliana. Journal of Chemical Ecology 34:1026-1037.

BIDART, M.G., and A. Imeh-Nathaniel, 2008. Global change effects on plant chemical defenses against insect herbivores. Journal of Integrative Plant Biology 50:1339-54.

BIDART, M.G., R. Mithen, and M.R. Berenbaum. 2005. Elevated CO₂ influences herbivory-induced defense responses of Arabidopsis thaliana. Oecologia 145: 415-424.