| Associate Professor, Department of Biology, East Carolina University. Greenville, NC. August 2006 - present.
Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, East Carolina University. Greenville, NC. January 2002 - August 2006.
Research Associate, Department of Zoology, Division of Insects, the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL. August 2002 - present
Educational Background
B.S. in Biology, Western Carolina University Cullowhee, North Carolina; 1993
M.S. in Biology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; May 1995.
Ph.D. in Evolutionary Systematics and Genetics, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; October 1999.
Research Summary
How we define and characterize species is a fundamental question that lies at the core of most biological disciplines. Despite the relative significance of understanding the very essence of one of the most basic units of biological diversity, the meaning of the term species and the process of speciation remain one of the more contentious and perhaps poorly understood subjects of evolutionary biology. The problem is particularly pervasive for those of us studying evolution: our choice of species definition alone can bias biodiversity, phylogenetic, and comparative studies. While speciation pattern and process presents a tremendous intellectual challenge it is always important to remain mindful of the bigger picture. In a broader context our ability to assess biodiversity and delineate species can potentially influence conservation policy and management decisions.
Because speciation is a multifarious process my research crosses multiple hierarchical levels of biological organization relying heavily on phylogenetic approaches that utilizes molecular, ecological, discrete morphological, and quantitative morphometric data. The study of such a complex process requires a multifaceted approach; numerous biotic and abiotic factors like ecology, physiology, behavior, population structure, biogeography and geology influence speciation pattern and process. In my opinion a comprehensive research program that addresses questions related to arthropod evolutionary diversification and biodiversity requires at the very least a two-tiered approach. At the first tier one must gather information related to the broader, higher level phylogenetic context. One of my lab’s primary missions is to understand the higher-level relationships (family level and above) among selected taxa of spiders and millipedes. Such a perspective provides the phylogenetic framework for addressing questions about adaptive radiation, evolutionary convergence, and large-scale trends in biodiversity. On a simpler, more pragmatic level, these studies are instrumental in determining outgroup information necessary for rooting phylogenetic trees at shallower levels in the tree of life (e.g., the population/species interface). At the second tier, my lab is interested in the process and temporal and spatial context of speciation and adaptive radiation. In general terms we are interested in both the empirical and ontological nature of species. First, how do we define species meaningfully for a broader audience’s use in evaluating and defining Evolutionarily Significant Units for conservation purposes? Second, what fundamental evolutionary processes underlie speciation events? In particular what roles do population subdivision and sexual selection play? We achieve these objectives through alpha-taxonomic, phylogeographic, evolutionary, and spatial distributional studies of spider and millipede populations and species.
Finally, without question an urgent, pressing need exist for research addressing species diversity, particularly that of a mega-diverse group like arthropods. Never before, across all geological time, has our planet experienced an ethically non-neutral mass extinction of such magnitude, compressed into such a short time period. In my opinion, organism-centered approaches to biodiversity, like alpha taxonomy, offer the highest potential to increase awareness, understanding, and fond appreciation for biodiversity. Although I consider myself an evolutionary biologist – much of my work is "question based" – I would first describe myself as an organismal biologist. Much of the evolutionary insight I have gained on spiders and millipedes comes from both taxonomic and extensive field studies of these animals. I therefore feel it is important for students in evolutionary biology to have an intimate, first hand knowledge of their model organisms.
Recent Publications
Marek, PE and JE Bond. 2006. Phylogenetic systematics of the colorful, cyanide-producing millipedes of Appalachia (Polydesmida, Xystodesmidae, Apheloriini) using a total evidence Bayesian approach. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2006.05.043 (online 8 June 2006) 26 pp.
Bond JE and MC Hedin. 2006. A total evidence assessment of the phylogeny of the diverse North American trapdoor spider subfamily Euctenizinae (Araneae, Mygalomorphae, Cyrtaucheniidae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2006.04.026 (online 16 May 2006) 16 pp.
Hedin, MC and JE Bond. 2006. Molecular phylogenetics of the spider infraorder Mygalomorphae using nuclear rDNA genes (18S and 28S): Conflict and agreement with the current system of classification. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2006.05.017 (online 25 May 2006), 18 pp.
Marek, PE and JE Bond. 2006. Rediscovery of the leggiest animal. Nature, 441: 707.
Bond JE and DA Beamer. 2006. A morphometric analysis of mygalomorph spider carapace shape and its efficacy as a phylogenetic character (Araneae). Invertebrate Systematics, 20: 1-7.
Bond JE, DA Beamer, T Lamb, & MC Hedin. 2006. Combining genetic and geospatial analyses to infer population extinction in mygalomorph spiders endemic to the Los Angeles region. Animal Conservation, 9: 145-157, doi:10.1111/j.1469-1795.2006.00024.x.
Stockman, AK, DA Beamer, and JE Bond. 2006. An evaluation of a GARP model as approach to predicting the spatial distribution of a non-vagile invertebrate species. Diversity and Distributions, 12: 81-89.
Bond JE. 2005. Cyrtaucheniidae In: Ubick, D., P. Paquin, P.E. Cushing, and V. Roth (eds.), Spiders of North America: An identification manual: 45-47.
Bond JE and BE Hendrixson. 2005. Ctenizdiae In: Ubick, D., P. Paquin, P.E. Cushing, and V. Roth (eds.), Spiders of North America: An identification manual: 43-44.
Sierwald P, JE Bond, G Gurda. 2005. The millipede type specimens of the Field Museum of Natural History (Arthropoda: Diplopoda). Zootaxa, 1005: 1-69. ISSN 1175-5326.
Hendrixson, BE and JE Bond. 2005. Testing species boundaries in the Antrodiaetus unicolor species complex (Araneae: Mygalomorphae: Antrodiaetidae): Paraphyly and cryptic diversity. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 36: 405-416.
2Hendrixson, BE & JE Bond 2005. Two sympatric species of Antrodiaetus from Southwestern North Carolina (Araneae, Mygalomorphae, Antrodiaetidae). Zootaxa, 872: 1-19.
Bond JE. 2004. The Californian euctenizine spider genus Apomastus (Araneae: Mygalomorphae: Cyrtaucheniidae): the relationship between molecular and morphological taxonomy. Invertebrate Systematics. 18: 361-376.
Bueno-Villegas, J., P. Sierwald & JE Bond. 2004. Diplopoda. In: Bousquets, J. L., & J. J. Morrone, O. Y. Odoñez, & I. V. Ferñandez (eds), Biodiversidad, taxonomía y biogeograía de artrópodos de México: Hacia una síntesis de su conocimeinto, IV: 569 – 599.
Hendrixson, BE & JE Bond. 2004. A new species of Stasimopus from the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa (Araneae, Mygalomorphae, Ctenizidae), with notes on its natural history. Zootaxa. 619: 1-14.
Courses I Teach
BIOL 5640: The Biology of Terrestrial Arthropods
BIOL 1200: General Biology
BIOL 6210: Phylogenetic Theory
BIOL 6220: Advanced Topics in Evolutionary Biology
BIOL 7215: Advanced Topics in Phylogenetic Theory
The Bond Lab Home Page The Mygalomorphae Project Home Page Email: bondja@ecu.edu |
