Cynthia C. Bennington
Associate Professor of Biology
Cindy Bennington has conducted ecological research in Alaska, West Virginia, New Jersey, and Florida. At Stetson, she teaches ecological and botanical courses and actively engages students in research on the ecology of arctic and temperate plant species. She also involves Stetson students in environmental service-learning projects both on and off campus. Currently, she and Dr. Karen Cole, the Director of the Gillespie Museum, are leading an effort to plant trees and shrubs in an area adjacent to the Museum, with the goal of establishing a "Teaching Landscape" that recreates a small portion of the longleaf pine ecosystem that historically dominated the sandhills of central Florida.
Education
- Postdoctoral Associate, evolutionary ecology, Princeton University, 1994-1996
- Ph.D., biology (minor in statistics). West Virginia University, 1994
- M.S., biology, West Virginia University, 1990
- B.S., (summa cum laude) wildlife resources, West Virginia University, 1984
Research
- Gender expression in passionflower (Passiflora incarnata) –I have had an ongoing research effort investigating the ability of P. incarnata flowers to adjust their relative investment in male and female function, asking how both genetics and the environment contribute to the ability of individual plants to alter their gender. I am collaborating with Dr. Alicia Schultheis in an effort to identify genetic markers that can be used to estimate male fitness in plants.
- Ant-plant mutualisms in passionflower (Passiflora incarnata) – I am also interested in the biological defense mechanism of passionflower, where ants are attracted to nectar produced on the leaves and, while on the plant, the ants also prey on insects that eat the plants. One recent finding of this work is that plants that have had portions of their leaves removed to simulate attack by an insect increase the amount of ant-attracting nectar they produce.
- Implications of ecotypic variation for the response of tundra plants to climate change. To investigate the response of arctic plants to climate change, I am currently collaborating on an Alaskan research project funded by the National Science Foundation. This project will contribute to our understanding of the effect of global climate change on natural systems and brings together the environmentalism that has driven the direction of my university service with my research interests.
Courses
- Ecology and Evolution
- Flora of Florida
- Plant Ecology
- Environmental Biology (non-majors)
Publications
- Bennington, C. C., N. Fetcher, M. C. Vavrek, G. R. Shaver, K. Cummings and J. B. McGraw. 2012. "Home site advantage in two long-lived arctic plant species: Results from two thirty-year reciprocal transplant studies." Journal of Ecology 100(4): 841-851.
- Bennington, C. C. 1996. "Environment-dependence of quantitative genetic parameters in Impatiens pallida." Evolution 50:1083-1097.
- Bennington, C. C. and D. A. Stratton. 1998. "Field tests of density- and frequency-dependent selection in Erigeron annuus." American Journal of Botany 85(4): 540-544.
- *Konstantinidis, N., J. Duffy, and C. C. Bennington. 2010. "Biological defense in Passiflora incarnata: Evidence for a chemical defense against ant defenders." Florida Scientist. 73:1-9.
- *Mondo, P., *K. D. Marshall Mattson, and C. C. Bennington. 2010. "The effect of shrubs on the establishment of an endangered perennial (Asclepias curtissii) endemic to Florida scrub." Southeastern Naturalist9(2): 259-274.
