Biology of the invasive New Zealand mudsnail in the GYE

The invasive New Zealand mudsnail arrived in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) in 1987 and is also invasive in several other parts of the world. In my talk, I will address interactions between this snail and native species in the GYE and how, in New Zealand, this snail is central to addressing two major unresolved questions in evolutionary ecology. First, I will discuss how studying a recent population crash of the snail in the GYE led to insights about the effects of this snail on native species and to a native species that may control its invasiveness. Second, I will address what this snail has taught us about why sexual reproduction persists in the multitude of organisms that can also reproduce asexually. Finally, I will address what we have learned from this snail about the uneven distribution of polyploids, organisms with more than two chromosomes, across the earth.