David Timerman, Ph.D.
Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
University of Toronto
25 Willcocks Street
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
M5S 3B2
Office: Earth Science Building 2043
E-mail: david.timerman@mail.utoronto.ca
Degrees
Ph.D. Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (2021)
University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
M.Sc. Biology (2013)
Concordia University, Montreal, Canada
B.Sc. Hons. Environmental Sciences (2010)
Concordia University, Montreal, Canada
![](https://barrett.eeb.utoronto.ca/files/2020/02/D_Timerman-300x257.jpg)
Current Position
Researcher, Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto
Research Interests
I am interested in the ecology and evolution of plant reproductive systems and the biomechanical design of plants for reproduction. My research is cross-disciplinary, spanning mechanical engineering and biology, and tends to address mechanistic questions that can be investigated using models, wind tunnels and field studies.
For my PhD dissertation, I investigated mechanisms of pollen release in wind-pollinated flowering plants of the genus Thalictrum (Ranunculaceae), and the role of pollen release biomechanics, specifically turbulence-induced stamen vibrations, in driving transitions from animal to wind pollination. I am interested in pollen release because it is the critical first step in successful pollen dispersal by wind, but is probably costly for animal-pollinated species as a result of male gamete wastage.
I am also investigating the evolutionary ecology of Thalictrum pubescens, an ambophilous species (wind and insect pollination) which may represent an intermediate stage in the transition to wind pollination. Using T. pubescens, I have investigated selection on pollen release traits in the presence or absence of pollinators, mechanisms of sex ratio variation and the causes of male-biased sex ratio, and the effects of density and sex ratio on pollination success.
Publications
Timerman, D. & Barrett S.C.H. (2021). The biomechanics of pollen release: new perspectives on the evolution of wind pollination in angiosperms. Biological Reviews, in press.
Timerman, D. & Barrett S.C.H. (2020). Influence of local density and sex ratio on pollination in an ambophilous flowering plant. American Journal of Botany 107: 587-598. (pdf)
Timerman, D. & Barrett, S.C.H. (2019). Comparative analysis of pollen release biomechanics in Thalictrum: implications for evolutionary transitions between animal and wind pollination. New Phytologist 224: 1121-1132. (pdf)
Timerman, D. & Barrett, S.C.H. (2019). The spatial ecology of sex ratios in a dioecious plant: relations between ramet and genet sex ratios. Journal of Ecology 107: 1804-1816. (pdf)
Timerman, D. & Barrett, S.C.H. (2018). Divergent selection on the biomechanical properties of stamens under wind and insect pollination. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 285: 20182251. (pdf)
Timerman, D., Greene, D.F., Urzay, J. & Ackerman, J.D. (2014) Turbulence-induced resonance vibrations cause pollen release in Plantago lanceolata L. (Plantaginaceae). Journal of the Royal Society Interface 11.
Timerman, D., Greene, D.F., Ackerman, J.D., Kevan, P.G. & Nardone, E. (2014) Pollen aggregation in relation to pollination vector. International Journal of Plant Sciences 175: 681-687.