Dr. Sargent studies the evolutionary ecology of flowering plants and their predators and pollinators. Research in her lab is focused on the influence of pollinators on floral trait evolution and plant community assembly; pollinator-mediated interactions between invasives and natives; the potential for invasive plant species to evolve in response to biological control agents; and the effects of disturbances on pollinator communities and plant reproduction.

McKechnie, I.M. and R.D. Sargent. Do plant traits influence a species' response to habitat disturbance? A meta-analysis. Biological Conservation (Accepted for publication pending revisions), 2013 Da Silva, E.M., V.M. King, J.L. Russell-Mercier, and R.D. Sargent. Evidence for pollen limitation of a native plant in invaded communities. Oecologia 172: 469-476, 2013 King, V.M. and R.D. Sargent. Presence of an invasive plant species alters pollinator visitation to a native. Biological Invasions 14: 1809-1818, 2012 Sargent, R.D., S.W. Kembel, N.C. Emery, E.J. Forrestel, and D.D. Ackerly. Effect of local community phylogenetic structure on pollen limitation in an obligately insect-pollinated plant. American Journal of Botany 98: 283-289, 2011 Sargent, R.D. and D.D. Ackerly. Plant-pollinator interactions and the assembly of plant communities. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 23:123-130, 2008