Research Interest and Projects
My research centres on determining the evolutionary causes and ecological consequences of variation in levels of neutral and adaptive genetic diversity in natural populations. Ongoing studies investigate:
(1) the role of dispersal and connectivity in fragmented
populations and the effect of metapopulation dynamics on the viability
of natural populations.
(2) how species cope with extreme environmental conditions and adapt to alpine environments
Research Projects
Evolutionary
genetics
Evolutionary genetics in the blackbird (Turdus merula)
Collaborator: Dr. Tim Coppack (MPI Ornithology)
Microevolution in blackcaps (Sylvia atricapilla)
Collaborator: PD Dr. Martin Schaefer (University Freiburg)
Molecular and behavioural ecology
Molecular ecology in northern wheatears (Oenanthe oenanthe)
Collaborator: Dr. Wolfgang Fiedler (Vogelwarte Radolfzell, MPI Ornithology)
Metapopulation structure in the little owl (Athene noctua)
Collaborator: Dr. Wolfgang Fiedler (Vogelwarte Radolfzell, MPI Ornithology)
Extra pair paternity in purple-crowned fairy-wrens
Collaboration: Dr. Anne Peters (Vogelwarte Radolfzell, MPI Ornithology)
Mating strategies in hole-nesting birds
Collaborator:Prof. Jürgen Tomiuk, Dr. Michael Stauss (University Tübingen)
Molecular ecology of edible dormouse (Glis glis) and garden dormouse (Eliomys quercinus)
Collaborator: Dr. Joanna Fietz (University Ulm)
Landscape genetics
Landscape genetics of capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus) in the Black Forest
Collaborator: Dr. Rudi Suchant, Veronika Braunisch (Forest Research Institute Baden- Württemberg)
Landscape genetics of black grouse (Tetrao tetrix) in the Swiss Alps
Collaborator: Dr. Hannes Jenny (Amt für Jagd und Fischerei des Kantons Graubünden)
Conservation
genetics
Phylogeography and population genetics of ptarmigan (Lagopus muta) in the Palearctic
Collaborator: Dr. Olafur Nielsen (Iceland) and Dr. Tobias Sahlmann (Uppsala)
Populations genetics of the Golden Eagle in Bavarian Alps (Aquila chrysaetos) collaborator
Collaborator: Max Jakobus (LBV Bayern, Germany)
Conservation genetics and phylogeography in burrowing parrots (Cyanoliseus patagonus)
Collaborator: Dr. Juan Masello, Dr. Petra Quillfeldt (Vogelwarte Radolfzell, MPI Ornithology)
Ecological genomics
Genetic diversity in lowland black grouse (Tetrao tetrix)
Collaborator: Prof. Jacob Höglund (EBC Uppsala, Sweden
MHC- variation and candidate genes in grouse
Collaborator: Dr. Stuart Piertney (Aberdeen University), Prof. Jacob Höglund (EBC, Uppsala)