I have a keen interest in biodiversity found in extreme environments and novel niches, the origin of such lineages, their processes of diversification, and the maintenance of their diversity. Studies of these lineages are complex and multidisciplinary, as they involve explaining where and how ancestral lineages arose, what environmental, geographic, ecological, and non-physical factors promote diversification, and what factors cause present-day changes. I employ genetics as a tool in wildlife studies to investigate population connectivity, the diversification of lineages, behaviour, and the evolution of ecological traits. My current research includes the study of biodiversity in harsh cold environments such as the Arctic, high altitude niches, and Antarctica. Studying such systems is always challenging due to the multidisciplinary approach needed, and I rely on many other fields such as geology and other earth sciences, biogeography, statistics, ecology, physiology, and molecular biology to conduct these studies (no...I am NEVER caught up in my reading!).

Currently I am investigating the biogeography, origin, and diversification of the avian family Thinocoridae ( the seedsnipes ) endemic to the Andes and surrounding lowlands. Seedsnipes, an enigmatic, herbivorous shorebird group consisting of four largely sedentary species, are highly adapted to habitats ranging from lowland arid scrublands to high altitude grasslands (upwards of 4500 m). I have been investigating how the uplift of the Andes Mountains (Oligocene to the present; i.e. less than 35 MYA) may have promoted their diversification both by acting as barriers, as well as by creating new alpine niches to which populations could become adapted. I am also investigating the hypothesis that some South American lineages (as well as other lineages world-wide), including seedsnipes, arose from Antarctic ancestors during the Oligocene and even more recently within the last few million years. This seedsnipe study is also helping gather information on the distribution, behaviour, diet and ecological adaptations of these poorly studied species.

I am also interested in how wild populations are structured and the effects that behaviours such as natal site fidelity, helping behaviour, and assortative mating may have in influencing within-population differentiation. I have been studying how within-population structure arises in a highly mobile, strongly philopatric, colonial seabird, the thick-billed murre (Uria lomvia, family Alcidae). Studies such as these are needed to investigate how population differentiation (and ultimately speciation) may occur, as the first stages may involve differences in ecological traits, behaviour, or morphology only, which may lead over time to genetic differentiation in the presence of assortative mating or other processes.

Projects and Publications Pages

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Contact
gaby_ibarguchi [at] tricolour [dot] queensu [dot] ca
(613) 533-6000 ext. 75539