Dr Sonya Clegg - Griffith University

Site Degrees

Dr Sonya Clegg BSc (Hons), PhD

Lecturer, School of Environment

Contact details for Dr Sonya Clegg

Research Expertise

Microevolution in wild vertebrate populations: evolutionary rates, phenotypic evolution, natural selection
Molecular ecology: population and conservation genetics, phylogeography
Avian ecology and behaviour
Island biogeography
Connectivity in migrant bird populations

Teaching Areas

Conservation Biology
Wildlife Management
Ecology

Selected Publications

Clegg, SM, AB Phillimore (2010) The influence of gene flow and drift on genetic and phenotypic divergence in two species of Zosterops in Vanuatu. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B 365 (1543) : 1077-1092.
Ishtiaq F, SM Clegg, AB Phillimore, RA Black, IPF Owens, BC Sheldon (2010) Biogeographical patterns of blood parasite species diversity in avian hosts from southern Melanesian Islands. J. Biogeography 37:120-132.
Clegg, SM (2009) Evolutionary changes following island colonization in birds: empirical insights into the roles of microevolutionary processes. In J Losos and R Ricklefs (eds) The Theory of Island Biogeography Revisited. Princeton University Press.
Ishtiaq F, L Guillaumot, SM Clegg, AB Phillimore, RA Black, IPF Owens, NI Mundy, BC Sheldon (2008) Avian haematozoan parasites and their associations with mosquitoes across Southwest Pacific Islands. Molecular Ecology. 17, 4545-4555.
Clegg, SM, DF Frentiu, J Kikkawa, G Tavecchia and IPF Owens (2008) 4000 years of phenotypic change in an island bird: heterogeneity of selection over three microevolutionary timescales. Evolution 62, 2393-2410.
Phillimore AB, IPF Owens, RA Black, J Chittock, T Burke and SM Clegg (2008) Complex patterns of genetic and phenotypic divergence in an island bird and the consequences for delimiting conservation units. Molecular Ecology 17, 2839-2853.
Frentiu FD, SM Clegg, J Chittock, T Burke, MW Blows and IPF Owens (2008) Pedigree free-animals models: the relatedness matrix reloaded. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B. 275, 639-647
Frentiu FD, SM Clegg, MW Blows and IPF Owens (2007) Large body size in an island-dwelling bird: a microevolutionary analysis. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 20, 639-649.
Ruegg K, H Slabbekoorn, SM Clegg, and TB Smith (2006) Divergence in mating signals correlates with ecological variation in the migratory songbird, Swainson’s thrush (Catharus ustulatus). Molecular Ecology 15, 3147-3156.
Hadfield JD, MD Burgess, A Lord, AB Phillimore, SM Clegg and IPF Owens (2006) Direct versus indirect sexual selection: genetic basis of colour, size and recruitment in a wild bird. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B. 273, 1347-1353.
Smith TB, SM Clegg, M Kimura, K Ruegg, B Milá and IJ Lovette (2005) Molecular genetic approaches to linking breeding and overwintering areas in five Neotropical migrant passerines In R Greenberg and P Marra (eds). Birds of Two Worlds: The Ecology and Evolution of Migration. John Hopkins University Press.
Lovette IJ, SM Clegg, TB Smith (2004) Limited utility of mtDNA markers for determining connectivity among breeding and overwintering locations in three neotropical migrant birds. Conservation Biology 18,156-166.
Clegg, SM, JF Kelly, M Kimura and TB Smith (2003) Combining genetic markers and stable isotopes to reveal population connectivity and migration patterns in a Neotropical migrant, Wilson's warbler (Wilsonia pusilla). Molecular Ecology 12, 819-830.
Scott SN, SM Clegg, SP Blomberg, J Kikkawa and IPF Owens (2003) Morphological shifts in island-dwelling birds: the roles of generalist foraging and niche expansion. Evolution 57, 2147-2156.
Estoup A and SM Clegg (2003) Bayesian inferences on the recent island colonisation history by the bird Zosterops lateralis lateralis. Molecular Ecology 12, 657-674.
Kimura M, SM Clegg, IJ Lovette, KR Holder, DJ Girman, B Milá, P Wade and TB Smith (2002) Phylogeographical approaches to assessing demographic connectivity between breeding and overwintering regions in a Nearctic-neotropical warbler (Wilsonia pusilla). Molecular Ecology 11, 1605-1616.
Clegg, SM, SM Degnan, C Moritz, J Kikkawa, A Estoup and IPF Owens (2002b) Microevolution in island forms: the roles of drift and directional selection in morphological divergence of a passerine bird. Evolution 56, 2090-2099.
Clegg, SM, IPF Owens (2002) The ‘island rule’ in birds: medium body size and its ecological explanation. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B. 269, 1359-1366.
Clegg, SM, SM Degnan, J Kikkawa, C Moritz, A Estoup and IPF Owens (2002a) Genetic consequences of sequential founder events by an island-colonizing bird. Proceedings of the National Academy Sciences USA 99, 8127-8123.
Clegg, SM, P Hale and C Moritz (1998) Population genetics of the red kangaroo (Macropus rufus): mtDNA variation. Molecular Ecology 7, 679-686.
Degnan SM, BC Robertson, SM Clegg and CC Moritz (1998) Microsatellite primers for studies of gene flow and mating systems in white-eyes (Zosterops). Molecular Ecology 7, 159-160.