B Science (Hons1)

Contact details for Ms Alison McLean alison.mclean@griffith.edu.au

Thesis

Phylogeography of a wide spread Australian bird, the variegated fairy wren Malurus lamberti (Passeriformes: Maluridae)

Description

A number of widespread Australian birds show significant variation in plumage across their range and there are two opposing hypotheses to explain this variation. The first is that it is the result of Pleistocene range expansions and contractions and thus is all due to historical isolation followed by subsequent expansion. The alternative view is that variation in plumage is maintained by natural selection. These hypotheses can be distinguished using molecular techniques to examine evidence of historical patterns. In my thesis I want to use the variegated fairy wren as a model species to test these hypotheses.

Supervisor

Professor Jane Hughes, Griffith University
Dr Daniel Schmidt, Griffith University
Dr Leo Joseph, Director, Australian National Wildlife Collection, CSIRO, Canberra

Research expertise

• Population genetics

Publications

• McLean, A.J., Schmidt, D.J. and Hughes, J.M., 2008. Do lowland habitats represent barriers to dispersal for a rainforest mayfly, Bungona narilla, in south-east Queensland? Marine and Freshwater Research, (In Review).
• Hughes, J.M., Schmidt, D.J., McLean, A.J. and Wheatley, A., 2007. Population genetic structure in stream insects: what have we learned? Aquatic Insects: Challenges to Populations, Chapter 14. CABI Publishing (in Press).
• Jones, D., McLean, A.J. and Grant, S., 2006. The Malleefowl of Little Desert. Two decades of observations by Raymond (Whimpey) Reichelt OAM. A Report for Little Desert Flora and Fauna Foundation Inc. Suburban Wildlife Research Group, Australian School of Environmental Studies, Griffith University.