My Research

The first step to understanding how biota will respond to global change is to document the diversity and biogeography of species. Despite being the most species-rich group of organisms on this planet, parasite diversity is grossly underestimated and undescribed. I designed my own Ph.D. study system to model the variation in diversity and infection rates of avian malaria parasites infecting a clade of Catharus thrushes across two ecological gradients and with host traits.

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1. Starkloff, N.C., Turner, W.C., Fitzgerald, A.M., Oftedal, M.C., Martinsen, E., and Kirchman, J.J. (2021). Disentangling the effects of host relatedness and elevation on haemosporidian parasite turnover in a clade of songbirds. Ecosphere, 12(5), e03497.

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2. Starkloff, N. C., Kirchman, J. J., Jones, A. W., Winger, B. M., Huang, Y. H., Pulgarín‐R, P. C., & Turner, W. C. Drivers of community turnover differ between avian hemoparasite genera along a North American latitudinal gradient. Ecology and Evolution, 10:5402-5415.

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3. Pulgarín‐R, P. C., Gómez, C., Bayly, N. J., Bensch, S., FitzGerald, A. M., Starkloff, N., ... & Skeen, H. (2019). Migratory birds as vehicles for parasite dispersal? Infection by avian haemosporidians over the year and throughout the range of a long‐distance migrant. Journal of Biogeography, 46(1), 83-96.

4. Starkloff, N.C., Kirchman, J.J., Sammons, M.A., Turner, W.C. (in prep). Geographic variation in malarial parasite and MHC diversity in a clade of Catharus thrushes.

Photo credit to Bill Hubick.

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