The effects of the Western Palearctic refugia on biodiversity: Case studies on genetic diversity of songbirds and avian malaria in Anatolia
02 Jun 2023 - Dr. Tamer Albayrak, Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University, Turkey | 15h30 | CIBIO’s Auditorium, Campus de Vairão
INVITED SEMINAR IN BIODIVERSITY AND EVOLUTION
Located at the crossroad of two continents and at the southeastern edge of the Mediterranean Basin, Anatolia was one of the most important Pleistocene glacial refugia in the western Palaearctic. As part of the three world biodiversity hotspots, this region is also home to an astonishingly rich avian community. Nevertheless, studies addressing the genetic structure and diversity of this large and taxonomically heterogeneous community are still limited, and information on glacial refugia in this region is still scant, especially when compared to the other large Mediterranean peninsulas, namely the Balkan, Italian and Iberian one. Also, being a barrier during the gracial periods, the altitudes of Anatolia has been proposed to shape the prevalence of avian malaria across populations due to relationship of vectors with altitude and temperature. The overall genetic structure of the species is consistent with a scenario of isolation for multiple populations in different refugia across Anatolia and subsequent secondary contact in the wake of ice retreat after Pleistocene glacial maxima.
Biologist, Prof. Dr. Tamer Albayrak completed his Ph.D. in 2007 focusing on the Kruper's Nuthatch, an endemic species in Anatolia. He has worked as an ornithologist on over 30 national and international research projects and presented his findings at numerous scientific conferences. In 2009, he conducted his PostDoc research at Heidelberg University in Germany with the support of DFG (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft). He has actively contributed to the organization of the International Eurasian Ornithology Congresses (2004, 2007, 2010, 2012, 2016, 2018, 2023) and served as a member of the management committee of the European Ornithologists Union from 2015 to 2019. Prof. Dr. Tamer Albayrak has authored over 30 scientific articles on birds and ornithological books. His publications have achieved an h-index of 13 and have been cited over 800 times. Since 2008, Albayrak has been conducting academic research at Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University in the Department of Biology. Currently, he is a visiting professor at IREC in Spain, where he is working on hybridization using the NGS method. Aside from his professional accomplishments, Tamer Albayrak is a proud father of two children.
[Host: Paulo Célio Alves, Conservation Genetics and Wildlife Management - CONGEN]