My PhD work is focused on the study of host-parasite interactions in a biogeographical framework, with the blackcap Sylvia atricapilla and avian malaria parasites as the main model system. My current research guidelines are the study of the factors determining the distribution of parasite lineages at different geographical scales (both in Europe as a whole and in the Iberian Peninsula), and the association between the observed patterns of parasite distribution with the geographic structure of MHC genetic variation among blackcap populations. My work includes both field research (mist-netting of birds to get blood samples and the study of the habitat in which they live) and molecular genetic techniques.

|Ongoing projects|Publications|

Ongoing projects:

2011-2011: Variation in abundance and body condition of house sparrows Passer domesticus in relation to urban development in Central Spain (GR35/10-A, BSCH-UCM, PI: José I. Aguirre).

2011-2013: Ecology and evolutionary implications of within-host symbiont coexistence (CGL2010-15734/BOS, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, PI: Javier Pérez-Tris).

Selected publications:

Oro, D., Pérez-Rodríguez, A., Martínez-Vilalta, A., Bertolero, A., Vidal, F. & Genovart, M. 2009. Interference competition in a threatened seabird community: A paradox for a successful conservation. Biological Conservation 142: 1830-1835. [PDF]