I am interested in evolutionary biology, reptile ecophysiology and the evolution of life-histories along biogeographical gradients. The questions driving my current research are:

Why do closely located populations of the same species have different reproductive strategies? What mechanisms cause such differences (for example, in growth rates or incubation time)?  Are differences in lizard morphology (hindlimb length, body proportions, etc.) related to habitat choice or sexual selection?

To address these questions we use captive breeding of lizards and reciprocal transplants experiments. Such experiments are useful to examine whether the observed variation is adaptive or just an example of phenotypic plasticity.

|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: Origin and maintenance of phenotipic diversity in Iberian populations of the large Psammodromus (CGL2010-17928910577-658/BOS, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, PI: José A. Díaz).

Selected publications:

Iraeta, P., Salvador, A., Monasterio, C. & Díaz, J. A. 2010. Effects of gravidity on the locomotor performance and escape behaviour of two lizard populations: the importance of habitat structure. Behaviour 147: 133-150. [PDF]

Monasterio, C., Salvador, A., Iraeta, P. & Díaz, J. A. 2009. The effects of thermal biology and refuge availability on the restricted distribution of an alpine lizard. Journal of Biogeography 36: 1673-1684. [PDF]

Iraeta, P., Salvador, A., & Díaz, J. A. 2008. A reciprocal transplant study of activity, body size and winter survivorship in juvenile lizards from two sites at different altitude. Ecoscience 15: 298-304. [PDF]

Iraeta, P., Díaz, J. A. & Bauwens, D. 2007. Nest-site selection by Psammodromus algirus lizards in a laboratory thermal gradient. Journal of Herpetology 41: 360-364. [PDF]

Díaz, J. A., Iraeta, P. & Monasterio, C. 2006. Seasonality provokes a shift of thermal preferences in a temperate lizard, but altitude does not. Journal of Thermal Biology, 31: 237-242. [PDF]

Iraeta, P., Monasterio, C., Salvador, A. & Díaz, J. A. 2006. Mediterranean hatchling lizards grow faster at higher altitude: a reciprocal transplant experiment. Functional Ecology 20: 865-872. [PDF]