Mariana Bulgarella

Mariana Bulgarella <M.Bulgarella@massey.ac.nz>


My main interests include evolutionary biology, ecological physiology and population genetics. Originally studying hemoglobin adaptations to high-altitude in Andean waterfowl, I focus on adaptation and speciation along environmental gradients. In February 2011, I was awarded a Post Doctoral Fellowship at Massey University. I aim to unravel how the current biogeographic pattern of Hemideina (tree weta) species has originated by combining physiological, genetic, morphological, and environmental data. Concurrently, I am studying acclimation responses in high and low-altitude tree weta populations to identify the relevance of environmental gradients in population divergence, speciation, and potential responses to climate change.

Weta hunting in South Island of New Zealand

Publications:

Bulgarella M, Peters JL, Kopuchian C, Valqui T, Wilson RE & McCracken KG. 2012. Multilocus coalescent analysis of hemoglobin differentiation between low- and high-altitude populations of crested ducks (Lophonetta specularioides). Molecular Ecology 21: 350–368.

Bulgarella M, Sorenson MD, Peters JL, Wilson RE & McCracken KG. 2010. Phylogenetic relationships of Amazonetta, Speculanas, Lophonetta, and Tachyeres: Four morphologically divergent duck genera endemic to South America. Journal of Avian Biology 41: 186–199.

McCracken KG, Barger CP, Bulgarella M, Johnson KP, Kuhner MK, Moore AV, Peters JL, Trucco J, Valqui TH, Winker KS & Wilson RE. 2009. Signatures of high-altitude adaptation in the major hemoglobin of five species of Andean dabbling ducks. American Naturalist 174: 631–650.

McCracken KG, Barger CP, Bulgarella M, Johnson KP, Sonsthagen SA, Trucco J, Valqui TH, Wilson RE, Winker KS & Sorenson MD. 2009. Parallel evolution in the major haemoglobin genes of eight species of Andean waterfowl. Molecular Ecology 18: 3992–4005.

Bulgarella M, Stewart NC, Fedorov VB, Moore AV & McCracken KG. 2009. Hemoglobin transcript abundance in a bone marrow cDNA library of Crested Ducks (Lophonetta specularioides) in the Peruvian High Andes. The Auk 126: 666–672.

McCracken KG, Bulgarella M, Johnson KP, Kuhner MK, Trucco J, Valqui TH, Wilson RE & Peters JL. 2009. Gene flow in the face of countervailing selection: Adaptation to high-altitude hypoxia in the beta A hemoglobin subunit of yellow-billed pintails in the Andes. Molecular Biology and Evolution 26: 815–827.

Bulgarella M, Cella L, Quintana F, Sapoznikow A, Gosztonyi A & Kuba L. 2008. Diet of Imperial Cormorants (Phalacrocorax atriceps) and Rock Shags (P. magellanicus) breeding sympatrically in Patagonia, Argentina. Ornitología Neotropical 19: 553–563.

Bulgarella M, Wilson RE, Kopuchian C, Valqui TH & McCracken KG. 2007. Elevational variation in body size of Crested Ducks (Lophonetta specularioides) from the central High Andes, Mendoza, and Patagonia. Ornitología Neotropical 18: 587–602.

Bulgarella M & de Lamo DA. 2005. Thermal conductance of guanaco (Lama guanicoe) pelage. Journal of Thermal Biology 30: 569–573.