Personal Information

Research Interests

• Bird migration
• Urban ecology and evolution
• Yolk hormones and maternal effects
• Mechanisms of local adaptation

I work at the interface between individual behavior, population ecology and evolution to understand the dynamics and structure of natural populations experiencing environmental change. I am also interested in the physiological mechanisms underlying phenotypic variation, in the way in which these mechanisms are tuned to match the particular needs of individuals and populations exposed to different environmental conditions, and how these mechanisms are shaped by, as well as may shape, evolutionary processes. My overall objective is to integrate proximate mechanisms with ultimate functions (adaptation and evolution) and to break down the proximate mechanisms of phenotypic variation into its components (genetic, environmental and maternal effects). To achieve these goals, I employ a balanced combination of analytical and experimental field and laboratory studies ranging from studies of physiological and endocrine mechanisms to comparative investigations of life history strategies.

Current Research Interests

1. Annual movement ecology of the partially migratory European blackbird (with Adam Fudickar) Evolution des Vogelzuges
2. Ecological and evolutionary consequences of a rapidly urbanizing world (with Catarina Miranda) Evolution des Vogelzuges
3. Chronobiology of urban life (with Davide Dominoni) Evolution des Vogelzuges
4. Organizational effects of maternal hormones and their role for local adaptation (with Hubert Schwabl, Washington State University, Pullman, USA)

Publications

Evans, K.L., Gaston, K.J., Frantz, A.C., Simeoni, M., Sharp, S.P., McGowan, A., Dawson, D.A., Walasz, K., Partecke, J., Burke, T. & Hatchwell, B.J. (2009) Independent colonization of multiple urban centres by a formerly forest specialist bird species. Proceedings of the Royal Society London B 276, 2403-2410.

Geue, D. & Partecke, J. (2008) Reduced parasite infestation in urban Eurasian blackbirds (Turdus merula): a factor favoring urbanization? Canadian Journal of Zoology 86, 1419-1425.

Partecke, J. & Schwabl, H. (2008) Organizational effects of maternal testosterone on reproductive behavior of adult House sparrows. Developmental Neurobiology 68, 1538-1548.

Partecke, J. & Gwinner, E. (2007) Increased sedentariness in European blackbirds following urbanization: A consequence of local adaptation? Ecology 88(4), 882-890.

Partecke, J., Schwabl, I. & Gwinner, E. (2006) Stress and the City: Urbanization and its effects on the stress physiology in European Blackbirds. Ecology 87(8), 1945-1952.

Partecke, J., Gwinner, E & Bensch, S. (2006) Is urbanization of European blackbirds (Turdus merula) associated with genetic differentiation? Journal of Ornithology 147, 549-552.

Partecke, J., Van’t Hof, T. & Gwinner, E. (2005) Underlying physiological control of reproduction in urban and forest-dwelling European blackbirds Turdus merula. Journal of Avian Biology 36, 295-305.

Partecke, J., Van’t Hof, T. & Gwinner, E. (2004) Differences in the timing of reproduction between urban and forest European blackbirds (Turdus merula): result of phenotypic flexibility or genetic differences? Proceedings of the Royal Society London B 271, 1995-2001.

Partecke, J., von Haeseler, A. & Wikelski, M. (2002) Territory establishment in lekking marine iguanas, Amblyrhynchus cristatus: Support for the hotspot mechanism. Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology 51, 579-487.

Biebach, H., Biebach, I., Friedrich, W., Heine, G., Partecke, J. & Schmidl, D. (2000) Strategies of Passerine migration across the Mediterranean Sea and the Sahara desert: a radar study. Ibis 152, 632-643.