Dr. Patricia Brekke

Curriculum vitae:

Institute of Zoology, ZSL. UK        IOZ Fellow        2013
Institute of Zoology, ZSL. UK        AXA Fellow       2011
Institute of Zoology, ZSL. UK        PDRA                2010
Imperial College London, UK        Ph.D.                 2009
Sheffield University,UK                 B.Sc.                  2002

Research interests:

Conservation/Evolutionary genetics
Sexual selection/Reproductive failure
Anthropogenic threats
Conservation management

Hihi chicks © ZSL

My research focus is on adaptation and the ecological, genetic and evolutionary consequences of conservation interventions and management of species under anthropogenic threat. To do this I apply genetic, quantitative genetic and genomic techniques to wild and captive-bred populations of threatened birds. I collaborate closely with government bodies, NGOs/charities and community groups, which enables me to successfully apply my research.

More recently, I have been developing a program of research on emergent threats to wildlife looking specifically at the impact of air pollution from vehicle emissions on wildlife genetic health using the invasive Eastern grey squirrel as a model system.

Read our Q&A with Patricia Brekke

⦁    Lee, K. D., Millar, C. D., Brekke, P., Whibley, A., Ewen, J. G., Hingston, M., Zhu, A., & Santure, A. W. (2021). The design and application of a 50 K SNP chip for a threatened Aotearoa New Zealand passerine, the hihi. Molecular Ecology Resources, 00, 1– 15. https://doi-org.libproxy.ucl.ac.uk/10.1111/1755-0998.13480

⦁    Assersohn, K., Brekke, P., & Hemmings, N. (2021). Physiological factors influencing female fertility in birds. Royal Society Open Science, 8(7), 202274.

⦁    Duntsch, L., Whibley, A., Brekke, P., Ewen, J. G., & Santure, A. W. (2021). Genomic data of different resolutions reveal consistent inbreeding estimates but contrasting homozygosity landscapes for the threatened Aotearoa New Zealand hihi. Molecular Ecology.

⦁    Assersohn, K., Marshall, A. F., Morland, F., Brekke, P., & Hemmings, N. (2021). Why do eggs fail? Causes of hatching failure in threatened populations and consequences for conservation. Animal Conservation.

⦁    de Villemereuil, P., Charmantier, A., Arlt, D., Bize, P., Brekke, P., Brouwer, L., ... & Chevin, L. M. (2020). Fluctuating optimum and temporally variable selection on breeding date in birds and mammals. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(50), 31969-31978.

⦁    Rutschmann, A., de Villemereuil, P., Brekke, P., Ewen, J. G., Anderson, N., & Santure, A. W. (2020). Consequences of space sharing on individual phenotypes in the New Zealand hihi. Evolutionary Ecology, 34(5), 821-839.

⦁    Duntsch, L., Tomotani, B. M., de Villemereuil, P., Brekke, P., Lee, K. D., Ewen, J. G., & Santure, A. W. (2020). Polygenic basis for adaptive morphological variation in a threatened Aotearoa| New Zealand bird, the hihi (Notiomystis cincta). Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 287(1933), 20200948.

⦁    Kutscher, D., Asogan, D., Mudway, I., Brekke, P., Beales, C., Wang, X., ... & Stewart, T. J. (2020). Imaging of Trace Elements Using Laser Ablation–Inductively Coupled Plasma–Mass Spectrometry: Emerging New Applications. Spectroscopy, 35(S4), 16-26.

•    Green, R. E., Brekke, P. , Ward, H. , Slaymaker, M. , van der Velde, M. , Komdeur, J. and Dugdale, H. L. (2019), Use of microsatellite‐based paternity assignment to establish where Corn Crake Crex crex chicks are at risk from mechanized mowing. Ibis. doi:10.1111/ibi.12724

•    de Villemereuil, P., Rutschmann, A., Ewen, J. G., *Santure, A. W., & *Brekke, P. (2019). Little adaptive potential of a threatened species. Current Biology. 29(5) doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2019.01.072 *joint senior author

•    de Villemereuil, P., Rutschmann, A., Ewen, J. G., *Santure, A. W., & *Brekke, P. (2018). Can threatened species adapt in a restored habitat? No expected evolutionary response in lay date for the New Zealand hihi. Evolutionary Applications. 00:1–16. doi.org/10.1111/eva.12727 *joint senior author

•    Groombridge, J., Raisin, C., & Brekke, P. (2018). Island Populations – Genetic factors driving declines. Eds Species Conservation: Lessons from Islands, 51. Cambridge University Press.

•    Knight, A., Ewen, J. G., Brekke, P., & Santure, A. W. (2018). The Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Epidemiology of Coccidia of Passerine Birds. In Advances in parasitology (Vol. 99, pp. 35–60). Academic Press.

•    MacLeod, K. J., Brekke, P., Tong, W., Ewen, J. G., & Thorogood, R. (2017). Do mothers bias offspring sex ratios in carotenoid-rich environments? Behavioral Ecology, 28(1), 131–137.

•    Richardson, K. M., Ewen, J. G., Brekke, P., Doerr, L. R., Parker, K. A., & Armstrong, D. P. (2017). Behaviour during handling predicts male natal dispersal distances in an establishing reintroduced hihi (Notiomystis cincta) population. Animal Conservation, 20(2). doi.org/10.1111/acv.12296

•    MacLeod, K. J., Brekke, P., Ewen, J. G., & Thorogood, R. (2016). Minutes matter: brief hatching asynchrony adversely affects late-hatched hihi nestlings, but not life beyond the nest. Animal Behaviour, 119, 111–118. doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2016.07.002

•    Brekke, P., Ewen, J. G., Clucas, G. Santure, A. (2015) Determinants of male floating behaviour and floater reproduction in a threatened population of the hihi (Notiomystis cincta). Evolutionary Applications.8, 796-806

•    Dawson, D. A., Brekke, P., Dos Remedios, N., Horsburgh, G. H. (2015) A marker suitable for sex-typing birds from degraded samples. Conservation Genetics Resources. 7, 337-343

•    Grueber, C. E., Knaffer, G. J., King, T. M., Senior, A. M., Grosser, S., Robertson, B., Weston, K. A., Brekke, P., et al. (2015) Toll-like receptor diversity in 1- threatened bird species: relationship with microsatellite heterozygosity. Conservation Genetics. 1-17

•    Walker, L. K., Ewen, J. G., Brekke, P., Kilner, R. M. (2013) Sexually selected dichromatism in the hihi Notiomystis cincta: multiple colours for multiple receivers. Journal of Evolutionary Biology. 27, 1522-1535

•    Thorogood, R., Armstrong, D.P., Low, M., Brekke, P., Walker, L., Ewen, J.G. (2015) 1995 – present: A 15 year history of ecological research on Tiritiri Matangi Island’s Hihi. New Zealand Journal of Ecology 37, 298-306

•    Walker L.K., Armstrong, D.P, Brekke, P., Chauvenet, A.L.M., Kilner, R.M., Ewen, J.G. (2013) Giving hihi a helping hand: assessment of alternative rearing diets in food supplemented populations of an endangered bird. Animal Conservation. 5, 538-545.

•    Brekke, P., Cassey, P., Ariani, C., Ewen, J.G. (2013) Evolution of extreme-mating behaviour: patterns of extra-pair paternity in a species with forced extra-pair copulation. Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology. 67, 963-972

•    Brekke, P., Wang, J., Bennett, P.M., Cassey, P., Dawson, D.A., Horsburgh G. J., Ewen, J.G. (2013) Postcopulatory mechanisms of inbreeding avoidance in the island endemic hihi (Notiomystis cincta). Behavioural Ecology. doi: 10.1093/beheco/arr183

•    Brekke, P., Bennett, P., Santure, A., & Ewen, J. G. (2011) High genetic diversity in the remnant island population of hihi and the genetic consequences of re-introduction. Molecular Ecology. 20, 29-45.

•    Brekke, P., Bennett, P. M., Wang, J., Pettorelli, N., Ewen, J. G. (2010) Male-biased inbreeding depression in an endangered bird. Proceedings of the Royal Society, B. London. 277, 3677-3684.

•    Wang, J., Brekke, P., Huchard, E., Knapp, L. A., Cowlishaw, G. (2010) Estimation of parameters of inbreeding and genetic drift in populations with overlapping generations. Evolution. 64, 1704-1718

•    Ewen, J.G., Thorogood, R., Brekke, P., Cassey, P., Karadasd, F. & Armstrong, D.P. (2009) Maternally invested carotenoids compensate costly ectoparasitism in the hihi. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 106, 12798-12802

•    Brekke, P., Dawson, D.A., Horsburgh, G.J. & Ewen, J.G. (2009) Characterization of microsatellite loci in the hihi, Notiomystis cincta (Notiomystidae, Aves). Molecular Ecology Resources 4, 1255-1258.

•    Birkhead, T.R., Pellatt, E.J., Brekke, P., Yates, R. & Castillo-Juarez, H. (2005) Genetic effects on sperm design in the zebra finch. Nature. 434, 383-387. 
 

I have formed fruitful collaborations with a number of academics, mainly on genetic and genomic management of threatened species, sexual selection, behavioral ecology, reproductive failure and adaptation to anthropogenic threats. 

My main collaborators on these projects are: 
Dr Anna Santure, University of Auckland, NZ 
Dr John Ewen, IoZ, UK
Professor Francois Balloux, UCL, UK
Dr Helen Taylor, RZSS, UK 
Dr Jinliang Wang, IoZ, UK
Dr Nicola Hemmings, University of Sheffield, UK 
Dr Pierre de Villemereuil, National Museum of Natural History, France 
Dr Alexis Rutschmann, University of Auckland, NZ 
Dr Victoria Franks, Royal Holloway, UK
Professor Rhys Green, University of Cambridge, UK
Dr Rose Thorogood, University of Helsinki, Finland 
Dr Tammy Steeves, University of Cantebury, NZ 

As well as new collaborations with:
Dr Ian Mudway - KCL
Dr Simon Priestnall - RVC
Dr Ursula Paredes-Esquivel - QMUL

Co-supervision of PhD students:
Ashleigh F Marshall – 2019 – 2022. NERC-funded/UCL
Fay Moorland – 2018 – 2022. Royal Society funded/Sheffield University
Laura Duntsch – 2019- 2022. Auckland University Scholarship funding/Auckland University

**I am always looking for enthusiastic students that are interested in pursuing a PhD in Conservation. If this is you, please get in contact!**

Former PhD students:
Dr Alex Knight – 2016-2020
Dr Kate Lee – 2015-2019
Dr Lucie Queste – 3 month ACCER internship in 2018, University of York

Find out more:

http://www.hihiconservation.com/author/patricia/