Justyna Kubacka

Justyna Kubacka
Museum and Institute of Zoology of Polish Academy of Sciences · Ornithology Group

PhD

About

24
Publications
6,636
Reads
How we measure 'reads'
A 'read' is counted each time someone views a publication summary (such as the title, abstract, and list of authors), clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the full-text. Learn more
93
Citations
Introduction
Research interests: birds, ecology & evolution, conservation, population genomics, Aquatic Warbler. Methods and techniques: in the field - nest search and monitoring, ringing, bird surveys; in the lab - DNA extraction from blood and feathers, molecular sexing, microsatellites, SNPs, RAD-seq; at the computer - statistical analysis, R, population genetic software. Current projects: population genomics, blood parasites and breeding ecology of the Aquatic Warbler.

Publications

Publications (24)
Article
Reference genomes as a key biodiversity genomics tool In the midst of the Earth’s sixth mass extinction, species worldwide are declining at an unprecedented rate1 directly impacting ecosystem functioning and services2, human health3 and our resilience to climate disturbances4. Biodiversity and ecosystem decline5,6, loss and degradation raise the pr...
Article
Full-text available
A genomic database of all Earth’s eukaryotic species could contribute to many scientific discoveries; however, only a tiny fraction of species have genomic information available. In 2018, scientists across the world united under the Earth BioGenome Project (EBP), aiming to produce a database of high-quality reference genomes containing all ~1.5 mil...
Article
The link between male song and reproductive success has been explored at length in socially monogamous birds, but results were inconsistent and under-represented socially non-monogamous species with uniparental care. Here, we evaluated whether metrics of male song in Acrocephalus paludicola (Aquatic Warbler), a promiscuous songbird with female-only...
Preprint
Full-text available
While inbreeding is known to affect individual fitness and thus extinction risk in populations, studies have under-represented non-model species of conservation concern and rarely sought conditionality of inbreeding depression. Here, using SNPs identified with RAD-seq, we determined inbreeding depression in a threatened passerine, the aquatic warbl...
Article
Full-text available
Breeding habitat loss and depletion of genetic diversity can have critically negative impacts on species, and especially so for habitat specialists. The Aquatic Warbler Acrocephalus paludicola is a threatened European songbird that breeds in fens, which have been lost and fragmented over centuries. We used microsatellite loci to perform a spatial a...
Article
Full-text available
The Aquatic Warbler Acrocephalus paludicola is one of the rarest European passerines and is characterised by promiscuity, lack of pair-bonds and female-only parental care. This makes the species an important model for studying the function of avian courtship song. The song of the Aquatic Warbler consists of whistle and rattle phrases produced as di...
Preprint
Full-text available
The link between male song and reproductive success has been explored at length in socially monogamous birds. However, results were inconsistent and under-represented socially non-monogamous species with uniparental care. Here, using as a model the aquatic warbler Acrocephalus paludicola , a songbird with no sexual dimorphism, female-only care, pro...
Preprint
Full-text available
The link between male song and reproductive success has been explored at length in socially monogamous birds, but results were inconsistent and under-represented socially non-monogamous species with uniparental care. Here, we evaluated whether metrics of male song in the aquatic warbler Acrocephalus paludicola , a promiscuous songbird with female-o...
Preprint
Full-text available
The Aquatic Warbler is one of the rarest European passerines, characterised by promiscuity, lack of pair-bonds and female-only parental care. This makes the species an important model for studying the function of avian courtship song. The song of the Aquatic Warbler consists of whistle and rattle phrases produced as discontinuous A-, B- and C-songs...
Article
Full-text available
Investment in immunity is expected to decrease (costly immunity) or enhance (terminal investment) reproductive performance. Here, we tested the effects of activation of the immune system in female great tits (Parus major) on (1) their reproductive effort and (2) the survival and body condition of their offspring, controlling for chick sex. We injec...
Article
Full-text available
In non-pedigreed populations, insights into effects of inbreeding can be obtained by correlations between individual heterozygosity and fitness-related traits (HFCs). Using an information-theoretic approach, we explored whether heterozygosity of microsatellite markers, measured as internal relatedness (IR), is associated with infection by blood par...
Article
Full-text available
In birds, vector-borne parasites invading the bloodstream are important agents of disease, affect fitness and shape population viability, thus being of conservation interest. Here, we molecularly identified protozoan blood parasites in two populations of the threatened Aquatic Warbler Acrocephalus paludicola , a migratory passerine nesting in open...
Article
Full-text available
The immune system is a particularly costly activity that competes with other functions of an organism, such as reproduction, although research is lacking on the importance of environmental factors for the parental investment in offspring immunity. This study examines whether ambient temperature impacts the effect of a sheep red blood cell (SRBC) ch...
Article
Full-text available
The Aquatic Warbler Acrocephalus paludicola is a globally threatened habitat specialist that breeds in open fens in Central and Eastern Europe. Because bush and reed encroachment threaten many suitable breeding areas, habitat management is necessary to maintain the open wetlands that Aquatic Warblers require for nesting. The effectiveness of mowing...
Article
Full-text available
In the reproduction period a male Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) is a centralplace forager, i.e. it transports food from hunting grounds to a central location - the nest. A centralplace forager is predicted to take larger or more prey when distance to a foraging site is longer. We studied kestrels breeding in a large Central European city (population...

Network

Cited By