Tali Magory Cohen
Ecological Genomics, Evolutionary Ecology, Conservation Biology
The Common Myna (Acridotheres tristis) is a notorious starling native to south-east Asia and the Indian subcontinent, which has invaded parts of every continent but Antarctica. We established a new study system in Israel (different invasive stages) and India (native), and conducted innovative behavioral trials in wild-caught birds and employed advanced genomics and modelling techniques. Our results illustrate the profile of a successful invader, describing an innovative, non-neophobic species, capable of surviving in highly urbanized environments of varying temperatures and precipitation, that can adapt quickly to new environments while regaining genetic diversity. In addition, we showed that Species Distribution Models are an effective tool in predicting the potential distribution of invasive species both in space and in time, and that local species composition is negligible in high-resolution species distribution modelling, contrary to common theory. We also described the most updated global distribution of the species and studied the factors that influence it. Our findings reflect the major role of anthropogenic impact in shaping global biodiversity.
Currently we are studying the genomic dynamics of invasion through genome wide SNP data and RNA sequencing to characterize the mechanism through which the genomic background impacts invasion success.
Global Invasion in Progress - the Common Myna (Acridotheres tristis)
Photo by Jonathan Ben Simon
Photo by Tali Magory Cohen
The Dead-Sea Sparrow (Passer moabiticus) is a small beautiful passerine occurring in a highly disjointed range from south-west Afghanistan to Cyprus, including Israel, from which the species was first described. Israel also marks the Southwest border of the range of this aridophil sparrow.
The species has experienced recent changes in range and preferred habitats possibly due to anthropogenic effects which may have negative consequence on its breeding success and overall fitness. We studied the genetic structure and morphology of the Israeli populations in order to determine the connectivity level between them, revealing interesting patterns of local adaptations in the process. Our findings have been published in Ibis and can be found here.
Local Adaptation and Population Connectivity of the Dead-Sea Sparrow (Passer moabiticus)
Photo by Ron Haran ©