Projects:
Genetics and Ecology of wolves in British Columbia
Conservation Genetics

CURRENT RESEARCH:

Conservation Genetics of Wolves from British Columbia

In this project I have joined Jennifer Leonard’s research on wolves from British Columbia. Genetic and ecological data are combined to understand the dynamics and particularities of this endangered wolf population inhabiting the temperate rainforests of the North American Pacific coast.

More information

People involved:
Jennifer Leonard, Uppsala University
Chris Darimont, University of California, Santa Cruz
Paul Paquet, University of Calgary
Robert K. Wayne, University of California, Los Angeles

Canine Genomics and the Evolution of Phenotypic Diversity

In this project I work with Carles Vilà studying the consequences of domestication in shaping the great phenotypic diversity found in dogs. By comparing dogs and wolves we aim at finding some answers to this question.

Genetic Diversity in Bullfinches

The bullfinch, Pyrrhula pyrrhula, is a widespread species found in Europe and Asia. Many subspecies have been proposed based on differences in morphology. In this project, we study the distribution of genetic diversity in this species.

People involved:
Tony Fox, National Environmental Research Institute, Denmark
Carles Vilà, Uppsala University/Estación Biológica de Doñana (CSIC)

OTHER PROJECTS:

Hybridization and Conservation Genetics of White-headed Ducks (Oxyura leucocephala) and Ruddy Ducks (O. jamaicensis)

For my PhD, I worked on the hybridization of white-headed ducks (an endangered species in Eurasia) and ruddy ducks (an introduced North American species in Europe) in Spain. At the Estación Biológica de Doñana (Doñana Biological Station), an institute of the Spanish Research Council (CSIC), I was supervised by Andy Green and Juan José Negro, and I also developed extensive collaborations with Michael D. Sorenson (Boston University) and Carles Vilà (Uppsala University). The white-headed duck is a Eurasian species that suffered extensive declines and fragmentation throughout its range during the 20th century and is classified as Endangered by the IUCN. It was previously widely distributed in Europe and now only found in Greece and Spain. The Spanish population represents 25% of the total world population and is currently threatened by reduced genetic variability (as compared to that existing in the beginning of the century) and through hybridization with the introduced ruddy duck in Europe. Results from this project are having direct application in management plans for the protection and recovery of the white-headed duck in Spain, and in countries where the ruddy duck is present, such as France, United Kingdom and other European countries.

  

Monitoring methods for the Mallorcan midwife toad, Alytes muletensis

For my Master, I conducted research on a highly endangered species, the Mallorcan midwife toad, a species only found in some isolated mountain ponds and creeks of the island of Mallorca (Balearic Islands, Spain). I worked under the supervision of Richard Griffiths and conducted field surveys in order to assess whether different census methods were more accurate at portraying the real populations size. These methods have subsequently been used to monitor the population.

PUBLICATIONS

Peer-Reviewed Journals

Muñoz-Fuentes V, Darimont CT, Paquet P, Leonard JA (in press) The genetic legacy of extirpation and re-colonization in Vancouver Island wolves. Conservation Genetics, Special Issue, doi: 10.1007/s10592-10009-19974-10591.

Muñoz-Fuentes V, Darimont CT, Wayne RK, Paquet P, Leonard JA (2009) Ecological factors drive differentiation in wolves from British Columbia. Journal of Biogeography 36: 1516-1531.

Muñoz-Fuentes V, Green AJ, Sorenson MD. (2008) Comparing the genetics of wild and captive populations of white-headed ducks: consequences for recovery programmes, Ibis, 150, 807-815.

Muñoz-Fuentes V, Vilà C, Green AJ, Negro JJ, Sorenson MD (2007) Hybridization between white-headed ducks and introduced ruddy ducks in Spain. Molecular Ecology 16, 629-638.

Muñoz-Fuentes V, Green AJ, Sorenson MD, Negro JJ, Vilà C (2006) The ruddy duck Oxyura jamaicensis in Europe: human introduction or natural colonisation? Molecular Ecology 15, 1441-1453.

Muñoz-Fuentes V, Green AJ, Negro JJ, Sorenson MD (2005) Population structure and loss of genetic diversity in the endangered white-headed duck, Oxyura leucocephala. Conservation Genetics 6, 999-1015.

Muñoz-Fuentes V, Gyllenstrand N, Negro JJ, Green AJ, Vilà C (2005) Microsatellite markers for two stifftail ducks, the white-headed duck, Oxyura leucocephala, and the ruddy duck, O. jamaicensis. Molecular Ecology Notes 5, 263-265.

Muñoz V, Green AJ, Negro JJ, Sorenson MD (2003) Studies of the population genetics of white-headed ducks and North American ruddy ducks – preliminary results using mitochondrial DNA. Threatened Waterfowl Specialist Group News 14, 54-57.

Muñoz V (2001) Genetic introgression of ruddy ducks in wild populations of white-headed ducks. Threatened Waterfowl Specialist Group News 13, 28-30.

Scientific reports

Reports for funding agencies on the status of the white-headed duck in Spain.
Muñoz V, Green AJ (2005) Caracterización y control genético de la población de malvasía cabeciblanca en la Comunidad Valenciana. 11 pp.
Muñoz V, Green AJ (2004) Caracterización y control genético de la población de malvasía cabeciblanca en la Comunidad Valenciana. 13 pp.
Muñoz V, Green AJ, Negro JJ (2002) Estudio de la introgresión genética de la malvasía canela, Oxyura jamaicensis, en la población española de malvasía cabeciblanca, O. leucocephala. 58 pp.

Popular Science

Muñoz V, Negro JJ, Green AJ (2008) La malvasía canela, un invasor al que temer y contener. Quercus, 269, 14-21.

BIOGRAPHY

Current position: Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellow (European Union Fellowships), Uppsala University, Sweden.

Spanish Ministry of Education Postdoctoral Fellow, Uppsala University, Sweden, 2006 – 2008.

PhD Biology, Doñana Biological Station, Spanish Research Council (CSIC), Sevilla, Spain, 2005.

Guest researcher, Department of Evolutionary Biology, Uppsala University, Sweden, May-August 2003.

Guest researcher, Sorenson Lab, Boston University, USA, October-December 2001; August-December 2002; November-December 2003.

MSc Conservation Biology, Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology, University of Kent, Canterbury, United Kingdom, 2000.

BSc Biology, University of Valencia, Spain, 1999.