DPhil. Student

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Antica Culina

Antica Culina

Details

Name: Antica Culina
Position: DPhil. Student
Email: antica.culina@zoo.ox.ac.uk

Autobiography

There are two main research areas that are at the centre of my current interests in biology: animal ecology and behaviour, and their application in the nature conservation. Over the last seven years I have focused, to the larger extent, on the projects that have applied the knowledge of animal ecology in nature conservation.

I graduated in biology at the University of Zagreb, Croatia in 2008. For my thesis I worked on the urban bird populations in urban parks in Zagreb. I assessed the composition and diversity of bird communities in the parks and evaluated the relationship between avifaunal and park characteristics. I used the results of my study to address the importance of these areas in the conservation and promotion of bird populations in urban areas, together with guidelines for park management.

During my studies, and after graduation, Ive been working on a number of bird and (to a lesser extent) small mammal monitoring projects in Croatia. Most of the research was in co-operation with two Croatian biological associations (BIOM and BIUS) and the Croatian Institute of Ornithology.

Research Activities

For my DPhil project I will investigate the pattern and process in pair formation and dissolution in Great Tits and Blue Tits, but with a quite novel approach. My project is part of a larger project directed by Professor Sheldon on evolutionary social ecology of wild populations of these two species. Using the framework of Social Network Theory (SNT) and data we are able to obtain from the PIT-tagged birds, we are going to describe the social network (which represents a social environment) and SN traits of individuals in the population. We will then use that knowledge to qualify and quantify the interactions underlying partner choice (which happens not only before, but also during and after the breeding season) and its consequences in wild bird population.

Selected Recent Papers

Watch this space!