Main research areas:
Molecular ecology, behavioural ecology, conservation genetics, conservation biology, systematics

Research Interests:
My postdoctoral research has been diverse but centres on the application of molecular techniques to answer ecological and evolutionary questions. I am currently involved in two major research projects on superb fairy-wrens and southern hemisphere albatrosses:

Superb fairy-wrens
In a strong collaborative partnership with Professor Andrew Cockburn we have investigated sexual selection and cooperative breeding in a population of superb fairy-wrens (Malurus cyaneus). This species is the least faithful of all birds and about 5% of males sire over 50% of the offspring each year. We recognised that females identify ‘good’ males by their ability to moult early into their bright-blue, breeding plumage and females seek extra-pair copulations from these high quality males during pre-dawn forays away from their own territory. However, it is difficult to understand what females gain from copulating with these early-moulting males. Current popular hypotheses would suggest that early-moulting males exhibit ‘good genes’ and that the female’s own offspring will inherit high viability. This work is ongoing but our preliminary data analysis provides no support for this theory and offspring sired by ‘good’ males do not fare any better than those sired by males that moulted later in the season.

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Students:

2003 – pres. Co-supervisor: Hayley Sharpe (Ph.D. candidate) Phylogeographic and population genetic structure of colonial huntsmen spiders (Delena cancerides). Principal supervisor: Dr. Dave Rowell.

1999 – 2005. Principal supervisor: Cathryn Abbott (Ph.D.) Molecular genetic analysis of shy and white-capped albatross populations, Co-supervisors: Dr. Rosemary Gales and Prof. Andrew Cockburn.

2000 – 2002. Co-supervisor: Caroline Blackmore (MSc) Male song and the dawn chorus of the superb fairy-wren. Principal supervisor: Prof. Andrew Cockburn.

2005. Principal supervisor: Lisa Cocking (1st Class Honours) Efficacy of blue-dyed bait to mitigate seabird bycatch in pelagic longline fisheries.

2005. Co-supervisor: Tess Ward (1st Class Honours) Spectral properties of superb fairy-wren plumage.

2003. Principal supervisor: Rachael Alderman (1st Class Honours) Genetic identification and speciation processes in albatrosses.

2001. Principal supervisor: Nadeena Beck (1st Class Honours) Gene flow, mutation and the maintenance of genetic variation in superb fairy-wrens (Malurus cyaneus).

1999. Principal supervisor: Anna Lashko (1st Class Honours) Are shy albatrosses genetically divergent?

1998. Principal supervisor: James Nicholls (1st Class Honours) The evolution of cooperative and pair breeding in thornbills Acanthiza (Aves: Pardalotidae) .

1998. Principal supervisor: Stephen Murphy (1st Class Honours) The patterns of genetic variation in North Island kokako Callaeas cinerea wilsoni

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Publications (please email for reprints or follow the links):

33. Fisher DO, Double MC, Blomberg SP, Jennions MD, and Cockburn A (in press) Post-mating sexual selection increases lifetime fitness of polyandrous females in the wild. Nature. 444 :89-92.
DOI link

32. Cooper J, Baker GB, Double MC, Gales R, Papworth W, Tasker ML, and Waugh SM (in press) The Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels: rationale, history, progress and the way forward. Marine Ornithology.

31. Abbott CA, Double MC, Gales R, and Cockburn A (in press) Copulation behaviour and paternity in shy albatrosses, Thalassarche cauta. Journal of Zoology (London).
DOI link

30. Murphy SA, Flux I, and Double MC (2006) Recent evolutionary history of New Zealand 's North and South Island Kokako (Callaeas cinerea) inferred from mitochondrial sequences. Emu. 106: 41-48.
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29. Fisher DO, Double MC, and Moore B (2006) Number of mates and timing of mating affect offspring growth in the small marsupial, Antechinus agilis. Animal Behaviour. 71: 289-297.
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28. Abbott CA, Double MC, Baker GB, Gales R, Lashko A, Robertson CJR, and Ryan PG (2006) Molecular provenance analysis for shy and white-capped albatrosses killed by fisheries interactions in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Conservation Genetics. 7: 531-542.
DOI link

27. Double MC, Peakall R, Beck NR, and Cockburn A (2005) Dispersal, philopatry, and infidelity: dissecting local genetic structure in superb fairy-wrens (Malurus cyaneus). Evolution. 59: 625-635.
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26. Alderman R, Double MC, Valencia J, and Gales RP (2005) Genetic affinities of newly sampled populations of wandering and black-browed albatross. Emu. 105: 169-179.
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25. Abbott CL, Double MC, Trueman JWH, Robinson A, and Cockburn A (2005) An unusual source of apparent mitochondrial heteroplasmy: duplicate mitochondrial control regions in Thalassarche albatrosses. Molecular Ecology. 14: 3605-3613.
DOI link

24. Phelan B, Phillips RA, and Double MC (2004) A white-capped albatross Thalassarche [cauta] steadi, at South Georgia : first confirmed record in the south-western Atlantic. Emu. 104: 359-361.
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23. Heinsohn R and Double MC (2004) Cooperate or speciate: a new theory for the distribution of passerine birds. Trends in Ecology & Evolution. 19: 55-57.
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22. Boland CRJ, Double MC, and Baker GB (2004) Assortative mating by tail streamer length in Red-tailed Tropicbirds Phaethon rubricauda breeding in the Coral Sea. Ibis. 146: 687-690.
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21. Double MC, Gales R, Reid T, Brothers N, and Abbott CL (2003) Morphometric comparison of Australian shy and New Zealand white-capped albatrosses. Emu. 103: 287-294.
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20. Double MC and Cockburn A (2003) Subordinate superb fairy-wrens (Malurus cyaneus) parasitize the reproductive success of attractive dominant males. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B . 270: 379-384.
DOI link

19. Cockburn A, Osmond HL, Mulder RA, Green DJ, and Double MC (2003) Divorce, dispersal and incest avoidance in the cooperatively breeding superb fairy-wren Malurus cyaneus. Journal of Animal Ecology. 72: 189-202.
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18. Beck N, Double MC, and Cockburn A (2003) Microsatellite evolution at two hypervariable loci revealed by extensive avian pedigrees. Molecular Biology and Evolution. 20: 54-61.
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17. Abbott CL and Double MC (2003) Genetic structure, conservation genetics, and evidence of speciation by range expansion in shy and white-capped albatrosses. Molecular Ecology. 12: 2953-2962.
DOI link

16. Abbott CL and Double MC (2003) Phylogeography of shy and white-capped albatrosses inferred from mitochondrial DNA sequences: implications for population history and taxonomy. Molecular Ecology. 12: 2747-2758.
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15. Krebs EA, Green DJ, Double MC, and Griffiths R (2002) Laying date and laying sequence influence the sex ratio of crimson rosella broods. Behavioral Ecology & Sociobiology. 51: 447-454.
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14. Double MC (2002) Procellariiformes (Tube-nosed seabirds), in Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia, Gale Group, Farmington Hills , MI, USA . p. 107-111.

13. Cockburn A, Legge S, and Double MC (2002) Sex ratios in birds and mammals: can the hypotheses be disentangled?, in Sex Ratios. Concepts and research methods, I.C.W. Hardy, Editor, Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.

12. Legge S, Heinsohn R, Double MC, Griffiths R, and Cockburn A (2001) Complex sex allocation in the laughing kookaburra. Behavioral Ecology. 12: 524-533.
DOI link

11. Nicholls JA, Double MC, Rowell DM, and Magrath RD (2000) The evolution of cooperative and pair breeding in thornbills Acanthiza (Aves: Pardalotidae). Journal of Avian Biology. 31: 165-176.
DOI link

10. Heinsohn R, Dunn P, Legge S, and Double M (2000) Coalitions of relatives and reproductive skew in cooperatively breeding white-winged choughs. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B . 267: 243-249.
DOI link

9. Green DJ, Osmond HL, Double MC, and Cockburn A (2000) Display rate by male fairy-wrens (Malurus cyaneus) during the fertile period of females has little influence on extra-pair mate choice. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. 48: 438-446.
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8. Double MC and Cockburn A (2000) Pre-dawn infidelity: females control extra-pair mating in superb fairy-wrens. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B . 267: 465-470.
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7. Griffiths R, Double MC, Orr K, and Dawson RJG (1998) A DNA test to sex most birds. Molecular Ecology. 7: 1071-1075.
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6. Double MC and Olsen P (1997) Simplified PCR-based sexing assists conservation of an endangered owl, the Norfolk Island Boobook Ninox novaeseelandiae undulata. Bird Conservation International. 7: 283-286.
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5. Double MC, Dawson D, Burke T, and Cockburn A (1997) Finding the fathers in the least faithful bird - a microsatellite-based genotyping system for the superb fairy-wren Malurus cyaneus. Molecular Ecology. 6: 691-693.
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4. Double MC, Cockburn A, Barry SC, and Smouse PE (1997) Exclusion probabilities for single-locus paternity analysis when related males compete for matings. Molecular Ecology. 6: 1155-1166.
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3. Grahame J, Mill PJ, Double MC, and Hull SL (1993) The taxonomic status of Littorina neglecta - a comment to Grahame, Mill, Double and Hull - reply. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom . 73: 250.
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2. Hanotte O, Cairns E, Robson T, Double MC, and Burke T (1992) Cross-species hybridization of a single-locus minisatellite probe in passerine birds. Molecular Ecology. 1: 127-130.
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1. Grahame J, Mill PJ, Double MC, and Hull SL (1992) Patterns of variation in Aat-1 allele frequencies in rough periwinkles (Littorina) suggest similar selection regimes rather than conspecificity. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom . 42: 499-502.
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