My research seeks to understand the drivers of the geographical distribution of biological diversity at localto continental (or larger) scales, and how multiple forms of diversity (genetic, taxonomic, phylogenetic, functional) are related across these scales. My primary discipline is phylogeography, which examines how intraspecific genetic variation is distributed across species’ geographical ranges, allowing inference ofhow past climates and dispersal opportunities have shaped divergence among lineages or allowed genetic diversity to accumulate in different areas. We are interested in whether these spatial histories, replicated across species, can shed insights into the drivers of differences in species richness among regions with different climatic histories.
My research has also been at the forefront of the nascent subdiscipline of macrogenetics, in which existing genetic sequence data are combined and reanalyzed to investigate multi-species patterns of genetic variation. This approach has opened the opportunity to map gradients of intraspecific genetic diversity at continental to global scales. We are interested in the extent to which genetic and species richness are spatially correlated, and geographic variation in the drivers of this correlation, particularly for insects.
My lab- and field-based studies are currently focused on the forest beetle community of Aotearoa New Zealand, which is an ideal region for testing the processes driving genetic variation due to its continental origin, diverse topography and dynamic glacial history. However, student research in my lab encompasses a variety of phylogeographic, biogeographic and macroecological methods and a diverse array of study systems. We also leverage publicly available datasets to address questions for diverse taxa at regional, continental, and global scales, and we are keen to collaborate with folks working in other systems with interesting geographic questions
Marske KA=, HC Lanier=, CD Siler, AH Rowe, LR Stein. 2023. Integrating biogeography and behavioral ecology to rapidly address biodiversity loss. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 120 (15) e2110866120. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2110866120
McGaughran A, L Liggins, KA Marske, MN Dawson, LM Schiebelhut, S Lavery, LL Knowles, C Moritz & C Riginos. 2022. Comparative Phylogeography in the Genomic Age: Opportunities and Challenges. Journal of Biogeography 49: 2130-2144. DOI: 10.1111/jbi.14481
Sadir, M & KA Marske. 2021. Urban environments aid invasion of brown widows (Theridiidae: Latrodectus geometricus) in North America, constraining regions of overlap and mitigating potential impact on native widows. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 9: 757902. DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2021.757902
Marske KA, AT Thomaz, LL Knowles. 2020. Dispersal barriers and opportunities drive multiple levels of phylogeographic concordance in the Southern Alps of New Zealand. Molecular Ecology 29: 4665-4679.DOI: 10.1111/mec.15655
Miraldo A, S Li, MK Borregaard, A Flórez-Rodríguez, S Gopalakrishnan, M Rizvanovic, Z Wang, C Rahbek, KA Marske & D Nogués-Bravo. 2016. An Anthropocene map of genetic diversity. Science 353: 1532-1535. DOI: 10.1126/science.aaf4381
