Testing abiotic and biotic drivers of fitness and range limits along an elevational gradient in a Himalayan bird

AOS Research Grant Seminar

Presenter: Pranav Gokhale, Ph.D. student, Georgia Institute of Technology; 2025 AOS Alexander Wetmore Memorial Research Grant winner

In this talk, I will examine how abiotic and biotic factors shape reproductive success and elevational range limits in Hume’s Warbler across a steep elevational gradient in the western Himalaya. Through intensive nest monitoring, camera traps, insect sampling, and measurements of temperature and precipitation, I ask how different mechanisms constrain reproduction at the lower and upper limits of the species’ range. I will also show how selection varies among years but can stabilize over longer timescales, providing insight into how different ecological pressures at opposite range limits may contribute to the evolution of species’ distributions.