Relative roles of plasticity and genetic adaptation

One of the key questions in evolutionary biology is to understand how an organism responds to a novel environment. Two major evolutionary processes that allow organisms to adapt to a novel environment are (1) phenotypic plasticity and (2) genetic adaptation. These two are mostly studied as separate independent processes, and the possible synergistic effects of these two processes in facilitating or hindering adaptation have received less attention. We are studying the birds that are adapted in heterogeneous landscapes across the elevational gradients in the Himalayas. They possess traits showing both plastic and genetic changes, hence are suitable model system to study the relative role of plasticity and genetic adaptation.

One novel aspect of this study is that we pose questions about the molecular basis of acclimation and adaptation in different independent clades of birds across the geographically distant habitats of eastern and western Himalayas.