The role of competition, ecotones, and temperature in the elevational distribution of Himalayan birds.

There is clear evidence that species' ranges along environmental gradients are constrained by both biotic and abiotic factors, yet their relative importance in structuring realized distributions remains uncertain. We surveyed breeding bird communities while collecting in situ temperature and vegetation data along five elevational transects in the Himalayas differing in temperature variability, habitat zonation, and bird richness in order to disentangle temperature, habitat, and congeneric competition as mechanisms structuring elevational ranges. Our results from species' abundance models representing these three mechanisms differed markedly from previous, foundational research in the tropics.

The importance of agricultural lands for Himalayan birds in winter.

The impacts of land-use change on biodiversity in the Himalayas are poorly known, notwithstanding widespread deforestation and agricultural intensification in this highly biodiverse region. Although intact primary forests harbor many Himalayan birds during breeding, a large number of bird species use agricultural lands during winter. We assessed how Himalayan bird species richness, abundance, and composition during winter are affected by forest loss stemming from agriculture and grazing.

Structural proteomics: methods in deriving protein structural information and issues in data management.

Structural proteomics is an emerging paradigm that is gaining importance in the post-genomic era as a valuable discipline to process the protein target information being deciphered. The field plays a crucial role in assigning function to sequenced proteins, defining pathways in which the targets are involved, and understanding structure-function relationships of the protein targets. A key component of this research sector is accessing the three-dimensional structures of protein targets by both experimental and theoretical methods.