Ecological and Environmental Physiology of BirdsBirds have colonized almost every terrestrial habitat on the planet - from the poles to the tropics, and from deserts to high mountain tops. Ecological and Environmental Physiology of Birds focuses on our current understanding of the unique physiological characteristics of birds that are of particular interest to ornithologists, but also have a wider biological relevance. An introductory chapter covers the basic avian body plan and their still-enigmatic evolutionary history. The focus then shifts to a consideration of the essential components of that most fundamental of avian attributes: the ability to fly. The emphasis here is on feather evolution and development, flight energetics and aerodynamics, migration, and as a counterpoint, the curious secondary evolution of flightlessness that has occurred in several lineages. This sets the stage for subsequent chapters, which present specific physiological topics within a strongly ecological and environmental framework. These include gas exchange, thermal and osmotic balance, 'classical' life history parameters (male and female reproductive costs, parental care and investment in offspring, and fecundity versus longevity tradeoffs), feeding and digestive physiology, adaptations to challenging environments (high altitude, deserts, marine habitats, cold), and neural specializations (notably those important in foraging, long-distance navigation, and song production). Throughout the book classical studies are integrated with the latest research findings. Numerous important and intriguing questions await further work, and the book concludes with a discussion of methods (emphasizing cutting-edge technology), approaches, and future research directions. |
Contents
General Physiological Principles | 30 |
1 | 38 |
Physiological Bases of FecundityLongevity Tradeoffs | 49 |
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absorption acid activity adaptive adult albatrosses altricial ambient temperatures animals antioxidant avian Bar-headed Geese basal metabolic rate behavior birds Blue Tits body mass body temperature breeding changes chicks clutch cormorants costs decrease desert diet digestive diving ecological effects efficiency Emperor Penguins energetic energy expenditure environment enzymes evaporation evolutionary Exp Biol feathers feeding females flight foraging function Galliformes gene growth hatching higher House Sparrows hummingbirds hyperthermia hypothesis immune increase incubation intestinal isotope Karasov levels Lévy flights lipid male mammals Martínez del Rio measurements membrane metabolic rate microarray migration migratory MLSP muscle neonates nest Nevitt nutrient oxidative oxidative stress parental passerines phenotypic phenotypic plasticity Physiol physiological Piersma potential predators predicted prey Procellariiformes protein Red Knots reduced reproductive requirements response Ricklefs seabirds shorebirds Sparrows species speed studies surface swimming taxa thermal thermoregulation Tieleman tion traits vocal water loss Wiltschko Zebra Finches Zool