Author: Steven L. Chown Publisher: OUP Oxford ISBN: 0191523348 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 256
Book Description
This book provides a modern, synthetic overview of interactions between insects and their environments from a physiological perspective that integrates information across a range of approaches and scales. It shows that evolved physiological responses at the individual level are translated into coherent physiological and ecological patterns at larger, even global scales. This is done by examining in detail the ways in which insects obtain resources from the environment, process these resources in various ways, and turn the results into energy which allows them to regulate their internal environment as well as cope with environmental extremes of temperature and water availability. The book demonstrates that physiological responses are not only characterized by substantial temporal variation, but also shows coherent variation across several spatial scales. At the largest, global scale, there appears to be substantial variation associated with the hemisphere in which insects are found. Such variation has profound implications for patterns of biodiversity as well as responses to climate change, and these implications are explicitly discussed. The book provides a novel integration of the understanding gained from broad-scale field studies of many species and the more narrowly focused laboratory investigations of model organisms. In so doing it reflects the growing realization that an integration of mechanistic and large-scale comparative physiology can result in unexpected insights into the diversity of insects.
Author: Jon F. Harrison Publisher: OUP Oxford ISBN: 0191625353 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 392
Book Description
Insects are the most ecologically important multicellular heterotrophs in terrestrial systems. They play critical roles in ecological food webs, remain devastating agricultural and medical pests, and represent the most diverse group of eukaryotes in terms of species numbers. Their dominant role among terrestrial heterotrophs arises from a number of key physiological traits, and in particular by the developmental and evolutionary plasticity of these traits. Ecological and Environmental Physiology of Insects presents a current and comprehensive overview of how the key physiological traits of insects respond to environmental variation. It forges conceptual links from molecular biology through organismal function to population and community ecology. As with other books in the Series, the emphasis is on the unique physiological characteristics of the insects, but with applications to questions of broad relevance in physiological ecology. As an aid to new researchers on insects, it also includes introductory chapters on the basics and techniques of insect physiology ecology.
Author: Vonnie D.C. Shields Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand ISBN: 9535130331 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 266
Book Description
This book discusses recent contributions focusing on insect physiology and ecology written by experts in their respective fields. Four chapters in this book are dedicated to evaluating the morphological and ecological importance and distribution of water beetles, dung beetles, weevils, and tabanids, while two others investigate the symbiotic relationships between various insects and their associations with bacteria, fungi, or mites. Two other chapters consider insecticide detoxification, as well as insect defense mechanisms against infections. The last two chapters concentrate on insects as sustainable food. This book targets a wide audience of general biologists, as well as entomologists, ecologists, zoologists, virologists, and epidemiologists, including both teachers and students in gaining a better appreciation of this rapidly growing field.
Author: William H. Karasov Publisher: Princeton University Press ISBN: 0691074534 Category : Medical Languages : en Pages : 758
Book Description
Unlocking the puzzle of how animals behave and how they interact with their environments is impossible without understanding the physiological processes that determine their use of food resources. But long overdue is a user-friendly introduction to the subject that systematically bridges the gap between physiology and ecology. Ecologists--for whom such knowledge can help clarify the consequences of global climate change, the biodiversity crisis, and pollution--often find themselves wading through an unwieldy, technically top-heavy literature. Here, William Karasov and Carlos Martínez del Rio present the first accessible and authoritative one-volume overview of the physiological and biochemical principles that shape how animals procure energy and nutrients and free themselves of toxins--and how this relates to broader ecological phenomena. After introducing primary concepts, the authors review the chemical ecology of food, and then discuss how animals digest and process food. Their broad view includes symbioses and extends even to ecosystem phenomena such as ecological stochiometry and toxicant biomagnification. They introduce key methods and illustrate principles with wide-ranging vertebrate and invertebrate examples. Uniquely, they also link the physiological mechanisms of resource use with ecological phenomena such as how and why animals choose what they eat and how they participate in the exchange of energy and materials in their biological communities. Thoroughly up-to-date and pointing the way to future research, Physiological Ecology is an essential new source for upper-level undergraduate and graduate students-and an ideal synthesis for professionals. The most accessible introduction to the physiological and biochemical principles that shape how animals use resources Unique in linking the physiological mechanisms of resource use with ecological phenomena An essential resource for upper-level undergraduate and graduate students An ideal overview for researchers
Author: Vincent B. Wigglesworth Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media ISBN: 9400959737 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 832
Book Description
INSECTS PROVIDE an ideal medium in which to study all the problems of physiology. But if this medium is to be used to the best advantage, the principles and peculiarities of the insect's organization must be first appreciated. It is the purpose of this book to set forth these principles so far as they are understood at the present day. There exist already many excellent text-books of general ento mology; notably those of Imms, Weber, and Snodgrass, to mention only the more recent. But these authors have necessarily been preoccupied chiefly with describing the diversity of form among insects; discussions on function being correspondingly condensed. In the present work the emphasis is reversed. Struc ture is described only to an extent sufficient to make the physiological argument intelligible. Every anatomical peculiarity, every ecological specialization, has indeed its physiological counterpart. In that sense, anatomy, physiology and ecology are not separable. But regarded from the standpoint from which the present work is written, the endless modifications that are met with among insects are but illustrations of the general principles of their physiology, which it is the aim of this book to set forth. Completeness in such a work is not possible, or desirable; but an endeavour has been made to illustrate each physiological characteristic by a few concrete examples, and to include sufficient references to guide the student to the more important sources. The physiology of insects is to some the handmaid of Economic Entomology.
Author: Hans Lambers Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media ISBN: 1475728557 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 565
Book Description
This textbook is remarkable for emphasising that the mechanisms underlying plant physiological ecology can be found at the levels of biochemistry, biophysics, molecular biology and whole-plant physiology. The authors begin with the primary processes of carbon metabolism and transport, plant-water relations, and energy balance. After considering individual leaves and whole plants, these physiological processes are then scaled up to the level of the canopy. Subsequent chapters discuss mineral nutrition and the ways in which plants cope with nutrient-deficient or toxic soils. The book then looks at patterns of growth and allocation, life-history traits, and interactions between plants and other organisms. Later chapters deal with traits that affect decomposition of plant material and with plant physiological ecology at the level of ecosystems and global environmental processes.
Author: Publisher: CRC Press ISBN: 142006178X Category : Medical Languages : en Pages : 564
Book Description
Expanded and updated, this second edition of a bestselling book challenges conventional entomological wisdom with the latest research and analytical interpretations. Encouraging independent evaluation of the data and allowing for the extrapolation of major concepts across species, this indispensable text establishes a thorough understanding of the
Author: K. H. Hoffmann Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media ISBN: 3642700209 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 304
Book Description
Of all the zoological classes the insects are the most numerous in species and the most varied in structure. Estimates of the number 18 of species vary from 1 to 10 million, and 10 individuals are es timated to be alive at any given moment. In their evolution, in sects are relatively ancient and, therefore, they have proved to be a phenomenally successful biological design which has survived unchanged in its basic winged form during the last 300 m. y. In sects were the first small animals to colonize the land with full suc cess. Their small size opened many more ecological niches to them and permitted a greater diversification than the vertebrates. What is it about this design that has made insects so successful in habitats stretching from arid deserts to the Arctic and Antarctic and from freshwater brooks to hot springs and salines? Is it due to the adapta bility of their behavior, physiology, and biochemistry to changing environmental conditions? Three features of insects are of particular importance in determin ing their physiological relationship with the environment: their small size, as mentioned above, the impermeability and rigidity of their exoskeleton, and their poikilothermy. Of course, as with any other animals, the insects' success in its environment depends on its ability to maintain its internal state within certain tolerable limits of temperature, osmotic pressure, pH or oxygen concentra tion (homoeostasis).
Author: Marc J Klowden Publisher: Academic Press ISBN: 0124159702 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 696
Book Description
Physiological Systems in Insects discusses the roles of molecular biology, neuroendocrinology, biochemistry, and genetics in our understanding of insects. All chapters in the new edition are updated, with major revisions to those covering swiftly evolving areas like endocrine, developmental, behavioral, and nervous systems. The new edition includes the latest details from the literature on hormone receptors, behavioral genetics, insect genomics, neural integration, and much more. Organized according to insect physiological functions, this book is fully updated with the latest and foundational research that has influenced understanding of the patterns and processes of insects and is a valuable addition to the collection of any researcher or student working with insects. There are about 10 quintillion insects in the world divided into more than one million known species, and some scientists believe there may be more than 30 million species. As the largest living group on earth, insects can provide us with insight into adaptation, evolution, and survival. The internationally respected third edition of Marc Klowden's standard reference for entomologists and researchers and textbook for insect physiology courses provides the most comprehensive analysis of the systems that make insects important contributors to our environment. Third edition has been updated with new information in almost every chapter and new figures Includes an extensive up-to-date bibliography in each chapter Provides a glossary of common entomological and physiological terms
Author: Steven L. Chown
Author: Jon F. Harrison
Author: Vonnie D.C. Shields
Author: 
Author: William H. Karasov
Author: Vincent B. Wigglesworth
Author: Hans Lambers
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Author: K. H. Hoffmann
Author: Marc J Klowden