Through its emphasis on recent research, its many summary tables, and its bibliography of more than 4,000 entries, this first modern, synthetic treatment of comparative amphibian environmental physiology emerges as the definitive reference for the field. Forty internationally respected experts review the primary data, examine current research trends, and identify productive avenues for future research.
This book provides a synthesis of current research on the unique physiological characteristics of amphibians with a particular emphasis on water balance. It includes a wealth of information on ecology, phylogeny and development. The latest experimental techniques and future research directions are also considered.
This text provides a synthesis of current research on the unique physiological characteristics of amphibians with a particular emphasis on water balance. It includes a wealth of information on ecology, phylogeny and development.
Despite their diversity, amphibians and reptiles share many physiological traits, such as their dependence on external heat sources for body temperature regulation, that are of pivotal importance to their ability to cope with the environment. Considerable variation in physiological capabilities exists in these groups and often can be related to seasonal and geographic differences in environmental parameters. This book provides a comprehensive and integrative view of the interplay between physiology and behavior in amphibians and reptiles, leading to a better understanding of the subject. The book covers topics that have recently been in the spotlight for scientific research on the physiology, behavior, and conservation of amphibians and reptiles. It brings together recent information from a range of disciplines that address critical topics for understanding their biology. As these studies are scattered across articles in specialized journals, this book provides a single and expanded source summarizing such advancements. Amphibian and Reptile Adaptations to the Environment: Interplay Between Physiology and Behavior maintains a solid scientific basis for the biological topics covered. However, it presents the material in a clear and direct manner so that it is accessible even to non-biologists interested in the basic biology, behavior, and ecology of these animals as well as how these elements are connected to their conservation.
Consisting of more than six thousand species, amphibians are more diverse than mammals and are found on every continent save Antarctica. Despite the abundance and diversity of these animals, many aspects of the biology of amphibians remain unstudied or misunderstood. The Ecology and Behavior of Amphibians aims to fill this gap in the literature on this remarkable taxon. It is a celebration of the diversity of amphibian life and the ecological and behavioral adaptations that have made it a successful component of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Synthesizing seventy years of research on amphibian biology, Kentwood D. Wells addresses all major areas of inquiry, including phylogeny, classification, and morphology; aspects of physiological ecology such as water and temperature relations, respiration, metabolism, and energetics; movements and orientation; communication and social behavior; reproduction and parental care; ecology and behavior of amphibian larvae and ecological aspects of metamorphosis; ecological impact of predation on amphibian populations and antipredator defenses; and aspects of amphibian community ecology. With an eye towards modern concerns, The Ecology and Behavior of Amphibians concludes with a chapter devoted to amphibian conservation. An unprecedented scholarly contribution to amphibian biology, this book is eagerly anticipated among specialists.
This new text provides a fresh approach to the subject of animal physiology, truly integrating comparative and environmental aspects for the first time. The book is divided into three sections: the first covers the basic principles of adaptation and problems of size and scale; the second tackles the key mechanisms in comparative physiology; and the third considers in detail how organisms (both vertebrate and invertebrate) cope with particular environments. Throughout this final section, relevant comparative aspects are given prominence in boxes so that interesting topics can be explored in greater depth. Several textbooks deal with the physiological functioning and comparative adaptations of animals, but this one is different: Includes both comparative systems physiology (basic principles and mechanisms of excretion, thermal biology, respiration, etc) and environmental physiology (problems of life in different habitats), with easy cross-reference between the two. Analyses and integrates problems and adaptations for each kind of environment: marine, seashore and estuary, freshwater, terrestrial and parasitic. For example, it explains how seashore animals survive both tidal submersion in cold salt water and exposure to warm dry air, cope with wide variations in salinity and temperature and achieve both aerial and underwater breathing. Examines mechanisms and responses beyond physiology. It analyses the costs of different types of locomotion, together with the mechanical challenges and varying sensory needs imposed by different environments. Behavioural responses to environmental challenges are considered, including the evolution of mating systems and life-history strategies, as well as responses to stresses imposed by humans. The book therefore integrates the biochemical, physiological, behavioral and ecological adaptations that allow animals to survive in particular environments. Applies an evolutionary perspective to the analysis of environmental adaptation. It introduces modern, phylogeny-based comparative methods that have become standard techniques in the analysis of evolutionary patterns. Provides modern molecular biological insights into the mechanistic basis of adaptation, and takes the level of analysis beyond the cell to the membrane, enzyme and gene. Incorporates more varied material from a wide range of animal types, with less of a focus purely on terrestrial reptiles, birds and mammals and more on the spectacularly successful strategies of invertebrates. This is a core text for modern undergraduate courses in animal physiology, comparative physiology, environmental physiology and physiological ecology. It is also suitable for the physiological components of any animal biology course, and a key resource for degree courses in environmental biology.
Physiology of the Amphibia, Volume II focuses on the various aspects of amphibian reproduction, both physiological and behavioral, and the interrelationship between these mechanisms and the environment. Organized into five chapters, the book begins with the integrative functions of the amphibian brain. It then describes the cytophysiology of the amphibian adenohypophysis, as well as their reproductive organs and associated sexual structures. It also discusses the physiology of the process of yolk formation, vitellogenesis. The reproductive and courtship patterns and intersexuality among amphibians are also described. This book will be useful to general biologists as a reference source and to students with interests in animal physiology.
Understanding the effects of environmental stressors includes identifying how stressors affect individual physiology and ecological communities. Considering carry-over effects, effects from one life-stage persisting into later life-stages, can further reduce the chances of under- or over-estimating the effects of environmental stressors. I investigated the effects of two environmental stressors on amphibian physiology across life-stages including direct and indirect effects. I first investigated road salt. Road salt, a de-icing agent used on highways, can spread up to 1km in wetlands during snowmelt. It may be particularly important for early breeding amphibians like wood frogs (Rana sylvatica). Road salt significantly increased larval frog growth and algal biomass which was likely due to an indirect effect of salt decreasing zooplankton abundance, an algal competitor of frogs. A second experiment found despite increased larval growth, exposure to road salt caused juvenile frogs to have higher mortality in low-density terrestrial environments. The second stressor I investigated was Artificial Light At Night (ALAN). ALAN reduced metamorphic duration of American toads (Anaxyrus americanus) and periphyton biomass but did not affect the colonization of toad predators. These results suggested the effects of ALAN are mediated through direct rather than indirect effects. Extending this experiment found juvenile growth was reduced by juvenile-stage exposure to ALAN. Increased juvenile activity, specifically the lack of suppressed nocturnal activity, likely reduced juvenile growth of individuals housed with ALAN. Furthermore, carry-over effects were also present; larval-stage ALAN marginally increased juvenile activity. In the final experiment, I added an additional stressor: predation. Predators reduced toad survival and mass, regardless of ALAN. This suggests ALAN did not increase predator consumption of toads. Neither predators nor ALAN affected corticosterone production in the tadpole or metamorph life-stages but larval-stage ALAN increased corticosterone production in juvenile toads. These experiments demonstrated environmental stressors can have direct and indirect effects. Furthermore, larval stage stressors can carry-over and affect later life-stages even if that stressor is no longer present. Future environmental stressor studies should investigate direct and indirect effects together and extend experiments beyond a single life-stage. As demonstrated here, failure to do so may under-estimated the effects of these environmental stressors.
Physiology of the Amphibia, Volume III consists of 10 chapters beginning with a discussion on amphibian color changes and the various aspects of the molting cycle. Possessing a skin more suitable for life in the water, the amphibians need to prevent excessive water loss from their body to the environment; hence, an additional mechanism for reducing the hazards of desiccation in many anuran species is described. This book also tackles the physiology of amphibian cells in culture. Furthermore, the animals' nervous, visual, and auditory systems; their immunity; and metamorphosis are explained in this text. This reference will be useful to general biologists and to students with interests in animal physiology.
ADVANCES IN COMPARATIVE AND ENVIRONMENTAL PHYSIOLOGY helps biologists, physiologists, and biochemists keep track of the extensive literature in thefield. Providing comprehensive, integrated reviews and sound, critical, and provocative summaries, this series is a must for all active researchers in environmental and comparative physiology. The present volume contains six reviews on: - Motile Activities of Fish Chromatophores. - Epithelial Transport of Heavy Metals. - Heavy Metal Cytotoxicity in Marine Organisms. - Comparative Pulmonary Morphology and Morphometry. - Molecular Adaptations in Resistance to Penicillins. - Molecular Adaptations of Enzymes From Thermophilic and Psychrophilic Organisms.
