ISBN : 9780199551675
Winner of the British Ecological Society's Marsh Book of the Year Award 2018
Temperature affects everything. It influences all aspects of the physical environment and governs any process that involves a flow of energy, setting boundaries on what an organism can or cannot do. This novel textbook reveals the key principles behind the complex relationship between organisms and temperature, namely the science of thermal ecology. It starts by providing a rigorous framework for understanding the flow of energy in and out of the organism, before describing the influence of temperature on what organisms can do and how fast they can do it. With these fundamental principles covered, the bulk of the book explores thermal ecology itself, incorporating the important extra dimension of interactions with other organisms. An entire chapter is devoted to the crucially important subject of how organisms are responding to climate change. Indeed, the threat of rapid climatic change on a global scale is a stark reminder of the challenges that remain for evolutionary thermal biologists, and adds a sense of urgency to this book's mission.
1: Introduction
2: Energy and heat
3: Temperature and its measurement
4: Energy flow in organisms
5: Water
6: Freezing
7: Temperature and reaction rate
8: Metabolism
9: Temperature regulation
10: Endothermy
11: Torpor and hibernation
12: The Metabolic Theory of Ecology
13: Temperature, growth and size
14: Global temperature and life
15: Temperature and diversity
16: Global climate change and its ecological consequences
17: Ten principles of thermal ecology
"This volume provides a foundation of knowledge for thermal ecologists, particularly those just entering the field." - The Quarterly Review of Biology
"This thoroughly researched and documented volume is the product of a life's work supports more student-friendly gee-whiz texts of physiology and ecology... There is no better way for getting comfortable with the arcane details than this. Highly recommended." - G. C. Stevens, CHOICE