Physiological Adaptations for Breeding in Birds - Hardcover

Williams, Tony D.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0691139822 ISBN 13: 9780691139821

Publisher: Princeton University Press, 2012

Synopsis

Physiological Adaptations for Breeding in Birds is the most current and comprehensive account of research on avian reproduction. It develops two unique themes: the consideration of female avian reproductive physiology and ecology, and an emphasis on individual variation in life-history traits. Tony Williams investigates the physiological, metabolic, energetic, and hormonal mechanisms that underpin individual variation in the key female-specific reproductive traits and the trade-offs between these traits that determine variation in fitness.

The core of the book deals with the avian reproductive cycle, from seasonal gonadal development, through egg laying and incubation, to chick rearing. Reproduction is considered in the context of the annual cycle and through an individual's entire life history. The book focuses on timing of breeding, clutch size, egg size and egg quality, and parental care. It also provides a primer on female reproductive physiology and considers trade-offs and carryover effects between reproduction and other life-history stages. In each chapter, Williams describes individual variation in the trait of interest and the evolutionary context for trait variation. He argues that there is only a rudimentary, and in some cases nonexistent, understanding of the physiological mechanisms that underpin individual variation in the major reproductive life-history traits, and that research efforts should refocus on these key unresolved problems by incorporating detailed physiological studies into existing long-term population studies, generating a new synthesis of physiology, ecology, and evolutionary biology.

About this title

About the Author:

Tony D. Williams is a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Simon Fraser University. He is the author of The Penguins.

Review:

"I am considering buying six copies of Physiological Adaptations for Breeding in Birds--one for each of my graduate students and one for my post-doc--for their forthcoming birthdays. That way they will all have their copies for next fall's discussion class, 'Topics in physiology,' when we will read and discuss Tony Williams' excellent contribution to the field."---Stephan J. Schoech, Ecology

"This important book comes from one of the leaders in the field of reproductive physiology. It will be of value to anyone interested in the physiology of birds from an evolutionary perspective."---Joseph B. Williams, Ohio State University,

"[T]his book provides an engaging and wide-ranging discussion of physiological mechanisms of life-history traits, all the more invaluable in that no other work covers this subject in such detail."---Sacha Haywood, Ibis

"The book is clearly written, if highly technical, and is extremely detailed and painstakingly referenced. Those interested in reproductive biology will find it an invaluable resource." (Choice)

"With exceptional writing, this timely and well-researched book thoroughly synthesizes what is known about the reproduction of birds. It will be required reading for students of the field for a long time to come."---Ignacio Moore, Virginia Tech,

About this edition

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0691139822
• ISBN 13: 9780691139821
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 392