Chris Merkord Posted October 8, 2012 Posted October 8, 2012 I'm just going through some materials I picked up at the NAOC-V in Vancouver and found the following that may be of interest to some on the community. A flier describing the new book by Tony D. Williams, titled Physiological Adaptations for Breeding in Birds. I haven't read the book so I can't offer any comments on it. Also included is a discount code for 20% off the list price (sale price is $55.60 / £39.20; regular price is $69.50 / £48.95). The code is P05091. Here's some info about the book from the publisher's website: 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. Tony D. Williams is a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Simon Fraser University. He is the author of The Penguins. Reviews: "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 "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
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.