Download or read book Rodents in Desert Environments written by I. Prakash and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 636 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Evolution of Desert Adaptations. 190 A Comparison of Behavior Patterns. . 196 A Comparison of Behavior Patterns in: Meriones, Gerbillus and Perognathus . . . . . 210 Spacing and Communication 217 Acknowledgements 221 References . . . . . . . . 221 XI. Activity Patterns ofa Desert Rodent by N. R. FRENCH 225 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225 Methods. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226 The Microdosimeter and the Index of Activity. 227 Variation in Activity. . . . . . . . . . . . 229 Climatological Variables and Animal Activity . 229 Analysis . 232 Discussion 237 Summary 238 References 239 XII. Patterns of Food, Space and Diversity by M. L. ROSENZWEIG, BARBARA SMIGEL & A. KRAFT. 241 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . 241 Resource Allocation by Seed Selection 242 Habitat Selection in Space . . . . . 251 The Pattern of Local Species Diversity 260 Acknowledgements 266 References . . . . . . . . . . . . 266 XIII. Desert Coloration in Rodents by D. L. HARRISON. 269 Introduction . . . 269 Desert Coloration . 269 Acknowledgements 275 References . . . . 275 XIV. The Biology of so:me Desert-Dwelling Ground Squ- rels by A. C. HA WBECKER . 277 Introduction . 277 Reproduction. . . . . . 279 Food Habits . . . . . . 288 Population Characteristics 294 Habitat Factors . 297 References . . . . . . . 302 IX xv. Reproductive Biology of North ADlerican Desert Rodents by H. D. SMITH & C. D. JORGENSEN. 305 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305 Reproductive Biology: Species Summaries. . . 308 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328 XVI. Rodent Faunas and EnvironDlental Changes in the Pleistocene of Israel by E. TCHERNOV . . . . . . . 331 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331 The Main Biogeographical Changes in the Near-East since the Miocene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331 The Composition of the Rodents Faunas in the Pleistocene of Israel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336 The Main Ecological Changes in the Quarternary of Israel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Download or read book Biology of Desert Rodents written by and published by . This book was released on 1983 with total page 140 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Biology of Desert Rodents written by O. J. Reichman and published by . This book was released on 1983 with total page 134 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Spatial Ecology of Desert Rodent Communities written by Georgy I. Shenbrot and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rodents are conspicuous and important components of the desert biome. Many general concepts in modern community and behavioral ecology use them as a main model. This volume compiles and generalizes data on the spatial structure of desert rodent communities, taking into account both global (biogeographic) and local (ecological) patterns. It is based on studies of rodents in different deserts of the Northern Hemisphere (Karakum, Kyzylkum, Bet-Pak-Dala, Gobi, Thar, Chihuahua, Negev, and North Caspian deserts) as well as on a thorough analysis of the literature.
Download or read book Biology of Desert Invertebrates written by C. S. Crawford and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 329 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What little we know of the biology of desert invertebrates stems largely from inferences based on intensive and repeated observations. Such informa tion is not gained easily, since despite the actual abundance of these animals, relatively few of them are ever seen. In fact, except for species impacting on the well-being of human populations, historically most have been ignored by scholars in the western world. Indeed, it was ancient Egypt, with its reverence for the symbolism of the scarab, that probably provided us with the clearest early record of prominent desert types. A more modest resurgence of the story had to wait until the arrival of the present century. To be sure, some of the more obvious species had by then been elevated by European collectors to the level of drawing-room curios ities, and expeditions had returned large numbers to museums. But by 1900 the task of describing desert species and relationships among them was still in its infancy; and as for careful natural history studies, they too were just coming into their own.
Download or read book Spatial Ecology of Desert Rodent Communities written by Georgy I Shenbrot and published by . This book was released on 1999-04-01 with total page 310 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Rodent Societies written by Jerry O. Wolff and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2008-09-15 with total page 1255 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rodent Societies synthesizes and integrates the current state of knowledge about the social behavior of rodents, providing ecological and evolutionary contexts for understanding their societies and highlighting emerging conservation and management strategies to preserve them. It begins with a summary of the evolution, phylogeny, and biogeography of social and nonsocial rodents, providing a historical basis for comparative analyses. Subsequent sections focus on group-living rodents and characterize their reproductive behaviors, life histories and population ecology, genetics, neuroendocrine mechanisms, behavioral development, cognitive processes, communication mechanisms, cooperative and uncooperative behaviors, antipredator strategies, comparative socioecology, diseases, and conservation. Using the highly diverse and well-studied Rodentia as model systems to integrate a variety of research approaches and evolutionary theory into a unifying framework, Rodent Societies will appeal to a wide range of disciplines, both as a compendium of current research and as a stimulus for future collaborative and interdisciplinary investigations.
Download or read book Behavioural Adaptations of Desert Animals written by Giovanni Costa and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 205 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: After a brief survey of biotopic and vegetational features and an account of the main groups of desert animals, the most unusual patterns of the behaviour of the xerophilous fauna are examined. The importance of the thermohygric regulation and self-protective and locomotor mechanisms to the survival of arid-adapted animals is emphasized and various adaptations in the alimentary, reproductive and social spheres are analyzed. The clear and fluent treatment will awaken the interest of the reading public, from the amateur naturalists to research scientists.
Download or read book Ecophysiology of Small Desert Mammals written by Allan A. Degen and published by Springer. This book was released on 1997 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since small mammals have a large surface to mass ratio, one would expect them to quickly dehydrate and perish at high environmental temperatures. Nonetheless, a large number of small mammal species inhabit deserts. This fascinating phenomenon is investigated by Prof. A. Allan Degen in his book. The majority of small desert mammals are rodents, but shrews of several grams and small foxes of 1 kg are also present. Their survival is due mainly to behavioural adaptations and habitat selection, however, physiological adaptations also contribute to the success. Interestingly, many small mammals that live in different deserts of the world show similarities in their adaptive traits although they have different taxonomic affinities.
Download or read book Biology of Deserts written by Institute of Biology and published by . This book was released on 1954 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Environmental Physiology of Desert Organisms written by Neil F. Hadley and published by Dowden Hutchinson and Ross. This book was released on 1975 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Heat flux and the thermal regime of desert plants; Adaptations of desert lichens to drought and extreme temperatures; Dynamics of great basin shrub root systems; Environmental and plant factors influencing transpiration of desert plants; Coloration and its thermal consequences for diurnal desert insects. Thermoregulation and flight energetics of desert insects; Nitrogen excretion in arid-adapted amphibians; The water relations of two populations of noncaptive desert rodents.
Download or read book Dispersal Biology of Desert Plants written by Karen van Rheede van Oudtshoorn and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-03-09 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dispersal processes have important effects on plant distribution and abundance. Although adaptations to long range dispersal (telechory) are by no means rare in desert plants, many desert plant species do not possess any features to promote dispersal (atelechory), while others have structures that hamper dispersal (antitelechory). The high frequency with which atelechorous and antitelechorous mechanisms are present in plants inhabiting arid areas indicates the importance of these adaptations. Among the benefits derived from these adaptations are the spreading of germination over time, the provision of suitable conditions for germination and subsequent seedling establishment, and the maintenance of a reservoir of available seeds (seed bank). This book describes the ways and means - anatomical, morphological and ecological - by which dispersal in desert plants has evolved to ensure the survival of these species in their harsh and unpredictable environment.
Download or read book Adaptation to Desert Environment written by John P. Kirmiz and published by . This book was released on 1962 with total page 188 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Biology of Deserts written by David Ward and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2009 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This accessible text is suitable for both senior undergraduate and graduate students taking courses in desert ecology. It will also appeal to researchers new to the field and to the many professional ecologists and conservation practitioners requiring a concise but authoritative overview of this fascinating habitat."--BOOK JACKET.
Download or read book Rodents written by Girish Chopra and published by . This book was released on 1996 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Animals at the extremes The desert environment written by The Open University and published by The Open University. This book was released on with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This 14-hour free course looked at the survival strategies of desert dwelling animals according to their categories of evader, evaporator and endurer.
Download or read book Model Behavior of Non model Organisms written by Lauren A. Koenig and published by . This book was released on 2021 with total page 167 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Model organisms are useful tools for investigating generalities in biology and have greatly advanced current understanding of adaptive behavior. Yet Krogh's principle0́4that there exists specialized species most convenient for answering specific biological questions0́4suggests that non-model organisms may be best suited for identifying specific genetic and physiological underpinnings of behavior. In fact, non-model organisms with unique traits have been instrumental for examining the potential selective pressures and underlying genetic mechanisms of adaptive behavior. I present two groups of vertebrates, desert rodents and Osteoglossiformes fishes, as exemplary non-model organisms that support Krogh's principle and are particularly appropriate for the integrative study of predatory and reproductive behaviors, respectively. I first compare the history, benefits, and limitations of standard laboratory and nontraditional model species before describing the particular biological traits that make desert rodents and osteoglossiforms poised to be useful nontraditional model organisms. In Chapter 1, I analyze the predatory behavior of desert rodents and find that carnivorous grasshopper mice (Onychomys torridus) are the most persistent and efficient rodent predators of chemically defended beetles and undefended crickets. Their success is due to their attack behavior, even though they are exposed to the beetles' benzoquinone spray. These results suggest that grasshopper mice's predatory behavior enables them to potentially outcompete related rodents and occupy an obligately carnivorous dietary niche in the desert. In Chapter 2, I demonstrate that grasshopper mice are equally gustatorily sensitive and averse to benzoquinone as laboratory house mice (Mus musculus), but they also contain mutations in a sensory channel known to be activated by benzoquinone. Grasshopper mice and their relatives may therefore be informative models for exploring chemosensory mechanisms and optimal foraging theory. In Chapter 3, I review the diverse reproductive anatomy, morphology, and behavior of Osteoglossiformes fishes, and the role of sperm competition and sexual selection in shaping their reproductive adaptations. This review highlights the ways in which osteoglossiforms can be used as models for understanding reproductive diversity among teleost fish, as well as the evolution of body plan development, fertilization strategies, and parental care. I conclude with a discussion about how the results from this work provide new species-specific information and exemplify the ways in which these systems can be used within a comparative framework to contribute to biomedicine, conservation, and other broader biological topics. Advancements in the ability to link genes to behavior suggest that focusing on more diverse nontraditional model systems is an increasingly feasible way to expand comprehensive knowledge of adaptive behavior. This dissertation proposes that embracing exemplary species, such as grasshopper mice and Osteoglossiformes, is the next step for developing new investigations inspired from work using model species, and for capturing the complexity of natural variation within experimental research.
