Physiology of Cold Adaptation in Birds

Physiology of Cold Adaptation in Birds

Edited by Claus Bech and Randi Eidsmo Reinertsen

Publisher: Springer Science+Business Media, 1st ed., 1989

ISBN-10: 1475700334

ISBN-13: 978-1475700336

384 pages

The papers in this volume were presented at the NATO Advanced Workshop: Physiology of Cold Adaptation in Birds, held 10.-15. June, 1988, at Hotel Alexandra, Loen, Norway. The workshop was generously supported by the NATO Scientific Affairs Division, Brussel, Belgia (grant ARW 585/87). We are also grateful to the College of Science, University of Trondheim, Norway, for supporting the participation of students.

Most recent symposia and meetings dealing with thermoregulation in vertebrates have emphasized on mammalian studies, and this book seems to be the first one ever published which solely deals with thermoregulation in birds. Birds and mammals maintain their internal body temperature constant and independent of fluctuating ambient temperatures. The present knowledge of mammalian and avian thermoregulation is extensive, but major questions are still unanswered. Furthermore, birds differ from mammals in many fundamental physiological aspects. Thus, even though both mammals and birds regulate their body temperature within strictly defined limits, the mechanisms utilized by birds are often different from those used by mammals. Only by knowing the mechanisms underlying thermoregulation in both groups that regulate their body temperature, can we fully understand the basic mechanisms of thermoregulation in homeotherms.

The main themes for the workshop were central nervous control mechanisms regulating body temperature, the nature of effector mechanisms, including shivering and non-shivering thermogenesis, and also factors initiating changes in the effector mechanisms. We greatly appreciate, through the NATO Scientific Affair's Division, to have been able to organize such a workshop, and it is our hope that the publication of this book will stimulate further research in the field of avian thermoregulation.

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