Ecophysiology of Small Desert Mammals
Author : Allan A Degen
Publisher :
Page : 316 pages
File Size : 49,88 MB
Release : 1996-12-03
Category :
ISBN : 9783642603525
Author : Allan A Degen
Publisher :
Page : 316 pages
File Size : 49,88 MB
Release : 1996-12-03
Category :
ISBN : 9783642603525
Author : Allan A. Degen
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
Page : 308 pages
File Size : 15,41 MB
Release : 2012-12-06
Category : Science
ISBN : 3642603513
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.
Author : Richard T. Wilson
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
Page : 129 pages
File Size : 39,41 MB
Release : 2012-12-06
Category : Science
ISBN : 3642744834
I have spent less time in the arid zone in the last few years than I did during the 1960's, 1970's and early 1980's. This results from a progression through age and a career structure which gradually shifted the emphasis of my work from being essentially field-oriented to essentially office-hound. When, therefore, I was asked by John Cloudsley-Thompson to undertake the writing of this hook I hesitated for two reasons. One reason was that, although I now had access to good library facilities and kept up with the literature on the arid zones and their fauna, I was not sure that a sedentary and pleasant life in a temperate highland island in tropieal Africa would provide a mental attitude suitable to writing a hook which related to areas where life is usually nomadie and often extremely disagreeable. The other reason was that I was uncertain whether I could devote the time necessary to researehing and writing the hook on top of my professional (which now specifical ly excluded research in the arid zones and on camels) and social (new-found and time-consuming) commitments. In the event I accepted and the fates were kind to me. By some peculiar combination of circumstances I was given the opportunity to spend a considerable part of the first half of 1988 in some of the driest areas of the globe. I had already visited all of the locations used for the construction of Fig. 2.
Author : Pulak K. Ghosh
Publisher :
Page : 492 pages
File Size : 48,38 MB
Release : 1988
Category : Nature
ISBN :
Author : Nikos Paragios
Publisher : Springer
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 30,12 MB
Release : 2008-11-01
Category : Computers
ISBN : 9780387508061
Abstract Biological vision is a rather fascinating domain of research. Scientists of various origins like biology, medicine, neurophysiology, engineering, math ematics, etc. aim to understand the processes leading to visual perception process and at reproducing such systems. Understanding the environment is most of the time done through visual perception which appears to be one of the most fundamental sensory abilities in humans and therefore a significant amount of research effort has been dedicated towards modelling and repro ducing human visual abilities. Mathematical methods play a central role in this endeavour. Introduction David Marr's theory v^as a pioneering step tov^ards understanding visual percep tion. In his view human vision was based on a complete surface reconstruction of the environment that was then used to address visual subtasks. This approach was proven to be insufficient by neuro-biologists and complementary ideas from statistical pattern recognition and artificial intelligence were introduced to bet ter address the visual perception problem. In this framework visual perception is represented by a set of actions and rules connecting these actions. The emerg ing concept of active vision consists of a selective visual perception paradigm that is basically equivalent to recovering from the environment the minimal piece information required to address a particular task of interest.
Author : I. Prakash
Publisher : Scientific Publishers
Page : 153 pages
File Size : 33,83 MB
Release : 2005-06-01
Category : Technology & Engineering
ISBN : 9387741583
Small mammals (Rodents and Insectivores) constitute 31.18% of total mammal species found in India. In spite of their abundance, this largest group among mammals has received little attention of ecologists. From the geomorphological standpoint Rajasthan offers multiple possibilities. The Aravallis diagonally bisect the state into western arid and eastern semi-arid and mesic zones. The southern and southeastern parts of state have various rock systems. Present book is an endeavour to cover small mammals of the whole state. The book is first of its kind in India, which takes into account habitat preference, food and feeding behaviour, home range, activity pattern, reproductive behaviour, biochemical communication and physiology of small mammals of desert and hilly terrain. It also includes zoogeography of small mammals found in Rajasthan and changes in faunistic composition being brought by canal and tube well irrigation. It is expected that book will be quite useful for students, researchers, and teachers of Ecology and Zoology.
Author : Giovanni Costa
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
Page : 205 pages
File Size : 40,82 MB
Release : 2012-12-06
Category : Science
ISBN : 3642793568
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.
Author : Stanley D. Smith
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
Page : 287 pages
File Size : 36,31 MB
Release : 2012-12-06
Category : Science
ISBN : 3642592120
Following a description of the physical and biological characterization of the four North American deserts together with the primary adaptations of plants to environmental stress, the authors go on to present case studies of key species. They provide an up-to-date and comprehensive review of the major patterns of adaptation in desert plants, with one chapter devoted to several important exotic plants that have invaded these deserts. The whole is rounded off with a synthesis of the resource requirements of desert plants and how they may respond to global climate change.
Author : Gerald E. Wickens
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
Page : 348 pages
File Size : 20,80 MB
Release : 2013-04-17
Category : Science
ISBN : 3662037009
This book deals with arid and semi-arid environments and their classification, and the physiological restraints and adaptations of plants to the environment. Further, it discusses economic botany and the needs and methods of conserving economic plants. A broad view is taken regarding the definition of economic plants, taking into account their value to the environment as well as to man and to livestock. The individual deserts and associated semi-arid regions are described in separate chapters, providing background information on the regional environments in terms of climate and major plant formations. The economic plants within these formations, their usages, geographical distribution together with their morphological and physiological adaptations are treated in detail.
Author : Stan Lee Lindstedt
Publisher :
Page : 132 pages
File Size : 32,80 MB
Release : 1977
Category : Mammals
ISBN :