Animals and Environments: Proceedings of the Third International Conference of Comparative Physiology and Biochemistry Held in Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa Between 7 and 13 August 2004 (International Congress S.)

This volume collects selected papers from the 3rd ICCPB in Africa: Animals and Environments. A wide and integrated discussion of how animals persist in their normal habitats aims to improve our appreciation of animal interaction with, and response to, environment. In a time of persistent reductionism in biological studies, the collected papers discuss both breadth and depth of adaptive animal biology from more holistic perspectives. The discussion ranges from unicellular organisms to whole animals. Themes include; molecular bases of physiological response to hypoxia and the role of hypoxia inducible factors; adaptive mechanisms of ion homeostasis in crustaceans, signaling and respiration in insects; aspects of metal contamination; extremes of temperature and water availability; foraging, predation, and the acquisition of food; in the light of specific environmental demands. This volume will be of specific interest researchers in the field of adaptive molecular and evolutionary physiology and biochemistry. Biologists interested in how animals respond to their environment - be it with a molecular, physiological or ecological emphasis will find the breath of issues both stimulating and informative. "Animals and Environments" collates works in Comparative and Evolutionary Physiology and Biochemistry - covering a range of subject material and approaches seldom brought together in a single volume.