Environmental Stress, Adaptation and Evolution: 83 (Experientia Supplementum, 83) - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 3764356952 ISBN 13: 9783764356958

Publisher: Birkhäuser, 1997

Synopsis

Most organisms and populations have to cope with hostile environments, threatening their existence. Their ability to respond phenotypically and genetically to these challenges and to evolve adaptive mechanisms is, therefore, crucial. The contributions to this book aim at understanding, from a evolutionary perspective, the impact of stress on biological systems. Scientists, applying different approaches spanning from the molecular and the protein level to individuals, populations and ecosystems, explore how organisms adapt to extreme environments, how stress changes genetic structure and affects life histories, how organisms cope with thermal stress through acclimation, and how environmental and genetic stress induce fluctuating asymmetry, shape selection pressure and cause extinction of populations. Finally, it discusses the role of stress in evolutionary change, from stress induced mutations and selection to speciation and evolution at the geological time scale. The book contains reviews and novel scientific results on the subject. It will be of interest to both researchers and graduate students and may serve as a text for graduate courses.

About this title

Synopsis

Most orgnisms and populations have to cope with hostile environments, which may threaten their existence. Their ability to respond phenotypically and genetically to these challenges and to evolve adaptive mechanisms is therefore crucial. The aim of this text is the understanding of the impact of stress on biological systems, from an evolutionary perspective. It discusses how organisms adapt to extreme environments, how stress affects life histories and changes genetic structure, how organisms cope with thermal stress through acclimatization, and how environmental and genetic stress induces fluctuating asymmetry, shapes selection pressures and causes extinction of populations. These topics are discussed through a variety of approaches, from the molecular and the protein level to individuals, populations, and ecosystems. The text also considers the role of stress in evolutionary change, from stress-induced mutations to selection, speciation and evolution on the geological time scale.

Edition details

• Publisher: Birkhäuser
• Publication date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 3764356952
• ISBN 13: 9783764356958
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 326
• Editor: Bijlsma K., Loeschcke Volker