The Physiological Ecology of Vertebrates. A View from Energetics.
Brian K. McNab
Physiological ecology has grown in importance as an area of biology in the past thirty years and integrates the diverse approaches used in the comparative biology of organisms. Biologists segregate their approaches by technique and concept, but the boundaries among ecology, behavior, anatomy, and physiology are arbitrary and of no significance to organisms. Physiological ecology emphasizes the diversity of not only organisms, but also of solutions to (and evasions of) problems posed by the environment.
In a comprehensive and authoritative synthesis of physiological ecology supported by more than 3,100 references, Brian K. McNab demonstrates the intellectual cohesion of the field. To ground his discussion in clearly understood contexts, McNab emphasizes the common thread of energy expenditure throughout the text and limits the discussion to vertebrates, which have familiar habitats and comparatively well-known evolutionary histories.
A thorough scientific resource and reference tool, Physiological Ecology of Vertebrates is the first book to cover this complex subject. It will be the standard reference and basis for much future research in this fast-growing field of study.
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About Brian K. McNab
Reviews for The Physiological Ecology of Vertebrates. A View from Energetics.
Journal of Mammalogy
As stated in the foreword by James Brown, this book is a 'masterful synthesis of the current state of physiological ecology.' In addition, delightfully, it is interestingly presented and very readable; in fact, once into a section it is hard to put down.... Strongly recommended for university libraries, and to upper-division undergraduates, graduate zoology majors, and professionals in this or related areas.
Choice
Brian McNab is a giant in the field of ecological energetics and has influenced most current researchers in the field, whether they want to admit it or not... The Physiological ecology of vertebrates is a wondeful reference, and I highly recommend it. Researchers and teachers active in the field should have a copy of this on their shelves. I read this book from cover to cover, forfeiting pulp-fiction reading over the summer. I do not regret it at all.
Ecology
NcNab redresses a perceived absense of a theoretical framework with a comparative, inductive approach to studying vertebrate evolution and ecology... Suitable for advanced students and researchers in the biological and ecological sciences.
Book News
This is a scholarly book that is accessible at many levels to undergraduates, graduates, and professionals. It also seems to be unique in its field. It is quite interesting and is highly recommended for all research libraries collecting in the biological sciences.
Susan Kendall
E-Streams
This work is indeed a major compilation, and synthesis of a subject badly in need of such attention. I predict that it will stand as an important reference work for decades. By sheer weight of its authority, it is not useful as an undergraduate text but with nonetheless be valued by those who teach the subject for coverage of concepts and empirical illustrations.
Eric T. Schultz
Copeia