Author: Anthony Herrel
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1420001590
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 351
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Book Description
We live in a well-engineered universe. This engineering is present in every system and organism in existence, including in the actions and interactions of plants and animals. In fact, one could say that the function and movement of plants and animals is just as much a part of their makeup as chlorophyll and fiber or bone and blood. Consequently, if
Author: Graham K. Taylor
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0198566379
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 171
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Book Description
Recent research in biomechanics is increasingly revealing a set of special cases where universal physical laws constrain the trajectories and, more controversially, even the endpoints of the evolutionary process. For the first time this book brings together a broad range of examples from the latest research in evolutionary biomechanics to examine this phenomenon. Each chapter follows a similar theme, dealing first with the underlying physics and then examining the biological responses to selection. Examples of convergent evolution are used to analyse the nature of the trajectories of adaptation during the progressive approach towards a physically defined optimum. This advanced textbook is suitable for graduate level students as well as professional researchers in the fields of biomechanics, physiology, evolutionary biology and palaeontology. It will also be of relevance and use to researchers in the physical sciences and engineering.
Author: Mark Denny
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691163154
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 531
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Book Description
An in-depth exploration of how biomechanics and ecology work together Plants and animals interact with each other and their surroundings, and these interactions—with all their complexity and contingency—control where species can survive and reproduce. In this comprehensive and groundbreaking introduction to the emerging field of ecological mechanics, Mark Denny explains how the principles of physics and engineering can be used to understand the intricacies of these remarkable relationships. Denny opens with a brief review of basic physics before introducing the fundamentals of diffusion, fluid mechanics, solid mechanics, and heat transfer, taking care to explain each in the context of living organisms. Why are corals of different shapes on different parts of a reef? How can geckos climb sheer walls? Why can birds and fish migrate farther than mammals? How do desert plants stay cool? The answers to these and a host of similar questions illustrate the principles of heat, mass, and momentum transport and set the stage for the book's central topic—the application of these principles in ecology. Denny shows how variations in the environment—in both space and time—affect the performance of plants and animals. He introduces spectral analysis, a mathematical tool for quantifying the patterns in which environments vary, and uses it to analyze such subjects as the spread of invasive species. Synthesizing the book’s materials, the final chapters use ecological mechanics to predict the occurrence and consequences of extreme ecological events, explain the emergence of patterns in the distribution and abundance of organisms, and empower readers to explore further. Ecological Mechanics offers new insights into the physical workings of organisms and their environment.
Author: Anthony Herrel
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1040200842
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 357
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Book Description
We live in a well-engineered universe. This engineering is present in every system and organism in existence, including in the actions and interactions of plants and animals. In fact, one could say that the function and movement of plants and animals is just as much a part of their makeup as chlorophyll and fiber or bone and blood. Consequently, if
Author: Anja Geitmann
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319790994
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 436
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Book Description
This book provides important insights into the operating principles of plants by highlighting the relationship between structure and function. It describes the quantitative determination of structural and mechanical parameters, such as the material properties of a tissue, in correlation with specific features, such as the ability of the tissue to conduct water or withstand bending forces, which will allow advanced analysis in plant biomechanics. This knowledge enables researchers to understand the developmental changes that occur in plant organs over their life span and under the influence of environmental factors. The authors provide an overview of the state of the art of plant structure and function and how they relate to the mechanical behavior of the organism, such as the ability of plants to grow against the gravity vector or to withstand the forces of wind. They also show the sophisticated strategies employed by plants to effect organ movement and morphogenesis in the absence of muscles or cellular migration. As such, this book not only appeals to scientists currently working in plant sciences and biophysics, but also inspires future generations to pursue their own research in this area.
Author: Roland Ennos
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691135509
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 266
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Book Description
Offering a review of the biomechanical design of organisms, from bacteria onwards, this book shows how the bodies of animals & plants are masterpieces of engineering, enabling them to survive in a hostile world.
Author: Robert Dudley
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691186340
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 497
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Book Description
From the rain forests of Borneo to the tenements of Manhattan, winged insects are a conspicuous and abundant feature of life on earth. Here, Robert Dudley presents the first comprehensive explanation of how insects fly. The author relates the biomechanics of flight to insect ecology and evolution in a major new work of synthesis. The book begins with an overview of insect flight biomechanics. Dudley explains insect morphology, wing motions, aerodynamics, flight energetics, and flight metabolism within a modern phylogenetic setting. Drawing on biomechanical principles, he describes and evaluates flight behavior and the limits to flight performance. The author then takes the next step by developing evolutionary explanations of insect flight. He analyzes the origins of flight in insects, the roles of natural and sexual selection in determining how insects fly, and the relationship between flight and insect size, pollination, predation, dispersal, and migration. Dudley ranges widely--from basic aerodynamics to muscle physiology and swarming behavior--but his focus is the explanation of functional design from evolutionary and ecological perspectives. The importance of flight in the lives of insects has long been recognized but never systematically evaluated. This book addresses that shortcoming. Robert Dudley provides an introduction to insect flight that will be welcomed by students and researchers in biomechanics, entomology, evolution, ecology, and behavior.
Author: Stephen M. Reilly
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521833585
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 560
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Book Description
Originally published in 2006, this book was the first critical review of the effects of lizard foraging modes in 30 years.
Author: Karl J. Niklas
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226586316
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 630
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Book Description
In this book, the author analyzes plant form and how it has evolved in response to basic physical laws. He examines the ways these laws limit the organic expression of form, size, and growth in a variety of plant structures and in plants as whole organisms, drawing on both the fossil record and studies of extant species.
Author: Arturo N. Natali
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 020351484X
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 290
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Book Description
Dental Biomechanics provides a comprehensive, timely, and wide-reaching survey of the relevant aspects of biomechanical investigation within the dental field. Leading the reader through the mechanical analysis of dental problems in dental implants, orthodontics, and natural tooth mechanics, this book covers an increasingly important and popular sub
