The Flexible Phenotype

The Flexible Phenotype PDF Author: Theunis Piersma
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199233721
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 249

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Book Description
In essence, the authors argue for the existence of direct, measurable, links between phenotype and ecology.

The Flexible Phenotype

The Flexible Phenotype PDF Author: Theunis Piersma
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199233721
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 249

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Book Description
In essence, the authors argue for the existence of direct, measurable, links between phenotype and ecology.

Developmental Plasticity and Evolution

Developmental Plasticity and Evolution PDF Author: Mary Jane West-Eberhard
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0198028563
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 815

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Book Description
The first comprehensive synthesis on development and evolution: it applies to all aspects of development, at all levels of organization and in all organisms, taking advantage of modern findings on behavior, genetics, endocrinology, molecular biology, evolutionary theory and phylogenetics to show the connections between developmental mechanisms and evolutionary change. This book solves key problems that have impeded a definitive synthesis in the past. It uses new concepts and specific examples to show how to relate environmentally sensitive development to the genetic theory of adaptive evolution and to explain major patterns of change. In this book development includes not only embryology and the ontogeny of morphology, sometimes portrayed inadequately as governed by "regulatory genes," but also behavioral development and physiological adaptation, where plasticity is mediated by genetically complex mechanisms like hormones and learning. The book shows how the universal qualities of phenotypes--modular organization and plasticity--facilitate both integration and change. Here you will learn why it is wrong to describe organisms as genetically programmed; why environmental induction is likely to be more important in evolution than random mutation; and why it is crucial to consider both selection and developmental mechanism in explanations of adaptive evolution. This book satisfies the need for a truly general book on development, plasticity and evolution that applies to living organisms in all of their life stages and environments. Using an immense compendium of examples on many kinds of organisms, from viruses and bacteria to higher plants and animals, it shows how the phenotype is reorganized during evolution to produce novelties, and how alternative phenotypes occupy a pivotal role as a phase of evolution that fosters diversification and speeds change. The arguments of this book call for a new view of the major themes of evolutionary biology, as shown in chapters on gradualism, homology, environmental induction, speciation, radiation, macroevolution, punctuation, and the maintenance of sex. No other treatment of development and evolution since Darwin's offers such a comprehensive and critical discussion of the relevant issues. Developmental Plasticity and Evolution is designed for biologists interested in the development and evolution of behavior, life-history patterns, ecology, physiology, morphology and speciation. It will also appeal to evolutionary paleontologists, anthropologists, psychologists, and teachers of general biology.

Eco-evolutionary Dynamics

Eco-evolutionary Dynamics PDF Author: Andrew P. Hendry
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691204179
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 410

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Book Description
In recent years, scientists have realized that evolution can occur on timescales much shorter than the 'long lapse of ages' emphasized by Darwin - in fact, evolutionary change is occurring all around us all the time. This work provides an authoritative and accessible introduction to eco-evolutionary dynamics, a cutting-edge new field that seeks to unify evolution and ecology into a common conceptual framework focusing on rapid and dynamic environmental and evolutionary change.

Phenotypic Plasticity

Phenotypic Plasticity PDF Author: Thomas J. DeWitt
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0195138961
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 262

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Book Description
Genetic, evolution, adaptation, environment, genotype.

The Flexible Economy

The Flexible Economy PDF Author: Tony Killick
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134816448
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 428

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Book Description
The accelerating pace of global change demands that economies must be adaptable. Economies which are flexible flourish, as in Eastern Asia. Inflexible economies stagnate, as in Eastern Europe and Africa. However even though adaptability governs the long-term progress of economies, economists have had little to say about the nature and determinants of economic flexibility. This book redresses that situation. A prestigious team of contributors address the key theoretical and empirical issues, using a wide range of country studies.

Organism and Environment

Organism and Environment PDF Author: Sonia E. Sultan
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199587078
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 241

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Book Description
Over the past decade, advances in both molecular developmental biology and evolutionary ecology have made possible a new understanding of organisms as dynamic systems interacting with their environments. This innovative book synthesizes a wealth of recent research findings to examine how environments influence phenotypic expression in individual organisms (ecological development or 'eco-devo'), and how organisms in turn alter their environments (niche construction). A key argument explored throughout the book is that ecological interactions as well as natural selection are shaped by these dual organism-environment effects. This synthesis is particularly timely as biologists seek a unified contemporary framework in which to investigate the developmental outcomes, ecological success, and evolutionary prospects of organisms in rapidly changing environments. Organism and Environment is an advanced text suitable for graduate level students taking seminar courses in ecology, evolution, and developmental biology, as well as academics and researchers in these fields.

Encyclopedia of Entomology

Encyclopedia of Entomology PDF Author: John L. Capinera
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9781402062421
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 4346

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Book Description
This text brings together fundamental information on insect taxa, morphology, ecology, behavior, physiology, and genetics. Close relatives of insects, such as spiders and mites, are included.

Genetic Constraints on Adaptive Evolution

Genetic Constraints on Adaptive Evolution PDF Author: Volker Loeschcke
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3642727700
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 192

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Book Description
Genetic constraints on adaptive evolution can be understood as those genetic aspects that prevent or reduce the potential for natural selection to result in the most direct ascent of the mean phenotype to an optimum. The contributions to this volume emphasize how genetic aspects in the transmission of traits constrain adaptive evolution. Approaches span from quantitative, population, ecological to molecular genetics. Much attention is devoted to genetic correlations, to the maintenance of quantitative genetic variation, and to the intimate relation between genetics, ecology, and evolution. This volume addresses all evolutionary biologists and explains why they should be wary of evolutionary concepts that base arguments purely on phenotypic characteristics.

Developmental Plasticity and Evolution

Developmental Plasticity and Evolution PDF Author: Mary Jane West-Eberhard
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 9780195122350
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 820

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Book Description
West-Eberhard is widely recognized as one of the most incisive thinkers in evolutionary biology. This book assesses all the evidence for our current understanding of the role of changes in body plan and development for the process of speciation. The process of evolution is systematically reassessed to integrate the insights coming from developmental genetics. Every serious student of evolution, and a substantial share of developmental biologists and geneticists, will need to take note of this contribution. The timing is clearly ripe for the synthesis that this work will help bring about.

Ecology and Evolution of Livebearing Fishes (Poeciliidae)

Ecology and Evolution of Livebearing Fishes (Poeciliidae) PDF Author: Gary K. Meffe
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 488

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Book Description