Temperature Adaptation in a Changing Climate Nature at Risk

About this book

Cold adaptation is a much neglected field in the minds of climate change researchers and policy makers. However, increasing fluctuations in temperature means that the risk of cold stress will pose an increasing threat to both wild and cultivated plants and animals, with frost injury expected to cause devastating damage to crops on an increasingly large scale. Conversely, species already adapted to cold seasonality are declining in numbers and threatening both wildlife and human food sources. Thus, improving shared knowledge of the biological mechanisms of cold adaptation in plants and animals will help prevent major losses of crops and genetic resources in the future.

Temperature Adaptation in a Changing Climate is the first to focus on the mechanistic similarities between species in their responses to cold in a multi-organism approach that addresses the challenges and impacts of climate change on cold adaptation in micro-organisms (including pathogens), invertebrates, economically and scientifically important plants and vertebrates in both terrestrial and marine environments. Temperature Adaptation in a Changing Climate concludes with a focus on the interactions between organisms, exploring common mechanisms in cold adaptation and dormancy.

Contents

1. Introduction: Nature at risk
2. Temperature Perception and Signal Transduction - Mechanisms across Multiple Organisms
3. Microorganisms and Plants: a Photosynthetic Perspective
4. Insects
5. Temperature Adaptation in Changing Climate: Marine Fish and Invertebrates
6. Fish: Fresh Water Ecosystems
7. Strategies of Molecular Adaptation to Climate Change: the Challenges for Amphibians and Reptiles
8. The Relationship between Climate Warming and Hibernation in Mammals
9. On Thin Ice: Marine Mammals and Climate Change
10. Climate Change and Plant Diseases
11. Trees and Boreal Forests
12. Native and Woody Plants
13. Annual Field Crops
14. Perennial Field Crops
15. The Potential Impact of Climate Change on Temperate Zone Woody Perennial Crops
16. Temperature Adaptation Across Organisms

Customer Reviews