"Temperature affects everything. It influences all aspects of the physical environment and governs any process that involves a flow of energy, setting boundaries on what an organism can or cannot do. This novel textbook explores the key principles behind the complex relationship between organisms and temperature, namely the science of thermal ecology. It starts providing a rigorous framework for understanding the nature of temperature and the flow of energy in and out of the organism, before describing the influence of temperature on what organisms can do, and how fast they can do it. Central to this is the relationship between temperature and metabolism, which then forms the basis for an exploration of the effects of temperature on growth and size. Two chapters cover first endothermy (including how this expensive lifestyle might have evolved), and then when and how this is suspended in torpor and hibernation. With these fundamental principles covered, the book's final section explores thermal ecology itself, incorporating the important extra dimension of interactions with other organisms. After an examination of the relationship between temperature, energy and diversity, an entire chapter is devoted to the crucially important subject of the nature of climate change and how organisms are responding to this. Throughout the book, emphasis is placed on the need for an understanding of the underlying physical mechanisms, and the important insights that can be gained from the historical and fossil record."--Provided by publisher.

Temperature affects everything. It influences all aspects of the physical environment and governs any process that involves a flow of energy, setting boundaries on what an organism can or cannot do. This novel textbook reveals the key principles behind the complex relationship between organisms and temperature, namely the science of thermal ecology. It starts by providing a rigorous framework for understanding the flow of energy in and out of the organism, before describing the influence of temperature on what organisms can do and how fast they can do it. With these fundamental principles covered, the bulk of the book explores thermal ecology itself, incorporating the important extra dimension of interactions with other organisms. An entire chapter is devoted to the crucially important subject of how organisms are responding to climate change. Indeed, the threat of rapid climatic change on a global scale is a stark reminder of the challenges that remain for evolutionary thermal biologists, and adds a sense of urgency to this book's mission.

Thoroughly revised and up-dated edition of a highly successful textbook.

Temperature impacts the behaviour, physiology and ecology of all organisms more than any other abiotic variable. In this book, the author draws on theory from the more general discipline of evolutionary ecology to foster a fresh approach toward a theory of thermal adaptation.