Preprints

Filtering by Subject: Physiology

Why do some fish grow faster than others?

Harriet Rose Goodrich, Timothy D Clark

Published: 2023-01-23
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Integrative Biology, Physiology

All animals must acquire food to grow, but there is a vast diversity in how different species and even different individuals approach and achieve this task. Individuals within a species appear to fall along a bold-shy continuum, whereby some fish acquire food aggressively and with seemingly high risk, while others appear more submissive and opportunistic. Greater food consumption generally [...]

When and how does photoinhibition matter for plant fitness?

Shan Kothari

Published: 2022-09-14
Subjects: Botany, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Physiology, Plant Biology, Plant Sciences, Population Biology, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology

The many biophysical factors that shape how plant species sort across environmental gradients may include photoinhibition, which I define broadly as oxidative damage that plants and other phototrophs risk incurring when they absorb excess light energy they cannot safely dissipate. Photoinhibition is seldom explicitly discussed as a potential driver of plant fitness and distributions. Here, I aim [...]

Evolution and impact of socially transferred materials

Sanja Maria Hakala, Haruna Fujioka, Ornela De Gasperin, et al.

Published: 2022-05-28
Subjects: Animal Sciences, Biodiversity, Bioinformatics, Cell and Developmental Biology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Genetics and Genomics, Life Sciences, Physiology, Systems Biology

Since the dawn of life, transfers of metabolized material between individuals have led to great innovations of evolution. When metabolized material is transferred from one individual’s body to another (as with sperm, eggs, milk, symbionts), secondary manipulative molecules that induce a physiological response in the receiver are often transferred along with the primary cargo. The bioactive and [...]

Hematological and Biochemical Reference Intervals of the Visayan Warty Pig in Negros Occidental, Philippines

Jacqueline Rose Tuale Alipo-on, Francesca Isabelle Escobar, Jemima Loise Novia, et al.

Published: 2022-03-25
Subjects: Animal Sciences, Biodiversity, Biology, Forest Biology, Forest Sciences, Laboratory and Basic Science Research Life Sciences, Life Sciences, Other Animal Sciences, Other Life Sciences, Physiology, Zoology

The Visayan warty pig is one of the endemic species of the Philippines that have been listed as "critically endangered." Conservation actions and efforts, such as health assessments, are being carried out to preserve the population. However, there is limited information about the normal hematological and biochemical profile of the species. The study presents reference intervals essential for [...]

Microclimate shifts in nest-boxes and natural cavities before, during and after nesting

Joanna Sudyka, Irene Di Lecce, Marta Szulkin

Published: 2022-01-17
Subjects: Animal Sciences, Biodiversity, Biology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Ornithology, Physiology, Population Biology

Animals breeding in anthropogenic shelters such as nest-boxes experience nesting environment in which they did not originally evolve. Over the past decades, they are additionally challenged by climate change – a major environmental force influencing their reproductive ecology. Despite the central importance of nesting microclimate for offspring development and fitness, very little is known about [...]

Adaptations and plastic phenotypic responses of marine animals to the environmental challenges of the high intertidal zone

Robine Helena Jannigje Leeuwis, Anthony Kurt Gamperl

Published: 2022-01-16
Subjects: Animal Sciences, Comparative and Evolutionary Physiology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Marine Biology, Physiology

The high intertidal zone is home to an incredible variety of marine animals, as it offers an escape from low intertidal/subtidal predation and competition, among other advantages. However, this area of the shore also comes with many tide-driven and emersion-associated environmental stressors, such as desiccation, high temperatures and freezing stress, hypoxia, salinity fluctuations, nitrogenous [...]

Latitudinal but not elevational variation in blood glucose level is linked to life history across passerine birds

Oldřich Tomášek, Lukáš Bobek, Tereza Kauzálová, et al.

Published: 2022-01-14
Subjects: Animal Sciences, Biology, Comparative and Evolutionary Physiology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Evolution, Integrative Biology, Life Sciences, Physiology, Zoology

Macrophysiological research is vital to our understanding of mechanisms underpinning global life history variation and adaptation under diverse environments. Birds represent an important model taxon in this regard, yet our knowledge is limited to only a few physiological traits, mostly studied in temperate and Neotropical species. Here, we examined latitudinal and elevational variation in an [...]

A rapidly expanding house of cards: the silent loss of cell physiology hampers marine biosciences

Frank Melzner, Imke Podbielski, Felix C Mark, et al.

Published: 2021-11-23
Subjects: Biochemistry, Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology, Cellular and Molecular Physiology, Comparative and Evolutionary Physiology, Life Sciences, Marine Biology, Physiology, Systems and Integrative Physiology Life Sciences

Perspective: An ongoing loss of expertise on the biochemistry and physiology of marine organisms hampers our understanding of biological mechanisms upon rapidly growing “-omics” approaches reply -ultimately affecting our ability to predict organismal responses to climate change.

Causes and consequences of variation in early-life telomere length in a bird metapopulation

Michael Le Pepke, Thomas Kvalnes, Peter Sjolte Ranke, et al.

Published: 2021-10-17
Subjects: Animal Sciences, Biology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Ornithology, Physiology

1. Environmental conditions during early-life development can have lasting effects on individual quality and fitness. Telomere length (TL) may correlate with early-life conditions and may be an important mediator or biomarker of individual quality or pace-of-life, as periods of increased energy demands can increase telomere attrition due to oxidative stress. Thus, knowledge of the mechanisms that [...]

Functions for simulating data and designing studies of physiological flexibility in the acute glucocorticoid response to stressors.

Conor Taff

Published: 2021-09-16
Subjects: Biology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Endocrinology, Integrative Biology, Life Sciences, Physiology

Wild animals often experience unpredictable challenges that demand rapid and flexible responses. The glucocorticoid mediated stress response is one of the major systems that allows vertebrates to rapidly adjust their physiology and behavior. Given its role in responding to challenges, evolutionary physiologists have focused on the consequences of between-individual and, more recently, [...]

Why do many parasitoids lack adult triglyceride accumulation, despite functioning fatty acid biosynthesis machinery?

Bertanne Visser, Cécile Le Lann, Caroline M. Nieberding, et al.

Published: 2021-08-25
Subjects: Biology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Entomology, Life Sciences, Physiology

Lipid reserves are a major energy source and play a key role in survival and reproduction. Lipid accumulation is a conserved metabolic pattern in insects, yet in most parasitoid species no adult lipid mass gain takes place, even when nutrients are consumed ad libitum. This deviating metabolic phenotype has evolved repeatedly in phylogenetically dispersed parasitoid species, and forms a conundrum [...]

Social capital: an independent dimension of healthy ageing

Cédric Sueur, Martin Quque, Alexandre Naud, et al.

Published: 2021-05-25
Subjects: Animal Sciences, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Evolution, Life Sciences, Medicine and Health Sciences, Other Social and Behavioral Sciences, Physiology, Public Health, Research Methods in Life Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Zoology

Resources that are embedded in social relationships, such as shared knowledge, access to food, services, social support or cooperation, are all examples of social capital. Social capital is recognized as an important age-related mediator of health in humans and of fitness-related traits in animals. A rich social capital in humans can slow senescence and reverse age-related deficits. Animals have [...]

Repeatability of endocrine traits and dominance rank in female guinea pigs

Taylor Lynne Rystrom, Romy C. Prawitt, S. Helene Richter, et al.

Published: 2021-03-11
Subjects: Behavior and Ethology, Comparative and Evolutionary Physiology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Physiology

Background Glucocorticoids (e.g. cortisol) are associated with variation in social behavior, and previous studies have linked baseline as well as challenge-induced glucocorticoid concentrations to dominance status. It is known that cortisol response to an acute challenge is repeatable and correlates to social behavior in males of many mammal species. However, it is unclear whether these patterns [...]

Maturation in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar, Salmonidae): a synthesis of ecological, genetic, and molecular processes

Kenyon Mobley, Tutku Aykanat, Yann Czorlich, et al.

Published: 2020-11-10
Subjects: Behavior and Ethology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Evolution, Genetics, Genetics and Genomics, Genomics, Life Sciences, Physiology, Population Biology

Over the past decades, Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar, Salmonidae) has emerged as a model system for sexual maturation research, owing to the high diversity of life history strategies, knowledge of trait genetic architecture, and their high economic value. The aim of this synthesis is to summarize the current state of knowledge concerning maturation in Atlantic salmon, outline knowledge gaps, and [...]

Rapid-warming tolerance correlates with tolerance to slow warming but not growth at non-optimal temperatures in zebrafish

Eirik Ryvoll Åsheim, Anna H. Andreassen, Rachael Morgan, et al.

Published: 2020-05-09
Subjects: Comparative and Evolutionary Physiology, Life Sciences, Physiology

Global warming is predicted to increase both acute and prolonged thermal challenges for aquatic ectotherms. Severe short and medium-term thermal stress over hours to days may cause mortality, while longer sub-lethal thermal challenges may cause performance declines. The interrelationship between the responses to short, medium and longer thermal challenges is unresolved. We asked if the same [...]

search

You can search by:

  • Title
  • Keywords
  • Author Name
  • Author Affiliation