Steven L. Chown and Sue W. Nicolson Oxford University Press (2004) pp. 254. ISBN 0-1985-1548-0 (hbk)/0-1985-1549-9 (pbk) £70.00 (hbk)/£32.50 (pbk)
In this slim volume, Chown and Nicolson lay out a broad and integrative view of physiological ecology. Entomophiles hoping for something comprehensive may be disappointed, because the book consists of just five topical chapters– on nutritional ecology and physiology, metabolism and gas exchange,water balance physiology, lethal temperature limits and thermoregulation. These five, however, are the bread and butter of most practising physiological ecologists. And rightly so, because they comprise the abiotic heart of the field. Fundamentally, insects are collections of cells controlling – or trying to control – fluxes of heat and material. The physiology, ecology and evolution of these fundamentals are what this book is about.
Historically, physiological ecologists have been preoccupied with elucidating how it works, how it varies within and among species and how that variation permits...
