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Avian Physiological Ecology

This is an article collection published in Avian Research.

Edited by: Dongming Li, Jesse S. Krause, Shuping Zhang, Jinsong Liu

Over recent decades, the field of avian physiology has flourished, which provided exceptional opportunities to explore the diversity of adaptive strategies of animal physiological ecology. As a group of endothermic vertebrates, birds (the class Aves) have a unique suite of adaptive traits for the powered flight that includes a complex respiratory system, higher metabolic rate, more effective antioxidant system, etc. Aves is one of the most prosperous amniotes (totaling over 10,000 species) in the world and can be found in all kinds of habitats from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Despite our substantial growth in knowledge, there are still many questions that have not yet been answered in the field of physiological ecology. This thematic series is focusing on how free-living birds have undergone adaptive changes in their physiology in response to selective pressures imposed by their environment to maximize fitness. The coverage includes, but is not limited to, the following research topics: environmental neuroendocrinology, metabolism and thermal biology, comparative physiological ecology, etc.

Published articles in this collection

  1. Plastic waste and debris have caused substantial environmental pollution globally in the past decades, and they have been accumulated in hundreds of terrestrial and aquatic avian species. Birds are susceptible...

    Authors: Limin Wang, Ghulam Nabi, Liyun Yin, Yanqin Wang, Shuxin Li, Zhuang Hao and Dongming Li
    Citation: Avian Research 2021 12:59
    Content type: Review Published on:

  2. In high latitude grassland habitats, altricial nestlings hatching in open-cup nests early in the breeding season must cope with cold temperature challenges. Thyroid hormones (triiodothyronine, T3 and thyroxine, T

    Authors: Jing Shang, Liang Zhang, Xinyu Li and Shuping Zhang
    Citation: Avian Research 2021 12:55
    Content type: Research Published on:

  3. Ecological functions and processes in urban ecosystems are governed by various human activities. City-adapted and city-exploiting animal species are expected to present certain specific behavioral and physiolo...

    Authors: Hani Amir Aouissi, Mostefa Ababsa, Aissam Gaagai, Zihad Bouslama, Yassine Farhi and Haroun Chenchouni
    Citation: Avian Research 2021 12:45
    Content type: Research Published on:

  4. Efficient and selective utilization of metabolic substrates is one of the key strategies in high-altitude animals to cope with hypoxia and hypothermia. Previous findings have shown that the energy substrate ut...

    Authors: Boyang Ding, Yuliang Zhao, Yanfeng Sun, Qian Zhang, Mo Li, Ghulam Nabi, Yuefeng Wu, Chuan Jiang and Dongming Li
    Citation: Avian Research 2021 12:44
    Content type: Research Published on:

  5. The composition of intestinal microflora in animals is affected by cross-species transmission. In a nature reserve, the foraging sites of waterbirds are relatively fixed, but frequently close to residential ar...

    Authors: Wei Wang, Lizhi Zhou, Rong Fu, Lei Cheng, Shaofei Yan, Nazia Mahtab and Yunwei Song
    Citation: Avian Research 2021 12:20
    Content type: Research Published on:

  6. Small birds in temperate habitats must either migrate, or adjust aspects of their morphology, physiology and behavior to cope with seasonal change in temperature and photoperiod. It is, however, difficult to a...

    Authors: Lin Li, Jingru Ge, Sangyu Zheng, Lihong Hong, Xini Zhang, Ming Li and Jinsong Liu
    Citation: Avian Research 2020 11:35
    Content type: Research Published on: