Edited by
Jeffrey Richards, Department of Zoology, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
Anthony Farrell, Dept of Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
Colin Brauner, Dept of Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
Description
Periods of environmental hypoxia (Low Oxygen Availability) are extremely common in aquatic systems due to both natural causes such as
diurnal oscillations in algal respiration, seasonal flooding, stratification, under ice cover in lakes, and isolation of densely vegetated
water bodies, as well as more recent anthropogenic causes (e.g. eutrophication). In view of this, it is perhaps not surprising that
among all vertebrates, fish boast the largest number of hypoxia tolerant species; hypoxia has clearly played an important role in shaping
the evolution of many unique adaptive strategies. These unique adaptive strategies either allow fish to maintain function at low oxygen
levels, thus extending hypoxia tolerance limits, or permit them to defend against the metabolic consequences of oxygen levels that fall
below a threshold where metabolic functions cannot be maintained.
The aim of this volume is two-fold. First, this book will review
and synthesize the adaptive behavioural, morphological, physiological, biochemical, and molecular strategies used by fish to survive
hypoxia exposure and place them within an environmental and ecological context. Second, through the development of a synthesis chapter
this book will serve as the cornerstone for directing future research into the effects of hypoxia exposures on fish physiology and biochemistry.
Included in series
Fish Physiology
Audience:
* Research and Post-graduate scientists studying the physiology of fishes and the impact of extreme and environmentally degraded environments
on fish physiology and survival* Comparative Vertebrate Physiologists studying adaptations to oxygen stress*
Biomedical and sports physiologists interested in animal models of stress under low oxygen conditions
