The BIOL3045 Animal Ecological Physiology note is a comprehensive review of various biological principles, focusing on experimental design, genetic and environmental influences on phenotypes, epigenetics, and the adaptive mechanisms of different species to environmental factors. It emphasizes the importance of individual variation due to genetics, environment, and their interaction, including epigenetics and plasticity. It discusses how organisms adapt through transgenerational changes, such as gamete determination and developmental plasticity.

The document covers acclimation as reversible changes in individuals in response to environmental plasticity and adaptation, indicating the significance of species’ thermal specialization and how species with common ancestors can be grouped for experiments. It elaborates on how environmental exposure during development determines phenotype and the role of epigenetics’s role in regulating gene expression in response to environmental conditions, including DNA methylation and histone acetylation.

The review further explores parental phenotypic effects, explaining the importance of maternal and paternal influences on offspring and their potential epigenetic impacts. It highlights the predictive adaptive hypothesis, where the parental environment influences offspring phenotypes to enhance resilience to environmental variations.

There’s a deep dive into reproductive physiology and how environmental and genetic factors determine sex in different species, detailing the mechanisms of sperm and semen in reproduction. It also examines how environmental factors like temperature affect development and physiology and the evolutionary trade-offs between generalist and specialist strategies in adaptation.

The document discusses the principles of nutritional ecology and its relation to physiology, behaviour, ecology, and evolution, focusing on how animals relate to their environment through nutrition.

In the context of conservation, the review emphasizes the need to understand the physiological responses of populations to stressors to implement effective management strategies.