Temperature Adaptation in a Changing Climate: Nature at Risk(CABI Climate Change Series)

Temperature adaptation is a much neglected field in the minds of climate change researchers and policy makers. However, increasing fluctuations in temperature means that the risk of cold and heat stress will pose an increasing threat to both wild and cultivated plants and animals, with frost injury expected to cause devastating damage to crops on an increasingly large scale. Thus, improving shared knowledge of the biological mechanisms of temperature adaptation in plants and animals will help prevent major losses of crops and genetic resources in the future. This book is the first to focus on the mechanistic similarities between species in their responses to temperature in a multi-organism approach that addresses the challenges and impacts of climate change on temperature adaptation in micro-organisms (including pathogens), invertebrates, economically and scientifically important plants and vertebrates in both terrestrial and marine environments. The book concludes with a focus on the interactions between organisms, exploring common mechanisms in temperature adaptation.

Table of Contents:
1: Introduction: Nature at Risk 2: Temperature Perception and Signal Transduction - Mechanisms across Multiple Organisms 3: Microorganisms and Plants: a Photosynthetic Perspective 4: Insects 5: Temperature Adaptation in Changing Climate: Marine Fish and Invertebrates 6: Fish: Fresh Water Ecosystems 7: Strategies of Molecular Adaptation to Climate Change: the Challenges for Amphibians and Reptiles 8: The Relationship between Climate Warming and Hibernation in Mammals 9: On Thin Ice: Marine Mammals and Climate Change 10: Climate Change and Plant Diseases 11: Trees and Boreal Forests 12: The Paradoxical Increase in Freezing Injury in a Warming Climate: Frost as a Driver of Change in Cold Climate Vegetation 13: Annual Field Crops 14: Perennial Field Crops 15: The Potential Impact of Climate Change on Temperate Zone Woody Perennial Crops 16: Temperature Adaptation Across Organisms

About the Author :
Kenneth B Storey (Edited By) Dr. Kenneth B. Storey, Ph.D., F.R.S.C., is a Professor of Biochemistry at Carleton University in Ottawa and holds the Canada Research Chair in Molecular Physiology. He received his B.Sc. from the University of Calgary and his Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia. Ken is a world leader in the field of biochemical adaptation. He uses tools of enzymology, protein chemistry and molecular biology to identify the adaptations of gene regulation and enzyme structure/function that support amazing animal phenomena including hibernation, freezing survival, estivation and anoxia tolerance. Ken is a prolific author and speaker - he has over 600 publications to his name and has given hundreds of talks around the world. Recently Ken won the 2010 Flavelle medal in Biological Sciences from the Royal Society of Canada and the 2011 Fry medal from the Canadian Society of Zoologists. Karen K Tanino (Edited By) Dr. Karen Tanino, Ph.D. is a Professor of Plant Sciences at the University of Saskatchewan. She chairs the Northern Agriculture Thematic Network, University of the Arctic (a consortium of over 121 institutions circumpolar) and holds an Adjunct Professorship with IWATE University, Morioka, Japan. She received her B.Sc. and M.Sc. from the University of Guelph and her Ph.D. from Oregon State University. Karen examines physiological mechanisms of plant adaptation against abiotic stress from the whole plant to cellular level. She has published over 140 research contributions including 4 books. Enhanced learning approaches are used throughout the 14 undergraduate, graduate and diploma courses that she has taught. She has coordinated graduate level courses in plant abiotic stress in Japan, Russia, Canada, Luxembourg and Poland. Since 2002, she has chaired/co-chaired 5 international and national conferences and was a core organizing committee member of ten international conferences.