Physiological Adaptations for Breeding in
Birds is the most current and comprehensive account
of research on avian reproduction. It develops two
unique themes: the consideration of female avian
reproductive physiology and ecology, and an emphasis on
individual variation in life-history traits. Tony
Williams investigates the physiological, metabolic,
energetic, and hormonal mechanisms that underpin
individual variation in the key female-specific
reproductive traits and the trade-offs between these
traits that determine variation in fitness. The core
of the book deals with the avian reproductive cycle,
from seasonal gonadal development, through egg laying
and incubation, to chick rearing. Reproduction is
considered in the context of the annual cycle and
through an individual's entire life history. The book
focuses on timing of breeding, clutch size, egg size and
egg quality, and parental care. It also provides a
primer on female reproductive physiology and considers
trade-offs and carryover effects between reproduction
and other life-history stages. In each chapter, Williams
describes individual variation in the trait of interest
and the evolutionary context for trait variation. He
argues that there is only a rudimentary, and in some
cases nonexistent, understanding of the physiological
mechanisms that underpin individual variation in the
major reproductive life-history traits, and that
research efforts should refocus on these key unresolved
problems by incorporating detailed physiological studies
into existing long-term population studies, generating a
new synthesis of physiology, ecology, and evolutionary
biology.
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