Customer Reviews

Life in the Cold: An Introduction to Winter Ecology

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Thorough and scientific, this a good companion volume to Jim Halfpenny's excellent book on the same subject. Whereas Halfpenny's book is an excellent introduction for students and teachers of ecology, Marchand's book goes into more detail on physiological, behavioral, and biochemical adaptations to winter. It is therefore best suited to biology majors, graduate students, and naturalists with a desire for a complete explanation of how animals and plants adapt and survive in cold weather.

I started wondering one day what do animals do in the winter? How does thgis whole cycle continue. Then I got on Amazon, did a search and came up with this book. Its neat! It tells you about different hibernation methods (for example some insects turn their body fluids into a sort of antifreeze!) It also tells about plants and how they cope. Pretty interesting.

Very interesting coverage of a poorly covered topic. Any nature lover in an area which gets cold really should read this book. I especially find the information on brown fat and how it helps with thermoregulation to be very interesting. I've heard of brown fat before, but never understood it.

A facinating overview of the biology of adaptation to winter. Of interest to students, teachers, and outdoors people who wish to understand interaction between life and the winter environment.