Effects of Temperature on Ectothermic Organisms: Ecological Implications and Mechanisms of Compensation

The study of thermoregulation in endotherms has contributed much to the emergence of the concept of control theory in biology. By the same token, the study of temperature adjustment in ectotherms is likely to have a far-reaching influence on ideas on the regulation of metabolism in general. The reason for this is that ectotherms, in adapting to the vagaries of a thermally unstable environment, deploy a range of subtle molecular and organismic strategies. Thus the experimenter, using tempera...