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Adaptation and Evolution in Changing Environments

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Applied Ecology and Human Dimensions in Biological Conservation

Abstract

In a planet in continuous change, where humans and their activities have enhanced this modification’s rate, wildlife had to develop mechanisms to cope with this change to avoid extinction. The challenges imposed by agricultural landscapes, often associated with production cycles and intensification, has led to the extinction of many populations or species unable to track resources or change their behavioral or biological processes to allow them to use the available resources. However, not always the story has a negative outcome. In the present chapter, we present several examples of acclimation and adaptation processes of species trying to survive in changing environments, which include morphological, physiological, and behavioral adaptations (i.e., with genetic implications) and behavioral acclimations. However, there is a threshold of changes that a species may manage to overcome. This limit is species specific and directly related to the species natural history, plasticity and genetic structure and diversity.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Biologia Ambiental—Faculdade de Ciências de Lisboa, Universidade de Lisboa, Ed. 2, Campo Grande, 1749-016, Lisboa, Portugal

    Luís Miguel Rosalino

  2. Laboratório de Ecologia Isotópica, CENA/Universidade de São Paulo, Caixa Postal 96, Piracicaba, SP, 13416-000, Brazil

    Luís Miguel Rosalino

  3. Centro de Energia Nuclear na Agricultura, Universidade de São Paulo, Caixa Postal 96, Piracicaba, SP, 13416-000, Brazil

    Luciano M. Verdade

  4. Curso de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade de Santo Amaro, Rua Prof. Eneas de Siqueira Neto, 340, São Paulo, SP, 04829-300, Brazil

    Maria Carolina Lyra-Jorge

Authors
  1. Luís Miguel Rosalino
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  2. Luciano M. Verdade
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  3. Maria Carolina Lyra-Jorge
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Correspondence to Luís Miguel Rosalino .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Energia Nuclear na Agricultura, Universidade de São Paulo, Piracicaba, São Paulo, Brazil

    Luciano M. Verdade

  2. Curso de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade de Santo Amaro, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

    Maria Carolina Lyra-Jorge

  3. Transferencia de Tecnología a la Producción, Centro de Investigaciones Científicas y, Rios, Argentina

    Carlos I. Piña

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Rosalino, L.M., Verdade, L.M., Lyra-Jorge, M.C. (2014). Adaptation and Evolution in Changing Environments. In: Verdade, L., Lyra-Jorge, M., Piña, C. (eds) Applied Ecology and Human Dimensions in Biological Conservation. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-54751-5_4

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