BIOEE 4660

Physiological Ecology of Animals

Course Description

Course information provided by the 2026-2027 Catalog.

Detailed survey of how physiological processes help organisms meet the challenges of their environment. Lectures explore physiological adaptation, thermal biology, respiration and oxygen transport, resource acquisition and allocation, water use and limitation, energetics and nutrition, hormones, stress physiology, and developmental physiology. Readings draw from the primary literature and textbooks.

Prerequisites BIOEE 1610 or BIOG 1440 or BIOAP 3110 or permission of instructor.

Distribution Requirements (BSC-AG, OPHLS-AG, SCH-AG), (BIO-AS)

Last 4 Terms Offered 2025SP, 2023SP, 2020SP, 2018SP

Learning Outcomes

• Explain how key environmental factors, including temperature, water, and nutrient availability, affect physiological function in animals.
• Analyze physiological adaptation to function in different environmental conditions.
• Compare and evaluate physiological stress responses across environment al conditions.
• Evaluate physiological adaptations in relation to life history strategies.
• Evaluate and communicate findings from primary literature in physiological ecology through written and oral presentations6. Design, conduct, and present experiments that investigate questions in physiological ecology

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