The influence of drought and rainfall on reproduction in Australian desert birds
S ummary Collections of the gonads of desert birds which were made in localities during, and soon after, severe drought revealed striking differences in reproductive development. Comparatively meagre rainfall and the resultant creation of relatively beneficial conditions has a more stimulating effec...
Published in: | Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London |
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Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1954.tb07790.x https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1469-7998.1954.tb07790.x https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1954.tb07790.x https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1954.tb07790.x |
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crwiley:10.1111/j.1469-7998.1954.tb07790.x 2024-06-02T08:02:16+00:00 The influence of drought and rainfall on reproduction in Australian desert birds Keast, J. A. Marshall, A. J. 1954 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1954.tb07790.x https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1469-7998.1954.tb07790.x https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1954.tb07790.x https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1954.tb07790.x en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London volume 124, issue 3, page 493-499 ISSN 0370-2774 journal-article 1954 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1954.tb07790.x 2024-05-03T10:44:43Z S ummary Collections of the gonads of desert birds which were made in localities during, and soon after, severe drought revealed striking differences in reproductive development. Comparatively meagre rainfall and the resultant creation of relatively beneficial conditions has a more stimulating effect on the male than on the female cycle. The failure of the females to respond leads to a disturbance of the normal sequence of events in the male gonad and abnormal conditions, similar to those found in Arctic and other non‐breeders, were observed in the undischarged testis. These are not readily explained by the known facts concerning the hypophysial/gonad relationship in vertebrates. Desert birds have evolved an unusually high degree of nomadic mobility to defeat droughts. They exhibit a further vital physiological aspect of drought adaptation in that their sexual cycles can respond quickly to rainfall, or its effects, so that nidification may begin within a few days of heavy precipitation, irrespective of daylength and light increment. On the other hand, the gonads may remain inactive, in the true sense of the word, and reproduction can be inhibited for a succession of seasons during a prolonged drought. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Wiley Online Library Arctic Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 124 3 493 499 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Wiley Online Library |
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crwiley |
language |
English |
description |
S ummary Collections of the gonads of desert birds which were made in localities during, and soon after, severe drought revealed striking differences in reproductive development. Comparatively meagre rainfall and the resultant creation of relatively beneficial conditions has a more stimulating effect on the male than on the female cycle. The failure of the females to respond leads to a disturbance of the normal sequence of events in the male gonad and abnormal conditions, similar to those found in Arctic and other non‐breeders, were observed in the undischarged testis. These are not readily explained by the known facts concerning the hypophysial/gonad relationship in vertebrates. Desert birds have evolved an unusually high degree of nomadic mobility to defeat droughts. They exhibit a further vital physiological aspect of drought adaptation in that their sexual cycles can respond quickly to rainfall, or its effects, so that nidification may begin within a few days of heavy precipitation, irrespective of daylength and light increment. On the other hand, the gonads may remain inactive, in the true sense of the word, and reproduction can be inhibited for a succession of seasons during a prolonged drought. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Keast, J. A. Marshall, A. J. |
spellingShingle |
Keast, J. A. Marshall, A. J. The influence of drought and rainfall on reproduction in Australian desert birds |
author_facet |
Keast, J. A. Marshall, A. J. |
author_sort |
Keast, J. A. |
title |
The influence of drought and rainfall on reproduction in Australian desert birds |
title_short |
The influence of drought and rainfall on reproduction in Australian desert birds |
title_full |
The influence of drought and rainfall on reproduction in Australian desert birds |
title_fullStr |
The influence of drought and rainfall on reproduction in Australian desert birds |
title_full_unstemmed |
The influence of drought and rainfall on reproduction in Australian desert birds |
title_sort |
influence of drought and rainfall on reproduction in australian desert birds |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
1954 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1954.tb07790.x https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1469-7998.1954.tb07790.x https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1954.tb07790.x https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1954.tb07790.x |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London volume 124, issue 3, page 493-499 ISSN 0370-2774 |
op_rights |
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1954.tb07790.x |
container_title |
Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London |
container_volume |
124 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
493 |
op_container_end_page |
499 |
_version_ |
1800746776701960192 |