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Responses to Seasonal Change in Polar Mammals

G. Edgar Folk

10.1002/cphy.cp040124

Source: Supplement 14: Handbook of Physiology, Environmental Physiology

Originally published: 1996

Published online: January 2011

Full Article on Wiley Online Library



Abstract

The sections in this article are:

1 The Climate of the Polar Regions
2 Acclimatization and Other Adjustments
3 Comparative Physiology of Cold Acclimatization
3.1 Coat Color and Windchill
3.2 The Arctic Gull
3.3 The Arctic Ground Squirrel
3.4 The Arctic Seal
3.5 The Arctic Fox
3.6 The Arctic Lemming
4 Photoperiodism in Polar Animals
4.1 The Variable Light Cycle in the Polar Regions
4.2 Influence of the Pineal Gland
4.3 “Cold Acclimatization without Cold”
4.4 Biological Clocks in the Polar Regions
4.5 Farm Animals in the Arctic Photoperiod
5 Hibernation in the High Latitudes
6 Fat Metabolism and Acclimatization
7 Summary
Figure 1. Figure 1.

The physical environment of global biomes compared to Mars. The Arctic and Alpine region is less severe than the Antarctic. Redrawn from Pyne 67.
Figure 2. Figure 2.

Annual hours of sunlight in high latitudes. The example given holds for 72° N (Point Barrow, Alaska). The diagram demonstrates the change from continuous lack of sunlight to continuous sunlight that begins in May. One can read both the annual hours of sunlight, and more important, the daily rate of change or increase in sunlight. For example, in January the change adds about 2 h per day but in April only about 20 min per day.
Figure 3. Figure 3.

Cold acclimation of lemmings. In this case part of the redesign of the animal by cold is expressed by a change in water balance. Urine flow is illustrated for control (18°C) and prolonged cold–exposed (3°C) brown and varying lemmings. Urine flow is expressed as ml of urine per 100 gs of body weight per day.


Figure 1.

The physical environment of global biomes compared to Mars. The Arctic and Alpine region is less severe than the Antarctic. Redrawn from Pyne 67.



Figure 2.

Annual hours of sunlight in high latitudes. The example given holds for 72° N (Point Barrow, Alaska). The diagram demonstrates the change from continuous lack of sunlight to continuous sunlight that begins in May. One can read both the annual hours of sunlight, and more important, the daily rate of change or increase in sunlight. For example, in January the change adds about 2 h per day but in April only about 20 min per day.



Figure 3.

Cold acclimation of lemmings. In this case part of the redesign of the animal by cold is expressed by a change in water balance. Urine flow is illustrated for control (18°C) and prolonged cold–exposed (3°C) brown and varying lemmings. Urine flow is expressed as ml of urine per 100 gs of body weight per day.

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Article Title: Responses to Seasonal Change in Polar Mammals
 

How to Cite

G. Edgar Folk. Responses to Seasonal Change in Polar Mammals. Compr Physiol 2011, Supplement 14: Handbook of Physiology, Environmental Physiology: 541-556. First published in print 1996. doi: 10.1002/cphy.cp040124