Birds have and continue to fascinate scientists and the general public. While the avian respiratory system has unremittingly been investigated for nearly five centuries, important aspects on its biology remain cryptic and controversial. In this book, resolving some of the contentious issues, developmental-, structural- and functional aspects of the avian lung-air sac system are particularized: it endeavors to answer following fundamental questions on the biology of birds: how, when and why did birds become what they are? Flight is a unique form of locomotion. It considerably shaped the form and the essence of birds as animals. An exceptionally efficient respiratory system capacitated birds to procure the exceptionally large quantities of oxygen needed for powered (active) flight. Among the extant air-breathing vertebrates, comprising ~11,000 species, birds are the most species-rich-, numerically abundant- and extensively distributed animal taxon. After realizing volancy, they easily overcame geographical obstacles and extensively dispersed into various ecological niches where they underwent remarkable adaptive radiation. While the external morphology of birds is inconceivably uniform for such a considerably speciose taxon, contingent on among other attributes, lifestyle, habitat and phylogenetic level of development have foremost determined the novelties that are displayed by diverse species of birds. Here, critical synthesizes of the most recent findings with the historical ones, evolution and behavior and development, structure and function of the exceptionally elaborate respiratory system of birds are detailed. The prominence of modern birds as a taxon in the Animal Kingdom is underscored. The book should appeal to researchers who are interested in evolutionary processes and how adaptive specializations correlate with biological physiognomies and exigencies, comparative biologists who focus on how various animals have solved respiratory pressures, people who study respiration in birds and other animals and ornithologists who love and enjoy birds for what they are – profoundly interesting animals.

Sturkie's Avian Physiology is the classic comprehensive single volume on the physiology of domestic as well as wild birds. The Sixth Edition is thoroughly revised and updated, and features several new chapters with entirely new content on such topics as migration, genomics and epigenetics. Chapters throughout have been greatly expanded due to the many recent advances in the field. The text also covers the physiology of flight, reproduction in both male and female birds, and the immunophysiology of birds. The Sixth Edition, like the earlier editions, is a must for anyone interested in comparative physiology, poultry science, veterinary medicine, and related fields. This volume establishes the standard for those who need the latest and best information on the physiology of birds. - Includes new chapters on endocrine disruptors, magnetoreception, genomics, proteomics, mitochondria, control of food intake, molting, stress, the avian endocrine system, bone, the metabolic demands of migration, behavior and control of body temperature - Features extensively revised chapters on the cardiovascular system, pancreatic hormones, respiration, pineal gland, pituitary gland, thyroid, adrenal gland, muscle, gastro-intestinal physiology, incubation, circadian rhythms, annual cycles, flight, the avian immune system, embryo physiology and control of calcium - Stands out as the only comprehensive, single volume devoted to bird physiology - Offers a full consideration of both blood and avian metabolism on the companion website (http://booksite.elsevier.com/ 9780124071605). Tables feature hematological and serum biochemical parameters together with circulating concentrations of glucose in more than 200 different species of wild birds

Digital agriculture is an emerging concept of modern farming that refers to managing farms using modern Engineering, Information and Communication Technologies (EICT) aiming at increasing the overall efficiency of agricultural production, improving the quantity and quality of products, and optimizing the human labor required and natural resource consumption in operations. This encyclopedia is designed to collect the summaries of knowledge on as many as subjects or aspects relevant to ECIT for digital agriculture, present such knowledge in entries, and arrange them alphabetically by articles titles. Springer Major Reference Works platform offers Live Update capability. Our reference work takes full advantage of this feature, which allows for continuous improvement or revision of published content electronically. The Editorial Board Dr. Irwin R. Donis-Gonzalez, University of California Davis, Dept. Biological and Agricultural Engineering, Davis, USA (Section: Postharvest Technologies) Prof. Paul Heinemann, Pennsylvania State University, Department Head of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, PA, USA (Section: Technologies for Crop Production) Prof. Manoj Karkee, Washington State University, Center for Precision and Automated Agricultural Systems, Washington, USA (Section: Robotics and Automation Technologies) Prof. Minzan Li, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China (Section: Precision Agricultural Technologies) Prof. Dikai Liu, University of Technology Sydney (UTS),Faculty of Engineering & Information Technologies, Broadway NSW, Australia (Section: AI, Information and Communication Technologies) Prof. Tomas Norton, University of Leuven, Dept. of Biosystems, Heverlee Leuven, Belgium (Section: Technologies for Animal and Aquatic Production) Dr. Manuela Zude-Sasse, Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy (ATB), Precision Horticulture, Potsdam, Germany (Section: Engineering and Mechanization Technologies)

This book brings together 19 full length manuscripts from invited speakers and nearly 300 abstracts from oral and poster communications presented at the 21st European Symposium on Poultry Nutrition held in Salou/Vila-seca, Spain in May 2017. The invited papers address aspects of poultry nutrition such as feed intake and thermoregulation, feeding strategies and gastrointestinal health, precision feeding (feeding strategies and nutrient requirements), optimized use of feed ingredients, and other hot topics such as updating P requirements of broilers, mycotoxins and future perspectives of poultry production. The open communication abstracts deal with the latest research on poultry nutrition, including feed raw materials, protein sources and amino acids, feed additives and enzymes, nutrition and gut health, mineral nutrition, among other topics.