Study On Phenotypic Plasticity Of Body Structural In Charadriiformes Migratory Shorebirds

Many organisms display the capacity to adjust morphological, physiological, or behavioral characters in response to the environment conditions, or as "the ability of a single genotype to produce more than one alternative form of morphology, physiological state and/or behavior in response to environmental conditions", Such capacity for change is often referred to as phenotypic plasticity, when the changes are fully reversible, named "phenotypic flexibility". Long-distance migratory birds provide a perfect models for study the phenotypic changing of the vertebrate taxon internal composition, the organ flexibility has been an important subject in long-distance migration studies, and a new topic of physioecology.Ecophysiological characteristics of animals are the basis to a more practicable and reasonable manage strategies. Understanding the phenotypic plasticity during different life-history stages, can not only predict organ phenotypic changes in new environment, but also help understanding how do the natural environment and evolutionary history acting on the organism design. Plovers is the key species in Huanghai areas, our research will produce more information about adaptive variation of avian organ phenotype, these knowledge can help us understanding the general migration strategies and habitat use of migratory birds. they are also a prerequisite for conservation programs, and have practice value for conservation biology.In this paper we summarize recent advance in avian ecophysiology with an emphasis on phenotypic plasticity first, such as concept, categories, second, we introduce brief theoretical development and empirical work of migrant phenotypic flexibility studies, and some of the current problems and future directions.This program study the body composition phenotypic plasticity of three migration shorebirds with different migration modes during stopover or...