Feeding rates influence reproductive output in many kinds of animals, but we need to understand
the timescale of this influence before we can compare reproductive energy allocation …

For animal populations in many parts of the world, direct (albeit often accidental) killing by
humans may be a significant source of mortality. Many snakes are killed by people (especially …

Environmental education is essential to stem current dramatic biodiversity loss, and childhood
is considered as the key period for developing awareness and positive attitudes toward …

Climatic conditions during embryonic development can exert profound and long‐term effects
on many types of organisms, but most previous research on this topic has focussed on …

One major goal of physiological ecology is to seek links between life history traits. Identification
of a body condition threshold for breeding (eg critical level of body reserves) provides a …

Estimates of breeding frequencies in wild populations occupy a central place in life-history
studies, but they remain hard to obtain in snakes. Capture–recapture procedures were carried …

Energy storage is an important component of life-history variation. Some organisms ("income
breeders") fuel reproductive expenditure by simultaneous feeding, whereas others ("capital …

Long-term studies have revealed population declines in fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds
and mammals. In birds, and particularly amphibians, these declines are a global …

Research in ecology and behaviour is dominated by studies on birds and mammals, and
scientists who work on less ‘popular' organisms (such as amphibians and reptiles) frequently …

The general public prefers to support conservation projects that focus on a few, easily “loveable”
species; consequently most of biodiversity is neglected. It is essential to redress such …