Presents an overview of the physiological and biochemical principles that shape how animals procure energy and nutrients and free themselves of toxins - and how this relates to broader ecological phenomena. This book reviews the chemical ecology of food, and discusses how animals digest and process food.

"This book fills a major gap in the ecological and physiological literature in the most delightful way. An exciting journey into the wondrous mechanical world behind the great diversity of animals on earth, it is an exhaustive overview of everything to do with resource processing and use in animals. From page to page it demonstrates the seamless connection between ecology and physiology. The writing was a joy to read; the authors are in command of the subject and write lucidly about it."--Theunis Piersma, University of Groningen and Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research

"Physiological Ecology addresses an important and intriguing topic that has not been adequately summarized previously; there is no corresponding book that discusses resource use at the level presented here. The authors do a masterful and authoritative job of covering both the basics and the details. The numerous and diverse examples and case studies are great, for they illustrate both the concepts and the authors' obvious pleasure in the underlying natural history--part of the fun of this sort of biology."--Joel Kingsolver, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

"The authors can be very proud of their accomplishments in this book because their text deals with the general problem 'how animals process energy, nutrients, and toxins' in a very detailed, balanced, clearly written, informatively illustrated--in short, in an excellent way! One does not have to be a prophet to state that this book is destined to become a classic; it will become a widespread, often consulted and continually cited source of reference."---Peter Langer, Mammalian Biology