Part one -- Animals and their environment -- 1: The diversity of animals and their interactions with natural environments -- 2: Energy metabolism -- generating energy from food -- 3: Cells, organisms and interactions with their environment -- Part two -- Water and salts -- 4: Body fluid regulation: principles and processes -- 5: Osmotic and ionic regulation in aquatic animals -- 6: Water balance of land animals -- 7: Kidneys and excretion -- Part three -- Temperature -- 8: Temperature and the principles of heat exchange -- 9: Temperature regulation in ectotherms -- 10: Temperature regulation in endotherms -- Part four -- Oxygen -- 11: The respiratory gases, gas exchange and transport: key characteristics and principles -- 12: Respiratory systems -- 13: Transport in respiratory systems, and acid-base balance -- 14: Cardiovascular systems -- 15: Environmental and behavioural influences on the cardiorespiratory system -- Part five -- Coordination and integration -- 16: Neurons, nerves and nervous systems -- 17: How animals sense their environments -- 18: Muscles and animal movement -- 19: Hormones -- 20: Reproduction -- 21: Control of sodium, water, and calcium balance -- 22: Integration of the respiratory and circulatory systems.

Wild animals survive in a variety of complex environments; they are exposed to predictable and unpredictable changes in their particular environment on a daily or seasonal basis. However, we live in a time when almost all natural environments are undergoing relatively rapid change, and many of these changes, such as the pollution of air and water, removal of natural food sources, environment fragmentation, and climate change, are the result of human activity. Animal Physiology: an environmental perspective shows how an understanding of the physiology of animals in their natural habitats helps us to understand not only how and why animals evolved the way they did, but how we can act to protect at least some of them from the extreme effects of the changes affecting their environments. --