摘要
A strong focus of ecological research for several decades has been to understand the factors underlying the variationin animal life-histories. In recent times, ecological studies have begun to show that oxidative stress may represent another importantmodulator of competitive trade-offs among fitness traits or of positively integrated patterns of traits. Therefore, incorporatingmechanisms underlying oxidative physiology into evolutionary ecology has the potential to help understand variation inlife-history strategies. In this review, I provide a general overview of oxidative stress physiology, and subsequently focus on topicsthat have been neglected in previous ecological reviews on oxidative stress. Specifically, I introduce and discuss the adaptationsthat animals have evolved to cope with oxidative stress; the environmental stressors that can generate changes in oxidativebalance; the role of reactive species in transduction of environmental stimuli and cell signaling; and the range of hormetic responsesto oxidative
A strong focus of ecological research for several decades has been to understand the factors underlying the variation in animal life-histories. In recent times, ecological studies have begun to show that oxidative stress may represent another important modulator of competitive trade-offs among fitness traits or of positively integrated patterns of traits. Therefore, incorporating mechanisms underlying oxidative physiology into evolutionary ecology has the potential to help understand variation in life-history strategies. In this review, I provide a general overview of oxidative stress physiology, and subsequently focus on topics that have been neglected in previous ecological reviews on oxidative stress. Specifically, I introduce and discuss the adaptations that animals have evolved to cope with oxidative stress; the environmental stressors that can generate changes in oxidative balance; the role of reactive species in transduction of environmental stimuli and cell signaling; and the range of hormetic responses to oxidative stress [Current Zoology 56 （6）： 687-702, 2010].
基金
supported by a postdoctoral NERC research fellowship (NE/G013888/1)
