What is Conservation Physiology? Read Editor-in-Chief Steven Cooke's introduction to this essential field of study, and its relevance in an environment under the increasing influence of human activities.
Conservation Physiology is an online only, fully open access journal published on behalf of the Society for Experimental Biology.
Biodiversity across the globe faces a growing number of threats associated with human activities. Conservation Physiology publishes research on all taxa (microbes, plants and animals) focused on understanding and predicting how organisms, populations, ecosystems and natural resources respond to environmental change and stressors. Physiology is considered in the broadest possible terms to include functional and mechanistic responses at all scales. We also welcome research towards developing and refining strategies to rebuild populations, restore ecosystems, inform conservation policy, and manage living resources. We define conservation physiology broadly and encourage potential authors to contact the editorial team if they have any questions regarding the remit of the journal.
Key topics covered by the journal include:
Understanding the influence of anthropogenic disturbance, and of variation in habitat quality, on organism condition, health and survival
Providing a mechanistic/functional understanding of the effect of anthropogenic environmental change on organisms; the use of physiological knowledge to develop mechanistic models for species distributions
Evaluating stress responsiveness and environmental tolerances relative to environmental change (including global warming and ocean acidification)
Understanding the adaptation of physiological processes to environmental variation (e.g. studies on thermal adaptation among populations)
Understanding the optimal environmental conditions for ex-situ preservation of endangered species (captive breeding, seed bank protocols for storage and regeneration, tissue culture for plant species or genotypes that are difficult to regenerate from seeds)
Understanding the ecology and evolution of physiological diversity and its relevance to conservation
Exploiting knowledge on organismal physiology to control invasive species and restore threatened habitats and populations
Developing mechanistic relationships between population declines and physiological processes
Developing of predictive models in conservation practices that include physiological parameters
Applying physiological biomarkers as part of long-term environmental monitoring programs
Integrating physiological knowledge into ecosystem management and into tools to solve complex conservation problems
Understanding the policy implications and application of knowledge arising from conservation physiology research
Understanding the physiological mechanisms involved in changes in community structure, as well as individual species, in response to environmental change
Applications of contemporary genomic and post-genomic technologies to conservation physiology
Integration of physiology with conservation behaviour, conservation medicine, and conservation genetics
Conservation Physiology publishes the following article types:
Research Articles - Papers that report on original empirical research based on observation, experimentation and/or modeling (typically 3000 to 6000 words)
The Tool Box - Papers that report on advances in techniques or methods that expand and improve the conservation physiology tool box in the lab or field (typically 3000 to 4000 words)
Reviews - Comprehensive reviews that synthesize a given topic related to conservation physiology (typically 6000 to 10000 words)
Perspectives - Persuasive essays or viewpoints with a particular focus on fostering conceptual, theoretical or practical (e.g., policy, management, conservation, modeling) advances in conservation physiology (typically 2000 to 4000 words)
Comments - Papers that critique or respond to material previously published in the journal (typically 1000 words)

Editor in Chief
Steven Cooke
Carleton University, Canada
Conservation physiology, resource management, and integrative biology
Plant Science Editor
Kevin Hultine
Desert Botanic Garden, USA
Plant ecophysiology, global change ecology
Editorial Office
conphys.editorialoffice@oup.com
Editorial Board
John Beardall
Monash University, Australia
Algal physiology
Gary Burness
Trent University, Canada
Energetics and ecoimmunology
Steven Chown
Monash University, Australia
Insects and macro-ecology/physiology
Timothy Clark
Deakin University, Australia
Environmental change and animal eco-physiology
Ben Dantzer
University of Michigan, USA
Endocrinology; Multiple stressors; Small mammals
Erick de la Barrera
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Plant ecophysiology; global change; food security
Nann Fangue
University of California, Davis, USA
Physiological specialization in complex environments
Craig Franklin
University of Queensland, Australia
Ecophysiology, conservation, and reptiles
Andrea Fuller
University of Witwatersrand, South Africa
Thermal biology of wildlife; Terrestrial mammals
Lucy Hawkes
Exeter University, UK
Animal ecophysiology and conservation
Kathleen Hunt
Northern Arizona University, USA
Marine mammal physiology; Nonlethal tissue sampling
Oliver Love
University of Windsor, Canada
Endocrinology; Arctic wildlife; Birds
Heath MacMillan
Carleton University, Canada
Inverterbrates; Thermal Biology; Water Balance; Biochemistry
John Mandelman
New England Aquarium, USA
Ecophysiology of elasmobranch fishes
Felix Christopher Mark
Alfred Wegener Insitute, Germany
Integrative ecophysiology of marine ectotherms
Lynn Martin
University of South Florida, USA
Ecological physiology and immunology
Amy Newman
University of Guelph, Canada
Stress and wildlife ecophysiology
Adrienne Nicotra
Australian National University, Australia
Phenotypic plasticity and plant responses to climate change
Sharon Robinson
University of Wollongong, Australia
Plant responses to Climate Change (Antarctica)
Yan Ropert-Coudert
Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chize, France
Energetics and bio-logging (birds, reptiles, and mammals)
Jodie Rummer
James Cook University, Australia
Environmental change; Marine fish; Cardiorespiratory physiology
Frank Seebacher
University of Sydney, Australia
Phenotypic plasticity, Muscle function and locomotion, Metabolism
Anne Todgham
University of California at Davis, USA
Invertebrate physiology; Environmental change; Molecular biology
'Conservation Physiology in Action' contributors
Bridie Allan
Institute of Marine Research, Norway
Phillipa Beale
The Australian National University, Australia
Kim Birnie-Gauvin
Technical University of Denmark, Denmark
Alison Haynes
University of Wollongong, Australia
Rachael Heuer
University of Miami, USA
Sofia Jain-Schlaepfer
James Cook University, Australia
Björn Illing
James Cook University, Australia
Lisa Komoroske
NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center, USA
Taryn Laubenstein
James Cook University, Australia
Alex Little
University of California, Santa Barbara, USA
Christine Madliger
University of Windsor & Carleton University, Canada
Christina Pasparakis
University of Miami, USA
Essie Rodgers
University of California, Davis, USA
Jodie Rummer (Section Editor)
James Cook University, Australia
Sean Tomlinson
Curtin University, Australia
Erin Walsh
Australian National University, Australia