Essay:  Well done!  I was very pleased with the overall standard of the essays this semester and believe that you can all give yourselves a pat on the back.  The winner of the prize for best essay was LORI HAARMAN for her essay on 'The physiological adaptations of diving birds and mammals'  Lori will recieve a $25 book voucher at Barnes & Noble and a small certificate for her efforts.

Reading assignments:
          There will be four reading assignments during this course.  Each assignment is worth 2.5% of your final grade making a total of 10%.

Reading Assignment 1:  Kitaysky, Wingfield & Piatt  (1999)  Dynamics of food availability, body condition & physiological stress response in breeding black-legged kittiwakes.  Functional Ecology 13: 577-584.  Click here for the paper.  Click here for the question sheet.
This assignment is due at 5 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2004

Reading Assignment 2:  Halsey, Reed, Woakes & Butler  (2003)  The influence of oxygen and carbon dioxide on diving behaviour of Tufted Ducks, Aythya fuligula.  Physiological and Biochemical Zoology 76: 436-446.  Click here for the paper.  Click here for the question sheet.
This assignment is due at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 17 March 2004

Reading Assignment 3:   Wright P.A.  (1995)  Nitrogen excretion: three end products, many physiological roles.  Journal of Experimental Biology  198: 273-281.  Click here for the paper.  Click here for the question sheet.
This assignment is due at 5 p.m. on Monday, 5 April 2004

Reading Assignment 4:  Bakken, G.S., Williams, J.B. and R.E. Ricklefs (2002)  Metabolic response to wind of downy chicks of Arctic-breeding shorebirds (Scolopacidae).   Journal of Experimental Biology 205: 3435-3443.  Click here for the paper.  Click here for the question sheet.
This assignment is due at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 April 2004