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Environmental control of seasonal breeding: a common final mechanism governing seasonal breeding and sexual maturation

  • Chapter
Environmental Factors in Mammal Reproduction

Part of the book series: Biology and Environment ((SBES))

Abstract

One of the more fascinating aspects of the reproductive process is the pattern of seasonal breeding. In a way, the evolution of seasonal breeding is not surprising since natural selection processes should favour survival of those species of which the offspring are born during the season best suited for meeting the challenges of the environment. What is intriguing about the process is that seasonal breeders have acquired the capacity for successively turning their reproductive system on and off, a reversible fertility which may be viewed as Nature’s own contraceptive (Lincoln and Short, 1980).

Dr Fred J. Karsch received his Ph.D. degree in Animal Science from the University of Illinois in 1970 and then took two years of postdoctoral study at the University of Pittsburgh. In 1972, he joined the faculty of the Reproductive Endocrinology Program at The University of Michigan where he is currently appointed as Associate Professor in the Department of Pathology. His research has focused on the neuroendocrine and environmental regulation of the ovarian cycle and seasonal breeding.

Dr Douglas L. Foster spent two years as a postdoctoral fellow in the Reproductive Endocrinology Program at The University of Michigan following graduate training at the University of Illinois. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Animal Physiology in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and is jointly appointed to the Division of Biological Sciences at The University of Michigan. His current interests include the endocrinology of sexual maturation and environmental influences on reproductive endocrine function.

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Authors
  1. Dr Fred J. Karsch
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  2. Dr Douglas L. Foster
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Physiology, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland

    Desmond Gilmore

  2. University Department of Steroid Biochemistry, Royal Infirmary, Glasgow, Scotland

    Brian Cook

Copyright information

© 1981 Dr Fred J. Karsch and Dr Douglas L. Foster

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Karsch, F.J., Foster, D.L. (1981). Environmental control of seasonal breeding: a common final mechanism governing seasonal breeding and sexual maturation. In: Gilmore, D., Cook, B. (eds) Environmental Factors in Mammal Reproduction. Biology and Environment. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-03964-7_3

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