Office Location
226 Russell Laboratories
1630 Linden Dr
Madison, WI 53706
Professor Karasov’s undergraduate education in Biology was at University of Minnesota (1971-1975), and he was in graduate school in Biology at University of California, Los Angeles (U.C.L.A. 1975-1981), where he received his Ph.D. From 1980-1984 he was a postdoctoral associate in the Physiology Department at U.C.L.A.
In 1985 he came to UW-Madison, where he is currently a Professor. His primary campus home is in the Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, but he is also a member of other graduate programs: Molecular and Environmental Toxicology Center (METC), Department of Zoology, Gaylord Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, Interdepartmental Graduate Program in Nutritional Sciences (IGPNS).
Professor Karasov is interested in the physiological ecology of terrestrial vertebrates, particularly the ecological implications of how they process energy, nutrients, and toxins.
Nutritional ecology
The relationships between the nutrient requirements of animals and the nutritional value of their food resources potentially affect diet selection, productivity, and survival. Professor Karasov and his students have performed laboratory and field studies on the nutritional ecology of several species of mammals and birds in order to explore the significance of nutrition in their ecology. This work includes studies of how antiherbivory chemicals in plants affect food selection, digestion, physiology, and population biology of herbivores.
Digestive ecology
Vertebrates differ considerably in the types of foods that they consume, but little is known of the physiological adaptations required for effective utilization of alternate food types. Professor Karasov and his students are studying the digestive physiology of animals with different dietary habits (such as carnivores, herbivores, omnivores, frugivores, and nectarivores) and also how digestive features vary over the short-term (i.e., within a species) and between species (i.e., over evolutionary time).
Ecological energetics
All organisms need energy, and many activities of animals are centered around how to get, process it, and conserve it. Professor Karasov and his students are studying the energetics of free-living animals using doubly labeled water, micrometeorology, telemetry, and direct observation of behavior. They are documenting the physical, physiological, and behavioral factors which affect energy intake and expenditure, and the relationships between foraging behavior and reproductive success.
Wildlife Toxicology
Animals living in or feeding from the Great Lakes are exposed to a number of pollutants, notably halogenated organic compounds and heavy metals. Professor Karasov and his students are participating in studies to determine the level of exposure of fish-eating birds and amphibians, and whether the exposure causes physiological and behavioral dysfunction and effects on population biology.