2.4 Conformers and Regulators Flashcards
What is an abiotic factor
A non-living factor
What are examples of abiotic factors
Temperature, Salinity, pH
What is a conformer
Organisms that conform and adapt to their external environment
What is a conformers internal environment dependant on
The abiotic factors in its external factors
What is a conformer advantage
Low metabolic cost, they do not use energy to maintain internal state
What is a conformer disadvantage
Restricted to narrow eco-logical niche and less adaptable to environmental change
What is a regulator
Organisms that maintain their metabolic state themselves
How do regulators control their internal environment
They employ physiological means
What is a regulator advantage
They are able to exploit a wide range of ecological niches
What is a regulator disadvantage
Animals has to expend energy to maintain their internal environment
What do behavioural responses allow for in conformers
Allows them to tolerate variation in their external environment to maintain optimum metabolic rate
What is homeostasis
The maintenance of the body’s internal environment within limits despite the external environment
What is negative feedback
Regulation of the body’s internal environment
Explain how negative feedback work
When a body’s internal environment deviates from ‘normal’ its is detected by receptors
What do receptors do
They send hormonal or nervous impulses
What do effectors do
They act to return the internal environment back to ‘normal’
What is thermoregulation
The use of negative feedback in regulation of body temperature in mammals
What is the main role of the hypothalamus
A part of the brain that contains thermoreceptors and receives impulses from receptors in the skin
What are 2 more roles of the hypothalamus
To sense the temperature of blood and send appropriate impulses to effectors to trigger corrective feedback
What happens when the body temperature decreases
Shivering, Vasoconstriction, Hair erector muscles contract and increased metabolic rate
What happens when the body temperature increase
Sweating, Vasodilation and decreased metabolic rate
What is vasoconstriction
Decreased blood flow to skin decreases heat loss
What is vasodilation
Increased blood flow to skin increases heat loss
What is an advantage of maintaining constant body temperature
So it is the optimum temperature for enzyme activity
