Animal Environmental Adaptation Flashcards
Overwintering Physiology of Insects in
Arctic and Subarctic Alaska:
Strategies of Freeze Tolerance and Freeze Avoidance
Supercooling Graph
When a liquid freezes and changes phase into a solid, free-energy is released as heat that creates an exotherm.
How do organisms deal with variation in temperature?
–Regulation
- Homeotherm – animal that maintains constant body temperature
- Poikilotherm – animal with variable body temperature
–Source of body heat
- Endotherm – animal whose primary source of body heat is metabolism
- Ectotherm - animal whose primary source of body heat is the environment
Ectothermy
•Ecological advantages
–Less food, water needed
–Energy/water demands decrease in cold, when food/water availability low
–Poor habitats are still potentially viable living spaces
–Can withstand periods of drought/famine
–Can be small
•Disadvantages
–Vulnerable to predation when cold
–Low aerobic capacity (can’t sprint)
Endothermy
•Ecological advantages
–High aerobic activity possible
–Can more easily be nocturnal
–Can escape from predators at range of temperatures
•Disadvantages
–Constant supply of abundant food and water needed
–Food/water demands increase when weather cold, food/water availability low
–Limits habitats available
–Trouble being small
Ectothermic poikilotherms
In Ectothermic poikilotherms metabolism and Tb vary with environmental temperature
Endothermic homeotherms
Endothermic homeotherms use metabolism to regulate Tb
Aqargiq
Endothermy and Animals Graph