M3, C8 Transport in Animals Flashcards
What is transport
the movement of oxygen, nutrients, hormones, waste and heat around the body.
Why do animals need a transport system?
High Metabolic demand, ie need lots of oxygen and food, produce lots of waste, diffusion over long distances is not enough
SA:Vol ratio gets smaller as multicellular organisms get bigger (diffusion distances get bigger and the SA available to absorb/remove substances is small)
Movement of hormones/enzymes
Food digested in one organ, needs to be transported to all cells
Waste products of metabolism need to be removed from cells and excreted
what makes a good transport system?
fluid/medium (blood)
a pump
exchange surfaces
tubes/vessels
what is a mass transport system
when substances are transported in a mass of fluid with a mechanism for moving the fluid around
what is a closed circulatory system
In a closed circulatory system, blood is fully enclosed within blood vessels at all times.
From the heart, blood is pumped through a series of progressively smaller vessels. In the smallest vessels, capillaries, substances diffuse in and out of the blood and into cells.
Blood then returns to the heart via a series of progressively larger vessels.
what is an open circulatory system
An open circulatory system consists of a heart that pumps a fluid called haemolymph through short vessels and into a large cavity called the haemocoel.
In the haemocoel, the haemolymph directly bathes organs and tissues, enabling the diffusion of substances.
The transport medium is under low pressure.
Haemolymph moves around the haemocoel due to the movement of the organism.
what are the similarities between the open and closed circularity systems?
Liquid transport medium
Vessels to transport the medium
Pumping mechanism to move the fluid
what are the differences between the open and closed circulatory systems?
Open has few vessels, closed has a transport medium enclosed in vessels
Open transport medium is pumped into body cavity (haemocoel) under low pressure, in closed heart pumps blood around under high pressure
In open, transport medium directly contacts the body cells, in closed no direct contact between medium and cells
In open transport medium returns to heart through open ended vessels in closed blood flows relatively fast and returns to heart all within vessels
what are examples of organisms that have an open circulatory system and organisms with a closed circulatory system
Closed:
All vertebrates (fish and mammals)
Open:
Invertebrates (insects)
what is a single circulatory system
The blood flows through the heart and is pumped out to travel all around the body before returning to the heart
Ie. Blood goes once through the heart for each complete circuit of the body
For example fish – the heart pumps blood to the gills to pick up oxygen and then on through the body to deliver oxygen.
what is a double circulatory system
The blood travels twice through the heart for each circuit of the body
For example in mammals – the heart is divided down the middle
what is the advantage with a double circulatory system
The main advantage is that the heart can give an extra push between the lungs and the rest of the body, making the blood travel faster, so oxygen is delivered quicker to the cells
what are arteries
transport blood away from the heart
blood is pumped out of the heart at high pressure so arteries are structured to withstand and maintain high pressure
what are the 4 layers in arteries and in veins
connective tissue, smooth muscle, endothelium and lumen
veins are the same but have valves
what is the connective layer in arteries
(aka tunica externa)
tissue consists mainly of tough collagen fibres which provide strength and durability
what is the smooth muscle layer in arteries
elastic tissue and smooth muslce forms the thickest layer in the artery
(aka tunica media)
enables the artery to flex and withstand and maintain high blood pressure
what is the lumen layer in the artery
narrow to maintain high blood pressure
what is the connective layer and smooth muscle in veins
thinner than arteries because don’t need to withstand high blood pressure
what is the lumen layer in veins
relatively large compared to artery because they don’t need to maintain high blood pressure
why do veins need valves
to prevent the backflow of blood away from the heart
also help prevent blood from pooling in the lower parts of the body due to gravity
what are capillaries
branch off from arterioles and are the smallest blood vessels
form capillary beds which function to bring the blood as close to cells as possible to enable the efficient exchange of substances
thin lumen - slows blood flow for diffusion
one cell thick endothelium
basement membrane anchors capillaries in position within tissues
what are arterioles
branch off from arteries
similar in structure to arteries but have less elastic tissue and more smooth muscle. this enables them to constrict and reduce blood flow through capillaries
what are venules
they drain blood from capillary beds and feed it back into veins. they contain smooth muscle and can constrict like arterioles to control blood flow through capillaries
how does blood flow through veins
as skeletal muscles relax, blood pushes back against the valves, causing them to close and prevent the blood from being forced away from the heart again. as skeletal muscles contract, blood beyond the site of contraction is forced towards the heart, opening the valves. valves behind the site of contraction prevent blood from being forced away from the heart.
What is in blood?
consists of plasma containing: dissolved glucose amino acids mineral ions hormones proteins (including albumin, globulins and fibrinogen) red blood cells white blood cells platelets
what are platelets
fragments of large cells called megakaryocytes found in red bone marrow
involved in blood clotting mechanism - prevents blood loss after injury
what is are the 7 functions of blood?
To transport:
- oxygen to, carbon dioxide from, the respiring cells
- digested food from the small intestine
- nitrogenous waste products from the cells to the excretory organs
- chemical messages (hormones)
- food molecules from storage compounds to the cells that need them
- platelets to damaged areas
- cells and antibodies involved in the immune response
what else does blood contribute to
maintenance of a steady body temperature and acts as a buffer, minimising pH changes
what is osmosis
is the diffusion of water. It is the net movement of water molecules from a region of high water potential to a region of low water potential, through a partially-permeable membrane.
what is tissue fluid
The fluid that surrounds cells in tissues
Made from substances that leave the blood plasma (oxygen, glucose, nutrients)
But NO red blood cells or big proteins, they are too big to get through the small holes (fenestrations) in the capillary wall
what is lymph
Excess tissue fluid gets returned to the blood through the lymphatic system (10%)
Fluid is transported by squeezing of muscles and valves stop lymph going backwards
Similar composition to plasma and tissue fluid, but less oxygen and fewer nutrients.
what are the three components of lymph
lymph vessels
lymph capillaries
lymph nodes