2.5) Metabolism and Adverse Conditions

Question 1

• What is dormancy, what decreases and what are the two main types?

Answer 1

• ‘Dormancy’
  ➞ is part of some of organisms’ life cycle to allow survival during a period when the costs of continued metabolic activity would be too high
  ↳ conserving energy ⚡
• There is a decrease in:
  ➞ Metabolic rate (respiration) ⚡
  ➞ Heart rate 💓
  ➞ Breathing rate 🫁
  ➞ Body temperature 🌡️

1. PREDICTIVE:
   ➞ occurs before the onset of adverse conditions.
2. CONSEQUENTIAL:
   ➞ occurs after the onset of adverse conditions.

Question 2

• Describe hibernation, aestivation and daily torpor.

Answer 2

1. HIBERNATION:
   ➞ allows some mammals to survive during the winter (low temperatures) (e.g. bears)
2. AESTIVATION:
   ➞ allows survival in periods of high temperature or drought (e.g. lungfish)
3. DAILY TORPOR:
   ➞ a period of reduced activity in some animals with high metabolic rates (e.g. hamsters)

Question 3

• Describe migration and the two types of behaviours associated with it.

Answer 3

• Migration
  ➞ avoids metabolic adversity by expending energy to relocate to a more suitable environment.
• Migratory behiavour can be innate or learned:
  ➞ INNATE:
  ↳ behaviour the organism is born with and does not have to learn.
  ➞ LEARNED:
  ↳ behaviour the organism has to learn from experience.

Question 4

• What are the specialist techniques used for tracking long-distance migration?

Answer 4

1. Satellite tracking 🛰️
2. Leg rings 🛟

• The method of marking and subsequent observeration must minimise the impact on the study species.