Lecture 1 Flashcards
What are the third things that make up animal ecophysiology?
. The physiology of the animal- so classic comparative animal physiology, how an animal is able to do that
. Animal behaviour- what the animal does
. Ecology- where the animal does it
What does animal ecophysiology do with the 3 things (physiology, behaviour and ecology) that make it up?
Takes all these factors into account and then late on top of that the impacts of different environmental factors such as temperature, wind speed, light levels and how those impact the animals and how the physiology changes and how they are able to adapt to different conditions
What does animal ecophysiology study? NEED TO CUT THIS DOWN BUT NOT SURE HOW TO
How animals work and survive within their natural environments, how they are able to cope with the varying conditions that they encounter throughout their lives.
How animals are able to cope with harsh conditions and particular physiological stresses within the environment and help explain some of the mechanisms behind the processes.
Has the potential to help understand certain pathological conditions in humans.
Understanding the capabilities and limits informs us of the threats to different species
What could we use animal ecophysiology for?
Use things that animals do in the wild that we can’t do to help ourselves e.g. medicine or how we can compete with them e.g. in fisheries and then competition between humans and seals for fish
How can ecophysiology be used in fisheries?
Can be used to find out how much fish they need to survive and then we can work out if we need to reduce our fisheries
Explain the example of the ecophysiological study Bewick’s swans
Swan foraging in the north of the Netherlands (Lauwesmeet)- one of the stop off points to refuel when they are migrating.
They feed on tubers in the mud, and then move on from doing that and go into the sugar beet fields.
There is a difference between these two habitats, when they are feeding on tubers they are in the water and are safe but then when they go into the land they are at risk.
So this is the decision they have to make between getting the food they require and that predation risk and then at some point they have to make the decision to move on
What is wrong with this ‘oxygen consumption = metabolism rate = energy expenditure’ statement?
Oxygen consumption does not strictly mean metabolic rate. Metabolic rate includes energy that is changed though other processes
Most of ecology is about metabolism… what does this mean?
The ways that organisms use energy and materials
What are ecological interactions?
Are exchanges of energy and material between organisms and their environment
What do the predicted energy requirements of individuals vary with?
Their body size
How do we know the metabolic rates affect ecological processes at all levels: individuals, populations, communities and ecosystems?
Because ecological interactions are exchanges of energy and material between organisms and their environment
‘All animals must conform to the laws of thermodynamics’ what does this mean?
. Energy can be converted from one form to another, but it can be neither created nor destroyed
. During energy transformations some energy is degraded to a more random form- heat (entropy)
Why is some of the metabolise energy lost?
Because it costs energy to transform the energy coming in
What is SDA (also known as Hear Increment of feeding (HIF) or Dietary Induced Thermogenesis (DIT)?
The assimilation efficiency is the proportion of the energy that is invested that can be potentially utilised by the animal
