Thermoregulation

HSC Biology
Module 9.2 Maintaining a Balance
 Textbook References
BIOLOGY IN CONTEXT: The Spectrum of Life –
Peter Aubusson & Eileen Kennedy, Oxford Press,2001
Sections 5.5 (pp 241 -246) & 5.6 (pp 247 -251).

Heinemann BIOLOGY – Kate Moodie & Judith

Brotherton, Heinemann, 2000
Section 5.1 pp 229 – 237.

Macmillan BIOLOGY -
 Review: Limiting Factors

Limiting Factor: Any environmental resource

that, because it is scarce or unfavourable, limits
the ecological niche of an organism.
Temperature as a Limiting Factor
Two major effects:
1. Influences rates of chemical
reactions
2. Changes biochemical
structure eg. enzymes, and
therefore their function
 Corals – Temperature Sensitive
Organisms
Corals species live within a
relatively narrow temperature
margin. (Approx 23 - 26oC on
average - different species
have acclimitized to different
temperatures)
All reef corals are very
sensitive to changes in water
temperature.
Increases in temperature as
apparently small as one
degree above long term
patterns causes coral
bleaching.
 Thermoregulation
• Definition: Thermoregulation – the process by which
animals maintain internal temperature within a tolerable
range.
• Rates of chemical reactions mediated by enzymes
increase 2 - 3 fold for every 10 degree rise in
temperature until temperature gets high enough to
denature these proteins.
• Also membrane properties of cells are affected by
temperature.
• Every animal species has an optimum temperature
range.
 Ectotherms and Endotherms
• Ectotherms gain heat from environment; do not
have physiological mechanisms to regulate
temp; have low metabolic rate; thermoregulate
by behavioural means, seeking sun or shade
– Most invertebrates, fishes, amphibians, lizards,
snakes, turtles
• Endotherms gain heat from metabolism; high
metabolic rate
– Mammals, birds, some reptiles, some fish, some
insects
Ectotherm vs Endotherm
4 Physical Processes of Heat Gain & Loss
Heat is exchanged with external environment by the
following physical processes:
• Conduction- transfer of heat between objects in
direct contact with each other
• Convection- heat is conducted away from an
object of high temp to low temp by fluid.
- Rate varies with different materials
• Radiation- transfers heat between objects not in
direct contact
- sun energy
• Evaporation- change of liquid to vapour
- cooling
Heat Exchange Between an Organism and
its Environment
 Australian Ectotherm Example:
Blue-tongued Skink
• Blue-tongued skinks are
diurnal and terrestrial in
nature.
• Adult blue tongues
average about 35 to 60
cm in total length. They
have large, triangular
heads with long, fat
bodies. Their legs are
small compared to their
body size, and they have
short, stocky tails.
• (How does this relate to
temperature control?)
Blue-tongued Skink - Thermoregulation
• Blue-tongue’s
optimum temperature
is 20 - 24oC, but like all
reptiles they have no
internal heating
process, so they
must regulate their
temperature by using their external environment.
• They accomplish this by moving from one temperature
zone to another, including making use of underground burrows
(cooler).
• Ambient air temperature, digestion, pregnancy, skin-shed
cycles and illness are factors that influence their
thermoregulation.
Most Animals are Ectothermic, but
Endothermy is Widespread
• Mammals and birds generally maintain body
temperatures within a narrow range that is
usually considerably warmer than the
environment.
– Body temperature is 36 - 38oC for most mammals and
39 - 42oC for most birds.
– Because heat always flows from a warm object to
cooler surroundings, birds and mammals must
counteract the constant heat loss.
– This accounts for the higher metabolic rates of
endotherms over equivalent-sized ectotherms.
Mechanisms for Thermoregulation
• Insulation
- Fur
- Hair
- Feathers
- Fat
- Blubber
• Evaporative cooling Hippos lack sweat glands
- sweating, panting, bathing
• Shivering
• Non-shivering thermogenesis & brown fat
• Circulation adaptations
- Countercurrent exchange
- Vasodilatation (cooling)
- Vasoconstriction (heat conservation)
• Behavioural responses
 Adaptations (1) – Endothermy
• This maintenance of warm body temperatures depends on
several key adaptations.
– The most basic mechanism is the high metabolic rate of
endothermy itself.
• Endotherms can produce large amounts of metabolic heat that
replaces the flow of heat to the environment.
• They can vary heat production to match changing rates of heat
loss.
– Heat production is increased by muscle activity during
moving or shivering.
• In some mammals, non-shivering thermogenesis (NST) is
induced by certain hormones to increase their metabolic activity
and produce heat instead of ATP.
• Some mammals also have a tissue called brown fat in the neck
and between the shoulders that is specialized for rapid heat
production.
– In cold environments, mammals and birds can increase
their metabolic heat production by as much as 5 to 10
times minimal levels under warm conditions.
 Adaptations (2) – Insulation

• Another major thermoregulatory adaptation

that evolved in mammals and birds is
insulation (hair, feathers, and fat layers).
– This reduces the flow of heat and lowers the
energy cost of keeping warm.
– The insulating power of a layer
of fur or feathers mainly depends
on how much still air the layer
of fur or feathers traps.
 Adaptations (3) – Circulation

• Vasodilation and vasoconstriction

also regulate heat exchange and
may contribute to regional temperature
differences within the animal.
•
•
•
• Countercurrent mechanisms
• are used by many endotherms
• eg. whales & seals; in tails & flippers
that lack insulation.
Countercurrent Heat Exchange Mechanism
Heat is transferred from one supply (arterial blood) to
another (venous blood) without any actual mixing or
contact.
Made up of blood vessels (arteries and veins) that
run parallel to each other, but the blood flows in
opposite directions.
Warm blood in the
arteries from the body
passes very close to
cooled blood returning
from the extremities in
the veins.
Goose leg Heat transferred from
warmer blood to cooler
blood, thus conserving
body heat that would
have been lost in
extremities. Dolphin flipper
 Discovery of New Animal
Heat-Exchanger

• Recently, zoologists have discovered that the tongue

of grey whales, has counter-current heat exchangers
to minimize heat loss from this very large organ.
• Because the tongue is muscular and used in feeding,
it has very little fat for insulation and is a potential
source for major heat loss.
• Study showed that the tongue of these whales has an
extensive counter-current exchange system, used to
conserve heat while feeding in cold arctic or antarctic
waters.
 Adaptations for Endothermy (4)
• Evaporative cooling often plays a key role in
dissipating body heat.
– If environmental temperature is above body
temperature, animals gain heat from the
environment and by metabolic activity.
– Large ears of many hot climate animals act as
heat radiators
– Evaporation is often the only way to keep body
temperature from rising rapidly.
• Additional mechanisms to enhance evaporative
cooling include panting, sweat glands, bathing,
and using saliva as a water source.
 Adaptations for Endothermy (5)

Bilby ears have a rich supply of blood

vessels for heat exchange. Sweat pores in cicada’s cuticle
Elephant ears are heat radiators
Temperature Regulation in Mammals

• Shivering
• Sweating
• Fever
 Advantages of Endothermy

• Maintains stable body temp.

– cooling and heating the body
• Enables high levels of aerobic metabolism
• Sustains vigorous activity for much longer
than ectotherms eg.
• Long distance running
• Flight
 Disadvantages of Endothermy

Greater food consumption needed to

meet metabolic needs

• Human metabolic rate at 200C & at rest

1,300 to 1,800 kcal per day.
• Crocodile metabolic rate at 200C & at rest
60 kcal per day at 200C.
Tuna Counter-Current Mechanism
• Dark muscle on either side of the
vertebral column (red) is maintained
at higher temperature than rest of
body due to countercurrent heat
exchange.
• Cold, oxygen-rich arterial blood
(from gills) passes into series of fine
arteries that take the blood through Fine artery
the active muscles.
• Fine arteries lie side by side with
veins draining these muscles
[Diagram (b)]
• Cold blood picks up heat generated
by active muscles and keeps it from Vein
being lost to the surroundings.
(b) Electron micrograph of blood vessels
Brown Fat & Non-shivering Thermogenesis

Brown fat- generates heat

• important in neonates, small mammals in
cold environments, and animals that
hibernate
• Located in neck and in inner scapula area

Non-shivering Thermogenesis
• Larges amounts of heat produced by
oxidizing fatty acids in the mitochondria
 Temperature Regulation in Humans

In humans it is the core body temperature which is maintained by

homeostasis.
Allows humans to cope with a wide
range of environments.

Components of System
•1. Thermoreceptors in the skin
Receptors •2. Thermoreceptors in the
hypothalamus
The thermoregulatory centre in the
Control
hypothalamus (subdivided into heat
Centre gain centre and heat loss centre)
•Sweat glands
•Hair erector muscles
Effectors •Arterioles supplying skin capillaries
•Skeletal muscles
•Glands
Skin-based Effectors: Responding to Heat Gain

Effector Response

Arterioles The muscles relax – this is known as vasodilation. The

effect of this is to increases the blood flow to the
supplying skin surface of the skin causing increased heat loss by
capillaries radiation.
The glands secrete sweat onto the surface of the skin.
The sweat is composed mainly of water, which
Sweat glands evaporates from the skin surface. As water has a high
latent heat of evaporation the evaporating sweat
removes heat from the surface of the skin.
The muscles relax – this lowers the hairs on the skin
Hair erector surface. The hairs do not trap air when laid flat so they
muscles allow heat to be removed more easily by convection.
Skin-Based Effectors: Responding to Heat Loss

Effector Response
The muscle contracts – this is known as
Arterioles vasoconstriction. Blood flows through the shunt vessel
supplying skin as this is the path of least resistance. Less blood flows
to the surface of the skin so there is less heat loss by
capillaries radiation.

The sweat glands stop producing sweat therefore

Sweat glands stopping the heat loss of evaporating sweat.

The muscle contract – this raises the hairs on the

Hair erector surface of the skin. The effect of this is to reduce
muscles airflow therefore reducing convection of heat from the
skin.
Summary - Regulating Body Temp in Humans
Acclimatization to New Environmental
Temperatures
• Endotherms (birds and mammals): grow a thicker fur
coat in the winter and shedding it in the summer - and
sometimes by varying the capacity for metabolic heat
production seasonally.
• Ectotherms compensate for changes in body
temperature through adjustments in physiology and
temperature tolerance.
• For example, winter-acclimated catfish can only
survive temperatures at high as 28oC, but summer-
acclimated fish can survive temperatures to 36oC.
• Some ectotherms that experience subzero
body temperatures protect themselves by
producing “antifreeze” compounds
(cryoprotectants) that prevent ice formation
in the cells.
– In cold climates, cryoprotectants in the body
fluids let overwintering ectotherms, such as
some frogs and many arthropods and their
eggs, withstand body temperatures
considerably below zero.
– Cyroprotectants are also found in some Arctic
and Antarctic fishes, where temperatures can
drop below the freezing point of unprotected
body fluids (about -0.7oC).
• Cells can often make rapid adjustments to
temperature changes.
– For example, marked increases in temperature
or other sources of stress induce cells grown in
culture to produce stress-induced proteins,
including heat-shock proteins, within minutes.
– These molecules help maintain the integrity of
other proteins that would be denatured by
severe heat.
– These proteins are also produced in bacteria,
yeast, and plants cells, as well as other animals.
– These help prevent cell death when an
organism is challenged by severe changes in
the cellular environment.
 Hibernation: long-term torpor as an
adaptation to long-term winter cold and food
shortage

• Torpor in Ground Squirrels

– Body temperature: 37oC
– Metabolic rate: 85 kcal per day.
– During the eight months the squirrel is in
hibernation, its body temperature is only a few
degrees above burrow temperature and its
metabolic rate is very low.
Body Temperature and Metabolism During Hibernation