Gas Exchange in

Animals and Plants

Gas Exchange in
Animals
 The uptake of molecular oxygen
from the environment and the
discharge of carbon dioxide to
the environment. Respiratory Surface
 Enables you to harvest energy
1. Tracheal System (Insects)
from the food molecules the
 Trachea, tracheoles, and
digestive system provided you.
spiracles.
 Carbon dioxide must be released
 Spiracles are round valve-
to prevent physiological ph in
like openings, running along
tissues from being acidic
the abdomen. Oxygen and
 It is often called respiratory Carbon dioxide enter and
exchange. leave via the spiracles. The
trachea attach to these
openings.
 The trachea is a network of
internal tubes.
 The trachea branch into
smaller tubes, called
 The part of the animal’s body tracheoles. These extend
where gas exchange with the throughout all the tissues in
environment occurs is called the insects to deliver oxygen
respiratory surface. to all respiring cells.
 Respiratory surfaces are made up
of living cells, their plasma
membrane must be wet to
function properly. Thus,
respiratory surfaces are always
moist.
 Gas exchange happens in
diffusion.
 Diffusion is the process whereby
gaseous atoms and molecules are
transferred from regions of
relatively high concentration to
regions of relatively low
concentration.

2. Cutaneous Respiration
 Breathing through skin.
 Integumentary exchange –
refers to the general body
surface or skin used by
animals with high surface-
to-volume radio.

3.
 Respiration in Frogs
 Tadpoles use gills to
respire.
 Frog don’t have gills
and they have to use
another factors for
respiration such:
 Skin
 Lungs
 Lining of mouth
 Respiration of Earthworms
 Use their outer surfaces
as gas exchange
surface.
 Have a series of thin-
walled blood vessels
known as capillaries.
 Respiration in Unicellular
Organisms
 The distance is so small
that diffusion is rapid
enough for the cell’s
needs.
Internal Gills
 Rows of slits or pockets in
adult fishes positioned at the
back of mouth such that
water that enters the mouth
can flow over them as it
exits just behind the head.
 Respiration via 4 pairs of
Gills
 Gills are tissues made
up of feathery structures
called gill filaments
providing a large
surface area for
exchange of gases.
 A large surface area is
crucial for gas exchange
in aquatic organisms as
water contains very
little amount of
dissolved oxygen. The
filaments in fish gills
are organized in rows in
the gill arch. Each
filament comprises
lamellae, which are
discs supplied with
capillaries. Blood
moves in and out of the
gills through these small
blood vessels.
  Gills on each side
covered by single, flap-
like operculum.
 The blood absorbs the oxygen,
and then carries it around the
body to every cell where it is
needed for respiration.
 The blood flows through the
blood vessels in the opposite
direction to the water flowing
through the lamellae. This is
called the counter-current
system.
 The counter-current system
allows the maximum amount of
oxygen to diffuse into the blood
from the water available. This
is important because there isn't
much oxygen in the water, and
fish need to absorb enough
oxygen to survive.
4. External Gills
 Thin, vascularized epidermis
that project from the body
surface of a few amphibians.
 When water passes over the
gills, the dissolved oxygen
in the water rapidly diffuses
across the gills into the
bloodstream. The circulatory
system can then carry the
oxygenated blood to the
other parts of the body.
5. Avian
 Use a system of air sacs as
blower to keep air flowing
through the lungs in one
direction only.
 Consists of paired lungs, and
connected air sacs, which
expand and contract causing
air to move through the
lungs.
 Facilitates efficient
exchange of carbon dioxide
and oxygen via continuous
unidirectional (one-way)
airflow and air sacs.
 A breath of oxygen-rich
inhaled air remains in the
respiratory system for two
complete inhalation and
exhalation cycles before it is
used and exhaled out the
body.
 First inhalation. As the bird
inhales, fresh air flows into
the posterior air sacs and
partly into the lungs.
 First exhalation. As the bird
exhales, air from the
posterior air sacs is forced
into the lungs.

 Second inhalation. Air from
the first breath moves into
the lungs. Air from the
second inhalation flows into
the posterior sacs.
 Second exhalation. Most of
the air from the first
inhalation leaves the body,
and the air from the second
inhalation flows into the
lungs.
Gas Exchange in Plants
1. Stomata
 Tiny openings present on the
epidermis of leaves.
 An important role in gaseous
exchange and photosynthesis.
 Facilitate not only the uptake of
CO2 but also the exchange of all
gases between the aerial parts
of the plant and the atmosphere.
Water vapour and oxygen
molecules exit the leaf through
the same path as CO2 enters.
 The gases diffuse into the
intercellular spaces of the
leaf through pores, which
are normally on the
underside of the leaf –
stomata, from these spaces
they will diffuse into the
cells that require them.
 Respiration occurs
throughout the day and
night, providing the plant
with a supply of
energy. Photosynthesis can
only occur during sunlight
hours so it stops at night. A
product of respiration is
carbon dioxide.
 This can be used directly by
the plant in photosynthesis.
 During the day,
photosynthesis can be going
10 or even 20 times faster
than respiration, so the
stomata must stay open so
that the plant has enough
carbon dioxide, most of
which diffuses in from the
external atmosphere.
2. Lenticels
  Circular groups of
protruding air-filled cells
with opening (stomata).
3. Root Hairs
surface and facilitate the
aeration necessary for root
respiration in hydrophytic
trees such as many
mangrove species.

 Long tubular-shaped
outgrowths from root
epidermal cells. In
arabidopsis, root hairs are
approximately 10 mm in
diameter and can grow to be
1 mm or more in length.
 They vastly increase the root
surface area and effectively
increase the root diameter,
root hairs are generally
thought to aid plants in
nutrient acquisition,
anchorage, and microbe
interactions.

4. Pneumatophores
 Specialized root structures
that grow out from the water