Temperature Relations

Chapter 4

1
 Microclimates
• Macroclimate: Large scale weather variation.
• Microclimate: Small scale weather variation,
usually measured over shorter time period.
 Altitude

 Higher altitude - lower temperature.

 Aspect

 North-face shaded in Northern Hemisphere.

 Offers contrasting environments.

 Vegetation

 Ecologically important microclimates.

2
North

3
 Microclimates
• Ground Color
 Darker colors absorb more visible light.

• Boulders / Burrows
 Create shaded, cooler environments.

4
 Temperature Response of
Metabolic Processes
• Enzymes:
 Optimum temperature.

 Multiples isozymes with different optima.

• Complex Processes:
 Photosynthetic optimal temperature.

 Acclimation within species (physiological)

• Whole organism:
 Cardinal temperatures (min, optimum, max)

 Bacteria to man.
5
04_08.jpg

6
Optimal Photosynthetic Temperatures

7
8
 Body Temperature Regulation
• Poikilotherms
 Body temperature varies directly with

environmental temperature.
• Ectotherms
 Rely mainly on external energy sources.

 Behavior and anatomical features used.

• Endotherms
 Rely heavily on metabolic energy.

 Homeotherms maintain a relatively constant

internal environment (birds and mammals)

9
 Balancing Heat Gain Against Heat Loss

• HS = Hm + Hcd + Hcv + Hr - He

 HS = Total heat stored in an organism

 Hm = Gained via metabolism
 Hcd = Gained / lost via conduction
 Hcv = Gained / lost via convection
 Hr = Gained / lost via electromag. radiation
 He = Lost via evaporation
10
Heat Exchange Pathways

11
Temperature Regulation by Plants
(ectothermy)

12
13
14
15
 Temperature Regulation by Animals
(ectothermy)
• Move to …. (e.g. Angilletta’s lizards)
• Pigmentation (e.g. Curruther’s grasshoppers)

16
Temperature Regulation by Endothermic Animals

• Cooling:
 Anatomical features.

 Evaporative cooling.

• Thermal neutral zone is the range of environmental

temperatures over which the metabolic rate of a
homeothermic animal does not change.
 Breadth of TNZ varies among endotherms.

 Tropics narrow TNZ

 Polar broad TNZ

17
Thermal Neutral Zones

18
 Endotherms Surviving Extreme Temperatures

• Inactivity
 Seek shelter during extreme periods.

• Reducing Metabolic Rate

 Hummingbirds enter a state of torpor

when food is scarce and night temps are

extreme.
 Hibernation - Winter

 Estivation - Summer

19
Countercurrent Heat Exchange

20
http://www.bio.davidson.edu/Courses/anphys/2000/CrawfordR/ccbloodflow.htm

21
Temperature Regulation by Endothermic Animals

• Warming Insect Flight Muscles

 Bumblebees maintain temperature of

thorax between 30o and 37o C regardless

of air temperature and flight activity.
 Sphinx moths (Manduca sexta) increase

thoracic temperature due to flight activity.

 Thermoregulates by transferring heat

from the thorax to the abdomen

22
Temperature Regulation by Thermogenic Plants

• Almost all plants are poikilothermic

ectotherms.
 Plants in family Araceae use metabolic

energy to heat flowers.

 Skunk Cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus)

stores large quantities of starch in large

root, and then translocate it to the
inflorescence where it is metabolized thus
generating heat.

23
Eastern Skunk Cabbage

24
 Sources for images
• http://astrosun.tn.cornell.edu/~shami/smoky/lizard.jpg
• http://www.sf.airnet.ne.jp/~yasuda/main/greenland/mo02.jpg
• http://www.gotostcroix.com/hiking/images/cactus.jpg
• http://wenlin.network.com.tw/goat/Old_Data/~english/alpine_plant/450/plant_29.
JPG
• http://
www.americansouthwest.net/slot_canyons/photographs700/creosotebush.jpg
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Bumblebee_closeup_cropped.jpg

25