Vocabulary:

• Physiology: Functions of tissues organs, and organ systems

• Metabolism: The sum total of all the chemical reactions in an organism, including absorption and digestion. Extracts energy, stores ,it, and uses it. Important to understand in vertebrates

• Catabolism: A kind of metabolism, breaks down stored potential energy, results in simple products/molecules and energy

• Anabolism: A process of metabolism, the body utilizes the energy released by breaking down foodstuff to repair, regenerate, and grow

• Metabolic rate (MR): A unit of energy used by an animal per a unit of time, whether than be conversion into heat or the amount of oxygen that an animal consumes, tends to increase with the size of an organism

• Basal metabolic rate (BMR): Amount of oxygen consumed per gram of animal per hour. The smaller the mammal, the smaller the metabolism as they need to keep warm

• Assimilation efficiency: The percentage of consumed energy that is digested. Calculated by assimilation=ingestion-excretion. Also known as secondary production, or how much of the consumed energy is actually used. Can be really low with plants, as they are harder to digest. Carnivores have an easier time digesting, and therefore a higher level of this.

• Secondary production: When an organism eats another organism and gains energy

• Gross Production Efficiency: The percentage of consumed energy that is put towards growth and reproduction. Ectotherms have a higher amount of this, as compared to endotherms, as less energy needs to be used for heat and homeostasis

• Body size: Effects metabolic rate, the larger the easier it is to hold in heat for an endotherm

• Kleiber’s Law: Metabolic rate increases with size, but not at a constant proportion, more like 1:0.75

• Reaction rate: Increased with increased temperatures for endotherms

• Metabolic efficiency: For endotherms, large carnivorous organisms have the highest, herbivores have a medium amount, and small organism have the slowest. This leads to smaller endotherms consuming more

• Ecological service: How different metabolic rates impact animal activity, which is used for human gain (like birds that naturally pick off insects to eat and feed their young helping farmers by reducing the need for insecticides)

Endothermic vertebrates can regulate their internal temperature through metabolism, which allows them to live in areas with colder climates. Endothermy is harder to maintain than ectothermy, but 80 of what is eaten is used to keep warm.

Ectotherms don’t need to eat as much to survive, but they cannot regulate their temperatures by themselves which limits the habitats that they can live in. Easier to maintain

Smaller ectotherms change temperature very easily, and require less food. The high surface area means they can put most of their energy towards growth and reproduction