Mice oxygen consumption rate - Essay Example

Warm-blooded animals maintain thermal homeostasis via internal metabolic processes; hence, endotherms can remain active over a broad range of ambient temperature (Stanier 79). # 2 Define metabolic rate Metabolic rate refers to the amount of energy utilized in a set period. Metabolic rate represents the pace at which energy can be utilized by an organism and encompasses the integration of all catabolic energy transformations in the body, as well as the intensity and speed of life itself. The metabolic rate may be enhanced by several processes of considerable ecological significance including tissue synthesis, food processing, and physical activity.

The metabolic rate remains closely related to the rate of ATP production measured by cellular respiration (oxygen consumption or carbon dioxide production. Metabolism represents the set of life-sustaining chemical transformations in the cells of living organisms. Metabolism also refers to all chemical reactions that manifest within living organisms including transport of substances (Cannon and Nedergaard 242). # 3 Factors that affect metabolic rate The metabolic rates can be essentially determined by relatively few factors, namely: temperature, phylogenetic affinities, and mass.

The body temperature possesses pervasive impacts on biological processes via the influence of temperature on the activity of metabolically significant enzymes. The metabolic rates double or triple in the event that body temperature increases by 10°C. The absolute levels of metabolism that the temperature levels establish may be subject to acclamatory or evolutionary changes through the alteration of enzyme structure or composition. In endotherms, the impacts of the core thermal dependence may be surpassed by the physiological regulation of body temperature, which is energetically expensive ((Navas and Jose? 13). One of the primary factors impacting on metabolic rate is boy size or body mass.

The metabolic rate interspecifically relates with body mass. Individuals with greater body weight manifest a higher resting metabolism relative to smaller individual since their body would have to work “harder” to support and sustain the extra weight. This theory stipulates that, endothermic animals must metabolically generate enough body heat to balance the heat lost via their body surface if they were to maintain a constant body temperature. Phylogeny: The metabolic level differs among taxa, whereby the phylogenetic history of an animal determines the rate of energy expenditure (Navas and Jose? 15). Moreover, men usually possess less body fat and more muscles relative to women of the same weight and age, which leads to burning of more calories.

As people get older, the size of the muscle tends to reduce, which in turn slows down calories burning. # 4 How metabolic rate is dependent on the ambient external temperature The temperature of an animal relies on the amount of heat contained within the animal’s body. Animals can absorb or lose heat from or to the environment via several processes such as convection, conduction, radiation, and evaporation. The amount of heat transferred into or out of an animal hinges on the surface area, heat