Chapter 39

How Do Animals
Breathe?

Why Do We Breathe?
 Animals get most of their energy from
cellular respiration, which requires
oxygen
 Oxygen is mainly used for the chemical
process of breaking down fuel molecule,
producing CO2 and releasing energy.

C6H6O6 + 6 O2  30 ATP + 12 H2O + 6 CO2

basic
Glucose energy
form

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 What is the respiration?

 Respiration is a process of uptaking

oxygen from the environment and
releasing the waste gas, carbon
dioxide, to the environment.
 Oxygen must be distributed to all
cells of the body
 Aquatic animals use gills; terrestrial
animals use lungs to exchange
oxygen and carbon dioxide

How do the physics of gases

and liquids determine the
structure of gills and lungs?

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 Oxygen uptake

 Oxygen can only be taken by the

body when dissolved in water
 Land animals must have wet surface
in lungs for oxygen to dissolve into
the blood
 Aquatic animals can extract oxygen
directly from water

Mechanism of Respiration

 21% of air is oxygen

 Mechanism of gas exchange:
 Diffusion of gases from areas of high
pressure and concentration to areas of
low pressure and concentration

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 Gas Pressure
 Gas molecules are far apart
 Speed of gas molecules depends on
temperature
 Gas molecules exert force on
surfaces when they strike the
surface — pressure
 Pressure depends on number of
molecules and their speed
(temperature)

Partial Pressure

 Each type of gas molecule exerts a

separate pressure
 The pressure exerted by each type of
molecule is its partial pressure

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 Equilibrium
 Gas molecules can dissolve in liquid
 Gas molecules can also escape from
the liquid — evaporation
 Equilibrium is reached when the
number of molecules escaping is the
same as the number dissolving
 Concentration at equilibrium depends
on partial pressure and temperature

Surface Area
 Rate at which gas molecules
dissolve in a liquid depends on
temperature, partial pressure and
surface area
 Molecules diffuse from high
concentration to low concentration
 Large surface area will increase
rate of diffusion

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 Surface to Volume Ratio

 Small organisms have high surface to

volume ratio
 Large animals must increase surface
area with special structures for gas
exchange
 Evagination — surface folded outward;
invagination — surface folded inward

Respiration over cell

and skin surfaces

 Single cells (aquatic): exchange

gases across membrane surfaces
by diffusion
 Aquatic multicelled animals: large
surface area of outer layer of cells
used as respiratory surfaces
 Some animals: Respiration through
skin supplemented by lungs or gills

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Respiration using special organs

Large multicellular animals meet

increased oxygen needs by
using:
 Tracheal systems

 Gills

 Lungs

Insect Respiration

 Does not move oxygen in

circulation, does not have lungs
or gills
 Uses trachea, opens passages to
body cells

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 Tracheal System

 The tracheal system (invagination of

body surface) is a branching
network of microscopic air-filled
tubes (trachea).
 The air enters through openings of
tracheal system called spiracles.

Trachea originate at spiracle and

interconnect to form a pair of longitudinal
trunks that extend the length of thorax
and abdomen.

The tracheoles end

with moist epithelium,
where the oxygen
and carbon dioxide
exchange takes
place.

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 Gills System

 Gillsare evagination of body

surface (a turning outward) used
by large aquatic animals for
oxygen/CO2 exchange (or
respiration )

Gill Function

 Oxygen diffuses directly from water

into surface of gills
 Animals either move water or their
gills to get oxygen-rich water
 Aquatic animals use a process called
countercurrent flow to efficiently
uptake oxygen from water

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 Terrestrial Solutions

 Gillscollapse and dry out in air,

are not rigid
 Spiders keep gills inside their
bodies — book lung — and have
supporting bars
 Some animals breathe through
skin or mouths
 Most land animals have lungs

Bird Respiration

 Air moves in one direction and is fully

oxygenated, using sacs in airways

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 Lung System
 Lungs are made up of
microscopic air sacs (an
invagination structure) that are
covered with blood vessels and
coated with a thin film of
moisture.

Lungs

 Lungsare organs for gas exchange

associated with circulation

 Internal
localization protects lungs;
they are less likely to collapse or dry
out

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 How do we breathe?

The general plan

 Breathing: movement of air into and

out of the lungs
 inspiration: taking air into the lungs
 expiration: expelling air from the lungs
 Mechanism: oxygen diffuses from
blood to tissue fluid to cells; carbon
dioxide diffuses back from cells to
blood

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 Internal respiration is the
exchange of oxygen and carbon
dioxide between the blood and
tissue fluid.
 External respiration is exchange of
gases at the lungs.

Human Respiratory System

 Lungs
 Airways
 Muscles that move air
 Circulation

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 Airways
 Air enters mouth or nose, moves to
pharynx
 Pharynx becomes trachea
 Trachea forks into bronchi
 Bronchi branch into bronchioles
 Bronchioles end at alveoli — site of gas
exchange

Airway Cells
 Epithelial cells line airways and
alveoli
 Trachea, bronchi and bronchioles
have ciliated and mucus-producing
cells
 Mucus captures dust and bacteria

 Cilia beat to move mucus up to

throat, removing dust and bacteria

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 Nasal cavity
 The air is warmed and moistened
as it swirls around in the nasal
cavities.
 The epithelial tissue covered with
tiny, hair-like projections called cilia
stays moist with a thin layer of
secreted mucus and trap dust and
particles in the air.

 The cilia beat in unison, creating a

current in the mucus that carries
the trapped particles toward the
throat.

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 The Pharynx and Larynx

 Pharynx, or throat, extends from

behind the nasal cavities to the
opening of esophagus and larynx.
 Larynx (or vocal box), a cartilaginous
box shaped like a triangle, lies at the
beginning of the trachea.
 Trachea is the air passageway that
bring the air to the lungs.

Movement of vocal cords

 Vocal cords are two folds of elastic

tissue covered with a mucous
membrane.
 Vocal cords works as a “ backup”
for the epiglottis to cover the
glottis during swallowing.

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 Vocal cords and sound

 Vocal cords also produce the

sounds as the air rushes by and
causes them to vibrate.
 Vocal cords can produce a variety
of pitches of sound.
 The mouth with lips and a tongue
to form the sounds into words.

The trachea

 The trachea is a tube-like tissue

reinforced with rings of cartilage.
 The inner walls of trachea are lined
with ciliated epithelium that
covered with a thin layer of mucus.

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 Bronchi and branches

The bronchi and their branches

 Primary bronchi: one to each
lung
 Secondary bronchi: branches to
right and left lobes of each lung

Bronchioles and Alveoli

 Respiratory bronchioles: smaller

branches of secondary bronchi
 Alveoli: clusters of tiny air sacs line
walls of bronchioles and are the
sites of gas exchange
 Single epithelial layer surrounds
alveolar sacs; network of capillaries
underneath

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 Surface Tension in Alveoli
 Surface tension of liquid covering
inside alveoli resists expansion
 Alveoli produce surfactant
(detergent) to reduce surface
tension
 Premature babies may lack
surfactant; must be provided with
substitute surfactant

Breathing

 Lungs are in the thoracic cavity

surrounded by ribs, diaphragm and fluid-
filled sac
 Alveoli are dead ends; active breathing
moves air in and out

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 Mechanics of breathing

 Inspiration: diaphragm contracts

and moves down  ribs contract 
expands cavity  reduces pressure
 air flows in
 Expiration: diaphragm relaxes and
moves up  ribs relax  volume of
cavity decreased increased
pressure forces air out

Gas in Circulation

 Transport of gases assisted by the

circulatory system
 Oxygen diffuses into red blood cells,
binds with hemoglobin
 Blood carries hemoglobin to tissues

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 O2 from blood to cells

 More oxygen in blood than in

tissues; oxygen leaves
hemoglobin in blood and moves
to tissue fluid and then to cells
by diffusion

CO2 from cells to blood

 More carbon dioxide in tissues

than in blood; CO2 is converted to
bicarbonate in blood and moves
to lungs

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 Gas Exchange
 Epithelial cells of alveoli are thin to
allow diffusion of oxygen and carbon
dioxide
 Capillaries surround alveoli to increase
surface area
 Plasma from blood leaks into alveoli to
wet surfaces

Tobacco Smoke
 Tar blocks surfaces of lung, causes
mutations
 Nicotine paralyzes cilia, eventually
destroying them
 Smoke irritates lungs, which secrete
extra mucus
 Must cough to clear lungs; bacteria and
viruses accumulate
 Coughing breaks alveoli, decreasing
surface area

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 Smoker’
s cough
 The mucus and cilia work together
as an “ up escalator”for any
particles or microbes existed.

A chronic cough, often called smoker’s

cough, is triggered by accumulations of
mucus below the larynx.

How does hemoglobin pick

up oxygen in the lungs
and drop it off in the
tissues?

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 Hemoglobin

 Invertebrates have oxygen-carrying

pigments (hemocyanin) dissolved in blood
 Vertebrates have hemoglobin in red blood
cells
 Hemoglobin is 4 peptide chains, each with a
heme group that binds 1 oxygen

Hemoglobin Loading
 Hemoglobin changes shape to bind
and release oxygen
 At high partial
pressure of
oxygen,
hemoglobin
binds
 At low partial
pressure,
releases

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 Other Factors
 Hemoglobin’
s affinity for oxygen is
affected by pH; acidity decreases
affinity
 Bound carbon dioxide decreases
affinity for oxygen
 BPG decreases affinity for oxygen

 Active cells induce release of

oxygen from hemoglobin

How do blood and the

lungs rid the tissues of
waste carbon dioxide?

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 Carbon Dioxide Transport
 Carbon dioxide (CO2) is waste
product of cellular respiration
 CO2 is carried in blood in three
ways:
 Dissolved in plasma
 Combines with hemoglobin
 Forms bicarbonate
 In
the lungs, diffuses into alveoli,
exhaled

Oxygen Homeostasis
 Increases breathing rate with
exertion
 At high altitudes (oxygen partial
pressure is lower), makes more
red blood cells and hemoglobin
with hormone erythropoietin
 Increases levels of BPG

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 Regulation of Breathing
 Receptors in brain stem detect acid
levels of blood
 Carbon dioxide as bicarbonate
releases hydrogen ions, decreases
pH
 Stimulates deeper and more rapid
breathing
 Brain stem controls heart rate

Health Connections

 Choking:A common respiratory

emergency

 Chronic obstructive pulmonary

disease

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Choking: A common respiratory
emergency

 Choking: foreign object becomes

lodged in the glottis, larynx or
trachea
 Heimlich maneuver
 no sound means no air can pass
 quick sharp upward abdominal
thrusts should clear blockage

Chronic obstructive pulmonary

disease
A group of disorders that blocks
airways and impairs breathing
 Chronic bronchitis: inflammation of
the bronchi and bronchioles
 Emphysema (肺氣腫): mucus plugs
prevent air movement out of
alveoli; have coughing, alveolar
rupture and loss of elasticity

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 Key Concepts
 Most animals use gills or lungs to obtain
oxygen and dispose of carbon dioxide
 Gills and lungs have large, wet surface
areas that increase the exchange of
oxygen and carbon dioxide
 In mammals, the diaphragm and the
muscles of the rib cage pull air into
airways that lead to oxygen-absorbing
surfaces

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