by Meghan Matlack
Physiological ecology refers to the study of interactions that occur between an organism and its physical environment and how an organism can change their physiology, or biological functions, in response to certain environmental conditions. Organisms tend to choose their environments based on several factors, such as temperature and resources. Most of the time, however, an organism’s ideal conditions may not always be readily available in their habitat. Several organisms take advantage of certain adaptations to adjust specific functions within their bodies, such as metabolism, in response to the environmental conditions they experience.
Physiological ecology is important to study because extreme environmental changes can not only cause unfavorable changes in an organism’s physiology, but can also cause limitation of resources within the environment, leading to increased competition between organisms as well as greater restriction of environmental habitats. The organisms that we are focusing on are lungless salamanders. These salamanders breathe through their skin rather than using a set of lungs, which is actually pretty useful for them. One of the main advantages of being lungless is that salamanders have very low energy requirements compared to other vertebrates, so they are able to tolerate a wide range of environments with little cost to them. However, instead of internally regulating their body functions in response to environmental changes, salamanders rely on behavior changes such as movement to shaded or moist areas to maintain constant body temperature and to maintain water loss rates.
Lungless salamanders are important to study because they are found over a wide range of temperatures although the environments they inhabit may not always seem ideal for them, especially in terms of water loss and temperature. In the long run, these environments could actually be beneficial for supporting large populations of salamanders because they may be able to wait for certain conditions in their environments to become more favorable. This could potentially allow salamanders to optimize their performance -as well as growth and reproduction- rather than spending significant energy to internally regulate their body systems in response to changes in their environment, which is significantly different from most vertebrates.
Physiological ecology refers to the study of interactions that occur between an organism and its physical environment and how an organism can change their physiology, or biological functions, in response to certain environmental conditions. Organisms tend to choose their environments based on several factors, such as temperature and resources. Most of the time, however, an organism’s ideal conditions may not always be readily available in their habitat. Several organisms take advantage of certain adaptations to adjust specific functions within their bodies, such as metabolism, in response to the environmental conditions they experience.
Physiological ecology is important to study because extreme environmental changes can not only cause unfavorable changes in an organism’s physiology, but can also cause limitation of resources within the environment, leading to increased competition between organisms as well as greater restriction of environmental habitats. The organisms that we are focusing on are lungless salamanders. These salamanders breathe through their skin rather than using a set of lungs, which is actually pretty useful for them. One of the main advantages of being lungless is that salamanders have very low energy requirements compared to other vertebrates, so they are able to tolerate a wide range of environments with little cost to them. However, instead of internally regulating their body functions in response to environmental changes, salamanders rely on behavior changes such as movement to shaded or moist areas to maintain constant body temperature and to maintain water loss rates.
Lungless salamanders are important to study because they are found over a wide range of temperatures although the environments they inhabit may not always seem ideal for them, especially in terms of water loss and temperature. In the long run, these environments could actually be beneficial for supporting large populations of salamanders because they may be able to wait for certain conditions in their environments to become more favorable. This could potentially allow salamanders to optimize their performance -as well as growth and reproduction- rather than spending significant energy to internally regulate their body systems in response to changes in their environment, which is significantly different from most vertebrates.