What factors influence the rates of aerobic respiration in plants and animals?
May.01, 2010 in
Aerobic Respiration
And list your source if you have one…thanks!
What is Aerobic Respiration?
Aerobic respiration is the main means by which both plants and animals utilize energy in the form of organic compounds that was previously created through photosynthesis
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May 1st, 2010 at 1:53 am
Aerobic respiration is a reaction that has a long list of enzymes, coenzymes and other cofactors involved. Just like any reaction there are reactants and products. The reactants are glucose, oxygen, ADP and inorganic phosphate. And the 2 products are carbon dioxide, water and ATP. So you can influence the rate of the reaction by controlling the amount of the reactants. If there isn’t enough oxygen present, the reaction will slow down. In such an instance, oxygen is the limiting factor.
Let’s say that glucose, oxygen, ADP and inorganic phosphate are plentiful. You can still influence the rate of reaction by using temperature. As things cool down, the rate of the reaction slows down. As they heat up, the reaction proceeds at a more rapid rate. As long as neither glucose nor oxygen are limiting factors for the reaction temperature can significantly affect the rate.
As warm blooded animals, humans regulate our internal temperature. This helps maintain relatively high rates of aerobic respiration. Since the reaction results in the production of ATP (the primary energy “holding” compound in living things) maintaining high levels of aerobic respiration can provide plentiful energy. Crocodiles are not warm blooded animals. They rely on the environment to heat up their insides. This is why you can see crocodiles basking in the sun on riverbanks. They are absorbing solar radiation which gets converted to heat to heat up their insides. If they don’t warm up enough, they get sluggish. This is because the rate of aerobic respiration has slowed down and they are not making as much ATP.
Also, snakes and crocodiles (both not warm blooded animals) can eat a big meal and not eat for very long periods of time. Because their temperatures are not maintained at high temperatures all the time, their metabolisms can be slowed down which will demand less glucose to run aerobic respiration.
I hope this helps.