GAS EXCHANGE IN

ANIMALS
• Gas exchange in complex animals, refers to the process of
bringing blood to the lungs through the circulatory system.
Gas exchange is also a function of the respiratory system. In
plants, gas exchange is carried out in a very simpler manner.
Animals and plants need oxygen during aerobic cellular
respiration. However, animals are dependent on plants for
oxygen which they use for cellular respiration, while plants
are dependent on animals for carbon dioxide which they use
for photosynthesis.
WAYS OF GAS EXCHANGE
• There are several ways by which animals exchange gases
with their environment. In sponges and other animals with
simple body organization, gas exchange is carried out in a
somewhat complex way through respiratory system. The
degree of complexity of gas exchange in organisms
depends in a way on the relative complexity of an
organism’s body organization.
• Most aquatic organisms such as protists and some
microscopic animals exchange gases directly with the
water in their surroundings through the cell membrane
• In fishes, the heart is two chambered. When atrium receives the blood it is
channeled to the ventricle. The contraction of the ventricle of the heart
pumps blood to the conus arteriosus that pustulates and transfers blood to the
gills where gas exchange happens. Gas exchange is made more efficient
through the countercurrent flow, where the blood and water meet in opposite
directions. This way, gas exchange is maximized.
• In amphibians like frogs, the heart is three chambered with two atria and one
ventricle. The right atria receives deoxygenated blood from the body and
pumps it into the ventricle. In the ventricle, partial mixing of deoxygenated
and oxygenated blood happens. From the ventricle, blood is pumped to the
conus arteriosus then to the truncus arteriosus, and finally to the lungs and
skin where gas exchange will take place. Frog are amphibians, meaning they
can live both on land and in water. Under water, they use their skin for gas
exchange, which is also referred to as cutaneous breathing. On land, they use
their lungs and sometimes their moist skin.
• Other terrestrial animals that use their ,moist skin
for gas exchange are the earthworms. They do not
have gills and lungs that can aid in gas exchange.
These animals are helpless in dry and arid habitats.
They need to have moist skin all the time to
facilitate gas diffusion. This is the main reason why
they live in moist and damp soil.
HUMAN RESPIRATORY SYSTEM
• Breathing is involuntary process that occurs simultaneously with
the circulation of the blood. This action is essential since we
obtain oxygen from the environment which eventually is
transported to the rest of the body with the involvement of the
blood protein, hemoglobin. Likewise, waste products such as
carbon dioxide are being excreted through the process of
exhalation. This gaseous waste goes out of the body involuntarily.
• Breathing is simply define as the process of inhaling and exhaling
air. When you breathe, air enters and leaves your lungs. Breathing
involves the interactions of the diaphragm, ribs and abdomen. When
you take a deep breath, you can feel that your chest cavity expands.
Aside from this, the diaphragm flattens since its muscle contract,
which pushes down the abdomen. Take note that the muscle of the
abdominal wall relax. This result in more room for expansion of the
flattened diaphragm, while the intercoastal muscle contract moving
the ribs upward and outward increasing the volume of the thoracic
cavity. This result in a decrease in air pressure inside the lungs
giving way for the gases outside to move into the lungs to equalize
the pressure.
• However during exhalation, a reverse process takes
place. The diaphragm and rib muscles relax, and the
elastic tissues of the lungs recoil causing it to
deflate. The size of the thoracic cavity decreases and
the air pressure inside becomes greater than that of
the outside, forcing air o rush to the outside until
pressure becomes equal.
AIR PASSAGE AND GAS EXCHANGE

• External respiration - the exchange of gases

between the atmosphere and the lungs(alveoli cells)
• Internal Respiration - - is gas exchange between the
cells and the blood
EXTERNAL RESPIRATION
1. Nose Two openings in the nose serve as the entrance for the passage
of air into the body. This opening is also called nostrils. The nostrils
open into the nasal passages, the cavities that extend from the nostrils
to the throat. In the nose, air is cleaned, moistened and warmed. Air
passing through the nose is filtered in the presence of coarse hairs
projecting from the inner walls of the nostrils. The mucous membrane,
a layer of specialized cells, lines the walls of the nasal passages. These
cells secrete mucus, which is moist, thick and gummy.
• The water that moistens it comes from the air. Bacteria and
dust may stick to it, thus purifying the air. The cilia, the
microscopic hairs on the surface cells of the mucous
membrane, move back and forth at all times to move any
material in it to the outside of the nose. Sometimes, when
you have colds and a stuffy nose, you tend to use your
mouth to draw in or inhale air. This is not hygienic since air
is not filtered and microorganisms may come along with it.
2. PHARYNX

• Also known as throat , is found at the back of the mouth .

It contains the passageways for food and air. When food
is swallowed, a flap of cartilage called epiglottis presses
down and covers the opening of the air passage. During
inhalation, the epiglottis is in an upright position and air
moves into the trachea or wind pipe, a cartilaginous tube.
LARYNX
• Also called as voice box or Adam’s apple is more prominent in
males than in females due to differences in hormonal action. It is
located at the upper end of the trachea and is primarily involved in
sound production. Sounds are produced when air is forced past two
vocal cords that stretch across the larynx. The pitch and volume of
the sound depends on the amount of tension received by the vocal
cords and the amount of air forced unto them.
4. TRACHEA

• Also called as windpipe, located in front of the

esophagus . It is about 10 cm long 2.5 wide and is
lined with mucous membranes and cilia. These cilia
move mucus and any material in it toward the
throat wher the mucus is coughed out.
BRONCHI

• The trachea is divided into two hollow branches

• Each bronchus is attached to the lungs . With in the
lungs, the bronchi branch into smaller and smaller
tubes. The inner lining of the bronchi is lined with
cilia and mucus that help filter air.
6. LUNGS
• Large spongy, and elastic sac- like structure suspended from each
side of the heart, inside the chest cavity. Inside the lungs the
bronchus divides into smaller branches, the bronchial tubes.
These bronchial tubes branch repeatedly into even smaller
microscopic tubes called bronchioles. Each bronchiole open into
thin walled bulb shape structures called air sacs or alveoli cells.
Each alveoli cell is surrounded by a network of capillaries that
are important in gas exchange between the blood and the air sacs.
INTERNAL RESPIRATION
• Involves gas exchange between the blood and the cells of the body.
The air that we inhale is a mixture of gases which includes nitrogen,
oxygen and carbon dioxide. Of these gases, oxygen is perhaps the
most important to humans. In the air sacs, oxygen diffuses through
the capillaries and into the bloodstream. It then combines with
hemoglobin as it is carried to the body cells. When blood reaches a
cell with less oxygen, the oxygen from the blood separates from the
hemoglobin and the cell absorbs the oxygen.
• As the process goes on, the cell gives off waste in the form of
carbon dioxide and water, both of which enter the blood. When
the carbon dioxide and water reaches the lungs, both pass into
the spaces of the air sacs and exhaled by the lungs. Air moving
into the alveoli is rich in oxygen and poor in carbon dioxide.
Blood in the capillaries surrounding the air sacs are low oxygen
and rich in carbon dioxide. Thus gases move diffusion from
these areas of higher concentration to areas of lower
concentration.