Behavioral thermoregulation

Behavioral thermoregulation

Behavioral thermoregulation can be precise going by a study that was conducted by Michael Angilletta on an eastern fence lizard. According to the study, the rate at which energy intake can be metabolized was maximized at 330C(Manuel, 2013). After establishing the relationship between the optimal and preferred temperature of the eastern fence lizard, Angiletta embarked on exploring the relationship between the optimal and preferred temperature in the laboratory. In the lab, he placed two lizards from New Jersey and South Carolina, respectively, in a temperature gradient ranging from 26-38 0C. He would take the preferred temperature of each lizard. The results of the study showed a very close relationship among temperature, optimal temperature, and preferred temperature of the eastern fence lizards. The one from New Jersey and South Carolina showed almost similar temperatures of 32.80C and 32.90C, respectively. The body temperature taken in the field were found to be similar, at 34.00C and 33.10C for the New Jersey and South Carolina lizard respectively.

Desert plants avoid the heat by exploiting some ways, reducing heating by conduction, increasing the rate of convective cooling, and cutting down on the rates of radiative heating. Therefore, some plants like the genus Encelia have adapted to different temperature regimes from the coast of California stretching to the Death Valley. Encelia californica does not have hair and reflects an estimated 15 percent of visible light. For the desert species called Encelia farinose, there are two sets of leaves that develop during summer and winter. The set of leaves produced during the summer are densely pubescent. Furthermore, they also reflect more than 40 percent of solar radiation, unlike Encelia californica, which does 15 percent (Manuel, 2013). However, the reflective nature of the leaves plays to its disadvantage during both the hot and cool seasons. During hot seasons, the reflective surface of their leaves loses water.

Some organisms mostly rely on their internally obtained metabolic heat energy. Such organisms are called endotherms. To heat their bodies, some endothermic like some big fish utilize metabolic energy (Manuel, 2013). The big fish are mostly surrounded by large pools of water, which is a massive heat sink. Therefore, there is huge potential for such animals to lose heat in the process of their stay in their habitat. To contain the situation, these animals (endothermic fish) develop particular adaptations to prevent loss of energy (Manuel, 2013). Some of the adaptive features include huge body mass that cannot allow them to lose as much heat compared to other animals that relatively smaller but stay in the same habitat.

Grasshoppers bask in the sun to increase their body temperature to at least 400C or sometimes even higher. The clear-winged grasshopper called Camnula pellucida lives in the White Mountains where the temperatures warm up faster in the morning, enabling them to achieve up to 30-400C(Manuel, 2013). According to a study carried out by Carruthers and his friends whereby two groups of Camnula were put in two groups and were all exposed to 180C. One group had sufficient access to light while the other group was not exposed to light by shading. The grasshoppers develop faster when it is allowed to maintain its body temperature. When the temperature of grasshoppers is below 250C, fungus Entomophaga grylli, which is responsible for infecting grasshoppers, thrives (Manuel, 2013). For this reason, grasshoppers strive to maintain temperature rates that are not favorable for the survival of the fungus. Bacteria also grow faster when exposed to 40C, but its growth rates decrease when the temperature goes above or below 40C.