Question

Why would it be more challenging for animals to live during a time when temperatures are fluctuating than in a time when temperatures are more stable?

Answer 1

• Animals have developed amazing adaptation which helps them to live even in the most extreme or hostile environments.
• Based on their adaptation to regulate their body temperature, animals can be categorized into ectotherms and endotherms.
• Since temperature influences every reaction and activity of organisms, it is one of the most ecologically relevant environmental factors for all types of animals.
• It is important to regulate body temperature in animals for survival because as we know at low temperatures ie, <0 degrees water freezes to ice and if it happens within a cell, they'll generally rupture its membrane. On the other hand, at high temperature ie, >40 degrees, enzymes and proteins within the cell start to lose their shape and function or denatures thus challenging their survival.
• Temperature affects the kinetics of enzymes thus affecting metabolism, activity and other physiological functions of the animal.
• There is an optimal specific temperature for an enzyme to function in the cell of all organism, below and above this temperature, there is a decrease in the metabolic rate.
• With the fluctuating temperature, it gets more difficult to regulate body temperature for metabolic activity in organism.
• Each and every species has its own metabolic reactions and associated sets of enzymes which is optimized for a particular temperature range.
• Thus stable temperatures in the target range of each species ensures that their metabolic reactions run properly.
• But there are animals which can tolerate wide range of fluctuating temperatures, they are called eurythermal organism and those which can tolerate only a small range of temperature fluctuations are called stenothermal organisms.