Structure and Function of Animals

The Respiratory System

Be very careful with the words and terms used in this section. The term
'respiratory system' generally refers to the gas exchange system (ie lungs,
alveoli, etc), while the single word, 'respiration', should usually refer to cell
respiration - a series of biochemical reactions. Other terms include: breathing;
gas exchange; ventilation. All these words refer to specific activities.
All aerobic organisms need a way to exchange gases with their surrounding
environment. Oxygen must be brought to the cells in order for aerobic respiration to
take place, and the carbon dioxide created as a by-product of respiration must be
removed. The acquisition of oxygen and simultaneous elimination of carbon dioxide is
called gas exchange. As animals have evolved, they have developed increasingly
efficient methods of gas exchange.
In the simplest multicellular animals, the cnidarians, gas exchange occurs by simple
diffusion. Since almost all of a jellyfish or hydras cells are in contact with its water
environment, each cell has direct access to outside water as both a source of oxygen and
dumping ground for carbon dioxide. Annelids also exchange gases by diffusion. In an
earthworm, for example, the circulatory system comes very close to the surface skin,
allowing oxygen and carbon dioxide to diffuse across the worms skin. To make gas
diffusion possible, the worms skin must remain moist at all times. Insects and other
arthropods have a system of tracheae for gas exchange. Tracheae are hollow, branched
tubes that penetrate the arthropods deep tissues. Air flows into the tracheae and
oxygen and carbon dioxide diffuse into and out of the body tissues through the trachea
walls. The insect does not actively draw air into the tracheae; respiration is a passive
process in arthropods.
Vertebrate Respiratory Systems
Vertebrates such as fish, birds, and mammals have evolved specialized structures for
gas exchange. Fish gills are made of a delicate tissue with many fine filaments that
maximize surface area. The fish pumps water across the gills, and oxygen and carbon
dioxide are exchanged across the filament walls. Fish gills are made especially efficient
because blood flows through the gills against the current of the water. In this way, the
water is always more oxygen rich than the blood in the gills, and the concentration
gradient always moves from the water to the blood.
Terrestrial vertebrates have evolved internal structures for gas exchange known as
lungs. Lungs are basically inverted gills. Lungs are internal because a gas exchange
surface would quickly dry up if exposed to air, a problem that fish need not deal with.
The amphibian lung is often shaped like one large sac. In higher vertebrates, such as
mammals, the lungs divide into millions of tiny sacs known as alveoli, which greatly
increases surface area and oxygen absorptive power. After air is sucked into the lungs,
gas exchange takes place across the surfaces of the alveoli, which are dense with
capillaries. After the blood in the capillaries has given off its carbon dioxide and taken
in oxygen, air is once again released from the lungs. Birds have evolved an even more
efficient breathing system that uses air sacs to maintain a constant, countercurrent,
unidirectional flow of air across the lung surfaces. Bird lungs do not contain dead-end
sacs like the alveoli of mammalian lungs, but rather contain millions of tiny tubes
known as parabronchi, through which air is constantly flowing in one direction.
RESPIRATION IN HUMANS

The human respiratory system has two parts: the upper portion channels air to the
lower portion, the lungs, where the respiration takes place.

Air enters the respiratory system either through the nose or mouth. The nose contains
many tiny hairs and sticky mucus that traps airborne particles and prevents them from
entering the lungs. Air is also moistened and warmed in the nasal and oral passages.
From the nose and mouth, air flows down the pharynx, through the larynx, and into
the trachea. The larynx is a structure made of cartilage that contains the vocal cords.
When air passes out of the larynx, the vocal cords can be tensed and made to vibrate,
producing sound, which, when shaped by the mouth, produces speech. The trachea is a
cartilaginous tube that branches into two bronchi, which in turn branch into smaller
and smaller bronchioles within the lung.
Eventually the air reaches the lungs and the clusters of alveoli. The blood is low in
oxygen and the inhaled air is rich with it, while the blood contains a higher
concentration of carbon dioxide than air does. These two gases passively diffuse across
the thin surface of the alveoli, following the concentration gradients. After gas exchange
takes place, the oxygen-poor air is expelled from the lungs. Most of the surfaces of the
respiratory system, including the surfaces of the bronchioles, bronchi, trachea, and
pharynx, are coated with epithelial cells that are capable of producing mucus. This
mucus traps particles of dust, bacteria, and viruses that may be entering the respiratory
system; cilia on these cells help to sweep this mucus up away from the lungs and
eventually out of the body.
The lungs suck in air by using negative pressure. The diaphragm is a large, flat
muscle at the base of the thoracic (chest) cavity. When it contracts during inhalation, it
moves downward, expanding the volume of the thorax and lungs. Air rushes into the
lungs to balance the drop in pressure caused by this expansion. To exhale, the
diaphragm relaxes to its original position, increasing air pressure and forcing the air
back out of the chest cavity. Breathing is only possible if the thoracic cavity remains
airtight. When an accident causes any sort of puncture in the chest cavity, one or both
of the lungs can collapse.
BLOOD PH REGULATION
In addition to its obvious function of gas exchange, the respiratory system also helps
maintain the pH of the blood at a constant level of about 7.4. Because carbon dioxide is
transported through the blood plasma as carbonic acid, the rate of carbon dioxide
exhalation can affect the pH level of the blood. Breathing faster will increase blood pH
by getting rid of more carbon dioxide and carbonic acid. Breathing slower will have the

opposite effect. A small receptor in the carotid artery measures blood pH and transmits
this information to the medulla oblongata of the brain. The medulla then adjusts the
breathing rate in order to correct for any fluctuations in blood pH. When we feel out of
breath, it is not because our body is sensing that we need more oxygen; it is actually
telling us that we need to get rid of more carbon dioxide.