Biological system in animals and plants for gas exchange
This article is about the biological system. For other uses, see Breathing system.
Respiratory system
A complete, schematic view of the human respiratory system with their parts and functions.
Details
Identifiers
Latin
systema respiratorium
MeSH
D012137
TA98
A06.0.00.000
TA2
3133
FMA
7158
Anatomical terminology
[edit on Wikidata]
The respiratory system (also respiratory apparatus, ventilatory system) is a biological system consisting of specific organs and structures used for gas exchange in animals and plants. The anatomy and physiology that make this happen varies greatly, depending on the size of the organism, the environment in which it lives and its evolutionary history. In land animals, the respiratory surface is internalized as linings of the lungs.[1] Gas exchange in the lungs occurs in millions of small air sacs; in mammals and reptiles, these are called alveoli, and in birds, they are known as atria. These microscopic air sacs have a very rich blood supply, thus bringing the air into close contact with the blood.[2] These air sacs communicate with the external environment via a system of airways, or hollow tubes, of which the largest is the trachea, which branches in the middle of the chest into the two main bronchi. These enter the lungs where they branch into progressively narrower secondary and tertiary bronchi that branch into numerous smaller tubes, the bronchioles. In birds, the bronchioles are termed parabronchi. It is the bronchioles, or parabronchi that generally open into the microscopic alveoli in mammals and atria in birds. Air has to be pumped from the environment into the alveoli or atria by the process of breathing which involves the muscles of respiration.
In most fish, and a number of other aquatic animals (both vertebrates and invertebrates), the respiratory system consists of gills, which are either partially or completely external organs, bathed in the watery environment. This water flows over the gills by a variety of active or passive means. Gas exchange takes place in the gills which consist of thin or very flat filaments and lammellae which expose a very large surface area of highly vascularized tissue to the water.
Other animals, such as insects, have respiratory systems with very simple anatomical features, and in amphibians, even the skin plays a vital role in gas exchange. Plants also have respiratory systems but the directionality of gas exchange can be opposite to that in animals. The respiratory system in plants includes anatomical features such as stomata, that are found in various parts of the plant.[3]
^Campbell, Neil A. (1990). Biology (2nd ed.). Redwood City, Calif.: Benjamin/Cummings Pub. Co. pp. 834–835. ISBN 0-8053-1800-3.
^Hsia, CC; Hyde, DM; Weibel, ER (15 March 2016). "Lung Structure and the Intrinsic Challenges of Gas Exchange". Comprehensive Physiology. 6 (2): 827–95. doi:10.1002/cphy.c150028. PMC 5026132. PMID 27065169.
^West, John B. (1995). Respiratory physiology-- the essentials. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins. pp. 1–10. ISBN 0-683-08937-4.
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