Factors which Affect the Rate of Respiration

Factors which Affect the Rate of Respiration The rate of respiration in organisms is rarely constant. There are several factors in that affect rate of respiration. These apply equally to aerobic and anaerobic respiration although the examples given here refer to aerobic respiration 1. Temperature: Respiration is a chemical process therefore its rate increases with increasing body temperature as an increasing in temperature increases the rate of chemical change. 2. Activity: All body activity requires energy. Wh en an organism becomes active it requires more energy than when it’s inactive. Since respiration provides energy required for the activity the rate of respiration will correspondingly increase. 3. Body Size: Small organisms have high surface area to volume ra tio. Heat loss occurs at the surface; therefore small organisms tend to lose heat more rapidly than larger ones. Small animals e.g. shrews, have to maintain higher rate of respiration than larger ones to maintain their body temperature. 4. Age: Young organism s are growing and as a result require more energy than older mature individual whose growth may slow down or stopped. Younger individual tend to be more physically active also. Both of these rate factors lead to increased rates of respiration in younger or ganism