Journal
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY
Volume 215, Issue 5, Pages 705-709Publisher
COMPANY OF BIOLOGISTS LTD
DOI: 10.1242/jeb.065128
Keywords
air film; air layer; gas film; gas layer; plastron; respiration; superhydrophobic surfaces
Categories
Funding
- Centre for Lake Restoration
- Villum Kann Rasmussen Centre of Excellence
- Danish Council for Independent Research - Natural Sciences [09-072482]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Insects, spiders and plants risk drowning in their wetland habitats. The slow diffusion of O-2 can cause asphyxiation when underwater, as O-2 supply cannot meet respiratory demands. Some animals and plants have found a common solution to the major challenge: how to breathe underwater with respiratory systems evolved for use in air? Hydrophobic surfaces on their bodies possess gas films that act as a 'physical gill' to collect O-2 when underwater and thus sustain respiration. In aquatic insects, this feature/process has been termed 'plastron respiration'. Here, we demonstrate the similarities in function between underwater respiration of insect (Aphelocheirus aestivalis) plastrons and gas films on leaves of wetland plants (Phalaris arundinacea) and also show the importance of these physical gills by the resulting changes upon their removal. The gas films provide an enlarged gas-water interface to enhance O-2 uptake underwater that is above that if only spiracles (insects) or stomata (plants) provided the gas-phase contact with the water. Body-surface gas films contribute to the survival of many insects, spiders and plants in aquatic and flood-prone environments.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available