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Thermogenesis is the process of heat production in organisms. It occurs in all warm-blooded animals, and also in a few species of thermogenic plants such as the Eastern skunk cabbage , the Voodoo lily ( Sauromatum venosum ), and the giant water lilies of the genus Victoria .
Botanists are not completely sure why thermogenic plants generate large amounts of excess heat, but most agree that it has something to do with increasing pollination rates. The most widely accepted theory states that the endogenous heat helps in spreading chemicals that attract pollinators to the plant. [1]
Biological exponential growth is the unrestricted growth of a population of organisms, occurring when resources in its habitat are unlimited. [1] Most commonly apparent in species that reproduce quickly and asexually , like bacteria , exponential growth is intuitive from the fact that each organism can divide and produce two copies of itself.
Biological thermodynamics (Thermodynamics of biological systems) is a science that explains the nature and general laws of thermodynamic processes occurring in living organisms as nonequilibrium thermodynamic systems that convert the energy of the Sun and food into other types of energy. The nonequilibrium thermodynamic state of living ...
Thermal ecology is the study of the interactions between temperature and organisms. Such interactions include the effects of temperature on an organism's physiology, behavioral patterns, and relationship with its environment.
Microbial metabolism is the means by which a microbe obtains the energy and nutrients (e.g. carbon) it needs to live and reproduce.Microbes use many different types of metabolic strategies and species can often be differentiated from each other based on metabolic characteristics.
The honey bee, for example, does so by contracting antagonistic flight muscles without moving its wings (see insect thermoregulation). [18] [19] [20] This form of thermogenesis is, however, only efficient above a certain temperature threshold, and below about 9–14 °C (48–57 °F), the honey bee reverts to ectothermy. [19] [20] [21]
Bacteria (/ b æ k ˈ t ɪər i ə / ⓘ; sg.: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one biological cell. They constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria were among the first life forms to appear on Earth, and are present in most of its habitats.