BIOLOGY 2F03 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Vapor Pressure, Great Salt Lake, Water Potential
26 Nov 2016
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Water temps do(cid:374)(cid:859)t directly cause great harm to most organisms. But, increased temps can lead to high rates of water loss, which can be lethal. They (cid:272)a(cid:374)(cid:859)t evaporatively cool since insects are too small and vulnerable to water loss to do so. Water and life on earth: most organisms consist of btw 50-90% water. Life on earth began in salty aquatic env and is built around biochem with an aquatic medium. To survive and reproduce, organisms must maintain appropriate internal conc of water and dissolved substances. To maintain these internal conc, organisms must balance water losses to the env with water intake. How organisms maintain this water balance is called their water relations. The issue of maintaining proper water balance is esp strong for those organisms ex. Organisms in aquatic env face a similar challenge with a high salinity. However, most organisms in almost all habitats, must expend some energy tom maintain their internal pool of water.
