Modern physi- ology which is based on chemical, physical and ana- tomical methods investigates biological organization of the animal body at different levels, that is, cells, tis- sues, organs. The main approach in animal physiology is to study the evolutionary origins of the physiological mechanisms in order to understand the significance of these mechanisms for modern animals. The problem of how physiological functions change with animal age is of special interest to age physiology. Comparative physiology concentrates on similarities and differences of physiological functions of various living organisms. Special physiology applies general physiological principles in order to in- vestigate characteristics of a particular animal species. General physiology deals with the analysis of such universal and important processes as blood circu- lation, metabolism, respiration etc. Animal physiology is subdivided into the four main parts, such as general physiology, special physiology, comparative physiology and age physiol- ogy. Finally, plant physiology includes the study of how plants respond to conditions and varia- tion in the environment, a field known as environmental physiology.Īnimal physiology. Like animals, plants produce chemi- cals called hormones which are produced in one part of the plant to signal cells in another part of the plant to respond. Fourthly, plant physiolo- gists study the ways that plants control or regulate in- ternal functions. Different cells and tissues are physically and chemically specialized to perform different functions. Thirdly, plant physiology deals with interactions between cells, tissues, and organs within a plant. Plant cells have a number of features that distin- guish them from cells of animals, and which lead to major differences in the way that plant life behaves and responds differently from animal life. Secondly, plant physiology includes the study of bio- logical and chemical processes of individual plantĬells. Photosynthesis requires a large array of pigments, enzymes, and other compounds to function. To function and survive, plants produce a wide array of chemical compounds not found in other or- ganisms. The scope of plant physiology as aĭiscipline may be divided into several major areas of research.įirst, the study of photochemistry (plant chem- istry) is included within the domain of plant physiol- ogy. Ment), photochemistry (biochemistry of plants), cell biology, and molecular biol- ogy. Ogy (structure of plants), plant ecology (interactions with the environ. Closely related fields include plant morphol. It is a subdiscipline of botany concerned with the functioning, or physiology of plants. That`s why we can distinguish physiol- ogy of plants and animals. Although you may place organisms without dif- ficulty in either the plant or the animal kingdom, it is essential to know the basic differences between these two groups.

Principles of animal physiology pdf