Premium
Scope for Survival: A Conceptual “Mirror” to Fryˈs Scope for Activity
Author(s) -
Hochachka P. W.
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
transactions of the american fisheries society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.696
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1548-8659
pISSN - 0002-8487
DOI - 10.1577/1548-8659(1990)119<0622:sfsact>2.3.co;2
Subject(s) - scope (computer science) , metabolic rate , biology , organelle , metabolism , ecology , biochemistry , endocrinology , computer science , programming language
The concept of scope for activity, defined as the difference between maximum metabolic rate and the animalˈs resting or standard metabolic rate, is well established in the fields of comparative and exercise biochemistry and physiology. It has been particularly useful in unravelling adaptational options for organisms facing environmental changes or stresses. Here I examine the concept of scope for survival, which is a conceptual “mirror” image of the scope for activity and is defined as the difference between resting or standard metabolic rate and the lowest sustainable rate to which metabolism may be suppressed. Metabolic arrest occurs frequently in the animal kingdom in the face of extreme deficiencies in oxygen, heat, or water. Although many mechanisms that allow metabolism to be suppressed well below routine or standard rates have yet to be unravelled, it is clear that the overall process universally seems to involve a controlled decrease in metabolic and organelle functions coupled with a simultaneous controlled stabilization of macromolecular and organelle structures.