| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Adaptations | Features that assist an organism to survive in a particular habitat. |
| Affector neurons | Neurons that transmit information about changes in external or internal conditions to the central nervous system. Also called sensory neurons. |
| Antidiuretic hormone | Homrone which increases reabsorption of water into the blood from the distal tubules and collecting ducts of nephrons in the kidney. |
| Antifreeze | Compound that when added to a fluid loewrs the freezing point of the fluid. |
| Axon | Exntension of a nerve cell along which impulses are transmitted away from that cell. |
| Cell body | Part of the neuron that contains the nucleus. Also called the soma. |
| Central nervous system | The part of the nervous system that is comprised of the brain and spinal cord. |
| Interneurons | Nerve cells found within the CNS which communicate between affector and effector neurons. |
| Countercurrent exchange | Arrangement of vascular tissues that enable heat to be transferred from a vessel carrying fluid from the core to an extremity, to a vessel carrying fluid from an extremity to the core. |
| Cuticle | Waxy outer layer on a leaf. |
| Dendrites | Branched extensions of nervve cells that transmit impulses to that cell. |
| Ecothermic | Organism whose body temperature fluctuates with its surroundings. |
| Effector neurons | Neurons which transmit information from the central nervous system to muscle cells or glands. Also called motor neurons. |
| Endocrine system | Sytstem of ductuless glands that produce hormones which are released directly into the bloodstream. |
| Endothermic | Organisms whose body temperature is maintained by internal metabloic sources. |
| Homeostasis | The maintentance of a relatively stable internal environment. |
| Homeothermic | Organism that is able to maintain an internal body temperature within a narrow range. Endothermic. |
| Hormones | In animals, chemicals produced in endocrine glands that are released into and transported via that bloodstream to other parts of the body where they act. |
| Hypothalamus | Region of the brain responsible for essential fuctions associated with the autonomic nervous system. |
| Kidneys | Excretory organs involved in osmoregulation. |
| Negative feedback | Feedback that tends to stabilize a process or conditions by reducing its rate or output when its effects are too great. |
| Neurons | Nerve cells. |
| Osmoregulation | The maintenance of constant internal salt and water concentrations in internal fluids. |
| Osmosis | The net movement of water across a partially permeable membrane without an input of energy and down a concentration gradient. |
| Peripheral nervous system | Sub-branch of the nervous system involving all nerves that lie outside the brain and spinal cord. |
| Pituitary | Endocrine attached to the hypothalamus. Influences the production of thyroxine by the thyroid gland. |
| Poikilothermic | Organims whose body temperature varies with the external environment. Ectothermic. |
| Tolerance range | Extent of variation in an environmental factor within which a species can survive. |
| Transpiration | Loss of water from the surfaces of a plant. |
| Xerophytes | Plants with characteristics that enable resistance to drought and life in very arid areas. |
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