How does gas

exchange occur
in different
organisms?
Celina Rampersad
 How does gas
exchange occur in
humans?
• Gas exchange occurs at the alveoli in the lungs
and takes place by diffusion
• The alveoli are surrounded by capillaries
• Oxygen and carbon dioxide diffuse between
the air in the alveoli and the blood in the
capillaries
• Oxygen diffuses from the alveoli into the
blood because there is a high concentration of
oxygen in the alveoli and a low concentration
of oxygen in the blood
• carbon dioxide diffuses from the blood into the
alveoli
 How does gas exchange
occur in humans?
• Carbon Dioxide diffuses from the blood into the alveoli
because there is a high concentration of carbon dioxide in
the blood and a low concentration in the alveoli

• Both oxygen and carbon dioxide can combine with an iron-

rich protein in the blood called hemoglobin

• Hemoglobin carries oxygen to be exchanged at the

working muscle and carbon dioxide to be exchanged at the
lung

• Then we exhale and get rid of the un-needed gasses

• Then we exhale
 How does gas
exchange
occur in fish?
• Fish need a different gas exchange system to
humans because water can hold only low
concentrations of oxygens
• The gas exchange surfaces in fish are gills
• Wa t e r i s t a k e n i n t h r o u g h t h e f i s h ' s m o u t h , p a s s e s
over the gills, and then out under the operculum
• Exchange of gases in fish is very efficient because
of the large surface area of the gills, the large
surface area of the blood capillaries in each gill
filament, the short distance required for diffusion,
the efficient ventilation of the gills with water -
there is a counter current flow of water and blood
and the moving blood and ventilated gill surfaces
mean that gases exchanged are continually
removed – oxygen enters the blood, and carbon
d i o x i d e   r e m o v e d t o t h e w a t e r.
 How does gas exchange
occur in fi sh?
• High concentration gradients can be maintained.
• Gas exchange is more difficult for fish than
animals that live on land.
• The concentration of oxygen in water is
dependent on the temperature of the water.
• The concentration of oxygen in water is only
around 1% at 15°C . This compares with 21% in
the air at any temperature.
• The efficiency of gills must be very high, 70 to
80% of the available oxygen is extracted from
the water
How does gas exchange
occur in plants?
• The exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the leaf
( as wel l as the l oss of water vapor i n transpirati on )
occurs through pores called  stomata 

• Normally stomata open when the light strikes the leaf in

the morning and close during the night

• The immediate cause is a change in the turgor of

the guard cells

• The inner wall of each guard cell is thick and elastic

• When turgor develops within the two guard cells

fl a n k i n g e a c h s t o m a , t h e t h i n o u t e r w a l l s b u l g e o u t a n d
force the inner walls into a crescent shape

• This opens the stoma.

• W h e n t h e g u a r d c e l l s l o s e t u r g o r, t h e e l a s t i c i n n e r w a l l s
regain their original shape and the stoma closes.