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Effects of ambient water vapor pressure and temperature on evaporative water loss inPeromyscus maniculatus andMus musculus

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Summary

The effects of ambient water vapor pressure (VP) and temperature on evaporative water loss (EWL) from the head and trunk ofPeromyscus maniculatus andMus musculus were measured with dew point hygrometry. At a given ambient temperature both head and trunk EWL were directly proportional to the water vapor pressure deficit. Cutaneous EWL in both species was directly related to the difference between saturated VP at skin temperature and ambient VP which is consistent with a simple diffusion process. In both species EWL from the head was independent of ambient temperature between 20 and 35 °C while the rate of cutaneous EWL more than doubled at 35 °C indicating a change in the water permeability of the skin. Possible mechanisms for this increase are discussed.

Both species maintained nose temperatures of 3 to 9 °C below body temperature. Nose temperature was inversely related to the vapor pressure deficit. No significant response of body temperature or oxygen consumption to the water vapor pressure deficit was observed.

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Author notes

  1. Richard M. Edwards

    Present address: Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Mayo Graduate School of Medicine, 55901, Rochester, Minnesota, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology, University of Oklahoma, 73069, Norman, Oklahoma, USA

    Richard M. Edwards & Howard Haines

Authors
  1. Richard M. Edwards
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  2. Howard Haines
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Additional information

This study was supported by NIH Grant AM 16237 to Howard Haines and by grants from the University of Oklahoma Research Development Fund and University of Oklahoma Faculty Research

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Edwards, R.M., Haines, H. Effects of ambient water vapor pressure and temperature on evaporative water loss inPeromyscus maniculatus andMus musculus . J Comp Physiol B 128, 177–184 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00689482

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