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BookmarkGas exchange or respiration takes place at a respiratory surface; a boundary between the external environment and the interior of the body.
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For unicellular organisms the respiratory surface is simply the cell membrane, but for large organisms it usually is carried out in respiratory systems. This name can cause problems; in biology the word "respiration" can mean cellular respiration or metabolism (ATP generation inside cells), however sometimes (such as here) it can also refer to breathing (which is how the word is most often used by non-biologists).
In humans and other mammals, respiratory gas exchange or ventilation is carried out by mechanisms of the lungs.
The actual exchange of gases occurs in the alveoli..
For more information about the topic Gas exchange, read the full article at Wikipedia.org, or see the following related articles:
Lung — The lung is the essential organ of respiration in air-breathing vertebrates. Its principal function is to transport oxygen from the atmosphere into ... > read more
Pulmonary alveolus — An alveolus (plural: alveoli), is an anatomical structure that has the form of a hollow cavity. In the lung, the pulmonary alveoli are spherical ... > read more
