Final answer:
Effectors respond to changes in the environment by carrying out actions such as muscle contraction or hormone secretion, helping maintain homeostasis in the body via negative feedback loops coordinated by the nervous and endocrine systems.
Step-by-step explanation:
Effectors bring about actions in response to a change in the internal or external environment. Such actions include muscles contracting and glands secreting hormones. The effector is a component of a homeostatic control mechanism, which could be an organ, gland, or muscle that acts upon receiving a signal from the control center to move a variable back toward its set point to maintain homeostasis. The process involves a receptor sensing the environmental change and sending a signal to the brain, which then directs the effector to respond appropriately.
Homeostasis is tightly regulated by negative feedback loops and is crucial for the stable functioning of an organism. When the change in question pushes an organism further from homeostasis, positive feedback mechanisms may come into play, although these generally push the organism away from its normal state. The nervous and endocrine systems are primarily responsible for controlling homeostasis in mammals through their influence over effectors, which include all three types of muscle tissue and the regulatory effect on glandular secretions such as hormones and sweat.