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Dormancy is a period in an organism's life cycle when growth, development, and (in animals) physical activity are temporarily stopped. This minimizes metabolic activity and therefore helps an organism to conserve energy. Dormancy tends to be closely associated with environmental conditions.
Aestivation (Latin: aestas (summer); also spelled estivation in American English) is a state of animal dormancy, similar to hibernation, although taking place in the summer rather than the winter. Aestivation is characterized by inactivity and a lowered metabolic rate, that is entered in response to high temperatures and arid conditions. [ 1 ]
Dormancy caused by an impermeable seed coat is known as physical dormancy. Physical dormancy is the result of impermeable layer(s) that develops during maturation and drying of the seed or fruit. [12] This impermeable layer prevents the seed from taking up water or gases. As a result, the seed is prevented from germinating until dormancy is broken.
Many animal species, especially freshwater invertebrates, are able to disperse by wind or by transfer with an aid of larger animals (birds, mammals or fishes) as dormant eggs, dormant embryos or, in some cases, dormant adult stages. Tardigrades, some rotifers and some copepods are able to withstand desiccation as adult dormant stages.
Some marine animals do go through periods of dormancy, but the effect is stronger and more widespread in terrestrial environments. As hibernation is a seasonal response, the movement of the ancestor of birds and mammals onto land introduced them to seasonal pressures that would eventually become hibernation. [ 45 ]
In animal dormancy, diapause is the delay in development in response to regular and recurring periods of adverse environmental conditions. [1] [2] It is a physiological state with very specific initiating and inhibiting conditions. The mechanism is a means of surviving predictable, unfavorable environmental conditions, such as temperature ...
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Some animals seasonally go into long periods of inactivity, with reduced body temperature and metabolism, made up of multiple bouts of torpor. This is known as hibernation if it occurs during winter or aestivation if it occurs during the summer.