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Predictive dormancy occurs when an organism enters a dormant phase before the onset of adverse conditions. For example, photoperiod and decreasing temperature are used by many plants to predict the onset of winter. Consequential dormancy occurs when organisms enter a dormant phase after adverse conditions have arisen. This is commonly found in ...
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 ]
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 ...
Organisms have evolved adaptations for dispersal that take advantage of various forms of kinetic energy occurring naturally in the environment. This can be done by taking advantage of water, wind, or an animal that is able to perform active dispersal themselves. Some organisms are capable of movement while in their larval phase.
Anhydrobiosis in the tardigrade Richtersius coronifer. Anhydrobiosis is the most studied form of cryptobiosis and occurs in situations of extreme desiccation.The term anhydrobiosis derives from the Greek for "life without water" and is most commonly used for the desiccation tolerance observed in certain invertebrate animals such as bdelloid rotifers, tardigrades, brine shrimp, nematodes, and ...
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 ]
Embryonic diapause [a] (delayed implantation in mammals) is a reproductive strategy used by a number of animal species across different biological classes.In more than 130 types of mammals where this takes place, the process occurs at the blastocyst stage of embryonic development, [1] and is characterized by a dramatic reduction or complete cessation of mitotic activity, arresting most often ...
Decomposition can be a gradual process for organisms that have extended periods of dormancy. [ 1 ] One can differentiate abiotic decomposition from biotic decomposition ( biodegradation ); the former means "the degradation of a substance by chemical or physical processes", e.g., hydrolysis ; the latter means "the metabolic breakdown of ...