Dormancy is a stage in an organism’s life cycle during which growth, development, and (in the case of animals) physical activity are temporarily slowed or suspended. This reduces metabolic activity and, as a result, aids an organism in its efforts to conserve energy. Dormancy is often found to be closely associated with specific environmental conditions, such as temperature. Through predictive or consequential mechanisms, organisms can time their entry into a dormant phase with the rest of their environment. When an organism enters a dormant phase before the onset of adverse conditions, this is referred to as predictive dormancy. Many plants, for example, use changes in photoperiod and temperature to predict the onset of winter, and they are not alone. When organisms enter a dormant phase as a result of adverse environmental conditions, this is referred to as consequential dormancy. This is a common occurrence in areas where the weather is unpredictable. When environmental conditions change rapidly, animals reliant on consequential dormancy may die in large numbers. However, the use of consequential dormancy can be advantageous because organisms remain active for a longer period of time and are therefore able to make better use of available resources.
Hibernation
In order to conserve energy and survive during the winter months when food is scarce, many mammals go into hibernation to conserve energy and survive. Hibernation can be either preventative or remedial in nature. Preparing for hibernation involves building up a thick layer of body fat during the late summer and autumn months, which will serve as a source of energy during the dormant period of the year. When an animal goes into hibernation, it undergoes a variety of physiological changes, including a decreased heart rate (which can be as low as 95 percent) and a decreased body temperature. As a supplement to shivering, some hibernating animals also generate body heat through non-shivering thermogenesis in order to avoid freezing.
Bats, ground squirrels, and other rodents, mouse lemurs, the European hedgehog, and other insectivores, as well as monotremes and marsupials, are examples of animals that hibernate in the winter. Despite the fact that hibernation is almost exclusively observed in mammals, some birds, such as the common poorwill, are known to do so as well.
Hibernation vs Aestivation
Aestivation is a natural state of animal dormancy that is almost identical to the hibernation state, except that it occurs during the summer rather than the winter months. aestivation is characterised and observed by inactivity and decreased metabolic rate, and it is associated with a low percentage of hunting. It is an evolutionary stage that occurs as a result of high temperatures and dry conditions, and it has been observed in aestivation. On the other hand, despite the fact that it is a different term, there is little distinction between the two. A state of minimal activity and metabolic depression, known as hibernation, prevails in most animals during this time of year. During hibernation, the body temperature is reduced, the breathing and heart rate are slowed, and the metabolism is decelerated. The winter months are the most common time for it to manifest itself.
Diapause
In animals, dipause is a predictive strategy that is determined by the animal’s genetic makeup. Diapause is common in insects, allowing them to suspend development between the seasons of autumn and spring, and in mammals such as the roe deer, where a delay in the attachment of the embryo to the uterine lining ensures that offspring are born in the spring, when conditions are the most favourable for development.
Aestivation
Aestivation, which is also spelled estivation, is a type of consequential dormancy that occurs in response to extremely hot or dry weather. Garden snails and worms are among the many invertebrates that carry the virus, but it also affects other animals such as lungfish, salamanders, desert tortoises, and crocodiles.
Dormancy in Bacteria
Temperature, desiccation, and antibiotics are just a few of the conditions that bacteria can survive by forming endospores, cysts, or states of reduced metabolic activity that are devoid of specialised cellular structures, among other things. As many as 80% of the bacteria found in wild samples appear to be metabolically inactive, though many of them can be resurrected with the right conditions. The high levels of diversity found in most natural ecosystems are attributed to this type of dormancy.
Viruses
Because viruses are not metabolically active, they do not fall under the definition of dormancy in its strictest sense. However, some viruses, such as poxviruses and picornaviruses, can remain latent in the host for extended periods of time, or even indefinitely, until they are activated by an external source. Infected hosts can become latent after herpes viruses have infected them; however, the virus can reactivate after years if the host is stressed or exposed to ultraviolet radiation.
Conclusion
Dormancy is a state of reduced metabolic activity adopted by many organisms when faced with environmental stress or, more frequently, when such stressful conditions are likely to occur, such as during the winter months. The majority of organisms are subjected to some level of stress in their environments. Others reduce environmental stresses by altering their behaviour and the habitats (their immediate surroundings) that they occupy. Some animals migrate long distances to avoid unfavourable situations; others reduce environmental stresses by altering their behaviour and the habitats (their immediate surroundings).