Hibernation

Hibernation is a prolonged seasonal state in which an animal sharply reduces activity, body temperature, and metabolic rate to survive periods of cold or food scarcity.

Torpor: A temporary state of reduced body temperature, metabolism, and activity in an animal. Hibernation consists of extended torpor, often interrupted by brief arousals.
Estivation: A dormant state that helps animals survive hot or dry conditions. It resembles hibernation but is typically triggered by heat or drought.
Endothermy: The ability to generate most body heat through internal metabolic processes. Mammalian hibernation modifies the costly heat production characteristic of endothermy.
Arctic ground squirrel: A northern ground squirrel that hibernates through long, severe winters. It tolerates some of the lowest body temperatures recorded in a hibernating mammal.
White-nose syndrome: A fungal disease that disrupts the hibernation of bats and has caused major population declines. Infected bats arouse too often and deplete the energy needed to survive winter.
Metabolic rate: The rate at which an organism uses energy through its chemical processes. Its profound reduction is central to hibernation’s energy savings.
Daily torpor: A short, usually daily episode of lowered body temperature and metabolism. Its brief duration distinguishes it from prolonged seasonal hibernation.
Ectothermy: Dependence on external heat sources for most body-temperature regulation. Ectotherms enter cold-season dormancy differently from the mammals most associated with hibernation.
Little brown bat: A North American bat that commonly spends winter hibernating in caves or mines. Its long winter dormancy makes it especially vulnerable to white-nose syndrome.
Hibernaculum: A sheltered place where an animal spends a period of winter dormancy. Protecting hibernation sites is essential for species that return to them seasonally.

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