User:Shiftteamnico/sandbox
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Acclimatization (/ə.ˌklaɪ.mə.tə.ˈzeɪ.ʃən/) is the biological process by which an organism adjusts to a change in its environmental conditions in order to maintain performance.[1] Organisms can acclimatize to a variety of environmental changes — altitude, temperature, humidity, photoperiod, pH, and salinity —using biochemical, morphological, and behavioural methods. Acclimatization occurs over a short period of time (hours to weeks) and also occurs within an organism's lifespan (this is in contrast to adaptation, which is an evolutionary change that takes place over many generations). Furthermore, acclimatization may be a discrete occurrence (like when mountaineers acclimatize to high altitudes) or may instead be part of a periodic cycle (such as mammals shedding heavy winter fur in favor of a lighter summer coat).[2] While the capacity to acclimatize to novel environments is well documented in thousands of species, researchers still know very little about how and why organisms acclimatize the way that they do.