DORMANCY
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 981 ▶ |
| Object type | General information |
The condition of a potential process in a system that has not yet been activated by a specific trigger factor.
A state of very reduced activity of a system, that remains able to be reactivated under certain conditions.
Such a factor is generally a disturbance whose origin is in the environment of the system. The activation of the dormant process can however be indirect, or even possibly endogenous.
Escaping from dormancy, reactivation can be produced either by some environmental impact, or by some internal agent . In most cases it seems that the action of the internal agent is triggered by the environmental impact, as for example in plants and seeds after the dry season or winter.
In living systems , dormancy is mainly characterized by a considerable slow-down of metabolism .