estivation

This term describes a biological survival strategy specifically triggered by heat or aridity. It is the arid-climate counterpart to hibernation, which is triggered by cold. While hibernation is a more common term in general conversation, estivation is a precise technical term used in zoology and ecology to describe the metabolic slowdown of organisms like lungfish or certain amphibians.

As an uncountable noun referring to a biological process or state, it does not typically take a plural form. When referring to specific instances of the process across different species, speakers usually employ partitive constructions such as a period of estivation or a state of estivation rather than pluralizing the word itself.