What Is the Definition of Acclimatization in Biology

Traveling from sea level to high altitude is considered one of the best examples of acclimatization processes. As in this condition, the body shows the process of acclimatization or adaptation according to the new environment. The presence of special traits or habits in a species that help survive in a particular habitat is called adaptation. For example, desert plants have leaves that are reduced to thorns to reduce water loss through transpiration. But acclimatization helps overcome small problems caused by changes in the environment. One of the best-known examples of acclimatization in humans can be observed during trips from sites to sea level at high altitudes. The body acclimatizes and adapts to the new environment. When we travel to higher places, we see acclimatization, and it is considered one of the best examples of the acclimatization process in humans. For example: if a person goes to 3,000 meters above sea level and stays there for at least a week, in this case the person is acclimatized to 3,000 meters. If this person drives 1000 meters more, he must acclimatize again to 4000 meters above sea level. The nouns acclimatization and acclimatization (and the corresponding verbs acclimatize and acclimatize) are widely considered synonymous,[2][3][4][5][6][7] both in general vocabulary[2][3][4][5] and in medical vocabulary. [6] [7] It has sometimes been argued that they should be distinguished by reserving acclimatization to a wild/natural process (e.g., severe winter mantle with natural seasonal changes) and acclimatization is reserved for changes that occur in response to an artificial or controlled situation, such as temperature changes imposed in an experiment.

This statement is not widely known or followed (as shown by the above quotations from 6 major dictionaries), so authors who hear it must explicitly state that it applies in their use (e.g., “in the following discussion, X refers strictly to Y”) if they expect its meaning to be taken up by their audience. The synonym acclimatization[4][6] is less frequent and fewer dictionaries enter. Since animals and plants can be successfully introduced to new areas, it can be said that species do not necessarily reach their best potential in their region of origin. Thus, acclimatization does not always mean that a plant or animal is adapted to function at its maximum rate. In hot summer, acclimatized birds and mammals often rest in the shade, and in cold winter, some animals and all plants rest. At extreme limits, an organism may suffer some impairment of vitality, but it survives; If the impairment is obvious, acclimatization is considered inadequate. With regard to acclimatization, the influence of climate on life can be discussed under the headings of adaptation of temperature, humidity, salinity, light, pressure and certain chemicals in the environment. Because organisms do not have unlimited combinations of adaptations, they can use a similar process to adapt to changes from different origins. For example, when acclimatizing to low oxygen pressure (hypoxia) in high mountains, animals, including humans, improve the blood`s ability to carry oxygen by increasing the number of red blood cells (polycythemia); In chronic emphysema, insufficient oxygen supply to the lungs is partially compensated by similar polycythemia. Some of the most common changes the body undergoes during high-altitude acclimatization: High-altitude acclimatization lasts months or even years after the first ascent, eventually allowing humans to survive in an environment that would kill them without acclimatization.

People who permanently migrate to higher altitudes naturally acclimate to their new environment by developing an increase in red blood cell counts to increase the blood`s oxygen-carrying capacity to compensate for lower oxygen absorption. [20] [21] Acclimatization and acclimatization have a number of effects on birds that affect their response to heat stress. The density of secretory units in the lateral nasal glands and arteriovenous anastomoses in the nasal mucosa was significantly higher in the rostral turbinates of poultry exposed to heat for 4 hours per day for 2 months than in control birds. Midtgard (1989a) suggested that these differences reflected an increased evaporative cooling capacity of the nasal mucosa of ancient birds. The rate of total water loss by high Ta evaporation by heat-acclimated rock pigeons was significantly lower than that of unacclimatized individuals (Marder and Arieli 1988). Pigeons completely acclimatized to heat depended on evaporative skin cooling, even at a temperature of >60 °C. In a subsequent study, Marder (1990) found that some heat-acclimatized individuals gasped at 55-60°C. At these higher ATs, non-wheezing and wheezing subjects regulated blood pH to normal levels (7.544 ± 0.011 [SD] and 7.531 ± 0.022, respectively), accompanied by mild hypocapnia (PaCO2 = 24.8 ± 4.0 and 23.8 ± 2.49 torr [3.31 ± 0.53 and 3.17 ± 0.33 kPa, respectively]. Birds accustomed to lowering Ta gasped vigorously when exposed to 50°C and suffered from severe hypocapnia (PaCO2 = 9.1 ± 2.52 torr [1.21 ± 0.34 kPa]) and alkalosis (pH = 7.702 ± 0.048). Thirteen exposures of 4 to 6 hours per day at 50°C significantly improved the ability of these wheezing individuals to maintain an almost normal acid-base balance.

In reporting these results, Marder (1990) suggested that acclimatization to high Ta (50-60°C) is necessary to refine competing requirements for heat dissipation, pulmonary gas exchange, and acid-base regulation in heat-prone pigeons. Although acclimatization ability has been documented in thousands of species, researchers still know very little about how and why organisms acclimate the way they do. Since researchers began studying acclimatization, the prevailing assumption has been that all acclimatization serves to improve the body`s performance. This idea is known as the beneficial acclimatization hypothesis.

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