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cryptobiosis
Oct. 1st, 2013 07:14 amcryptobiosis (krip-toh-beye-OH-sis) - n., a state in which an organism's metabolic activities come to a reversible standstill.
Many arid regions have cryptobiotic soil, in which algea, fungi, lichen, and/or mosses form a crust within the top layer of dirt, which is ecologically important because it seals in moisture and reduces erosion -- but which is dormant until the next rains. Coined from Greek roots, where crypto- means hidden (as in cryptography, hidden writing).
---L.
Many arid regions have cryptobiotic soil, in which algea, fungi, lichen, and/or mosses form a crust within the top layer of dirt, which is ecologically important because it seals in moisture and reduces erosion -- but which is dormant until the next rains. Coined from Greek roots, where crypto- means hidden (as in cryptography, hidden writing).
---L.
