ellujäämine

Ellujäämine is the ability of an organism, population, or individual to continue living under adverse conditions. It encompasses physiological regulation, behavioral decisions, and ecological strategies that allow persistence despite limited resources, extreme environments, predators, or social disruption. The term is used in biology, ecology, and human contexts to describe survival across different scales and situations.

In biology and ecology, ellujäämine reflects how species cope with stress and maintain population persistence. Organisms may employ strategies such as dormancy or hibernation, migration, morphological or physiological adaptations, and reproductive timing. Ecological resilience, life-history traits, and environmental variability influence the likelihood of survival and long-term persistence of species within ecosystems.

In human contexts, ellujäämine relates to wilderness and disaster survival as well as to everyday risk management. Survival skills commonly emphasized include securing shelter, finding and purifying water, obtaining food, creating fire, signaling for help, and giving or receiving first aid. Training, equipment, decision-making, and teamwork are considered important factors that increase the chances of surviving hazardous situations.

Etymology: the Estonian term ellujäämine is formed from the verb ellujääma (“to survive”) with the nominalizing suffix -mine, yielding the abstract noun for the act or process of surviving.

See also: survival training, disaster preparedness, ecological resilience.