Acclimation, heat shock and hardening

The purpose of this commentary is to open a debate on the usage of the terms acclimation, heat shock and hardening within the thermal biology literature. The terms all refer to a particular treatment modality, the responses of ectotherms to which are diverse, but are linked by the common outcome of changing their resistance to exposure to high lethal temperatures. In my view the common outcome of these treatments has resulted in these terms being used in divers ways, with a resultant lack of clarity in both the purpose and interpretation of the associated published work. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.