Another important aspect of the fairy shrimp’s life cycle is their universal ability to enter diapause, a state of biological dormancy where growth and metabolism are arrested, as an egg (or cyst). This trait assists in both species' dispersal and in overcoming adverse environmental conditions. Once dormant, these cysts can withstand conditions as harsh and diverse as droughts, frosts, hypersalinity, complete desiccation, exposure to UV radiation and the vacuum of space. It is also the only way for the fairy shrimps to colonize new habitats—facilitated by a variety of conditions including wind, predators, currents—as the soft-bodied adults are unable to leave the freshwater system. Once in diapause, these cysts can remain viable for centuries, and the mixing of system sediment results in the hatching of different aged cysts in each generation. This inbreeding slows the rate of selection by resisting gene flow and minimizing phenotypic variation, in turn promoting the stability of the existing, successful phenotype.