Ecology

This winter feels like a real winter

Anne Gageby
Strawberry Hill Nature Preserve

(2/2025) Like the ones we had when I was a kid growing up on Mount Hope. The kind of winter that makes you want to go play in the snow then snuggle under a warm, dry blanket. The kind of winter that makes you look out your window at the vast ocean of white and wonder at how anything survives. The snow, the plunging temperatures, the frozen creek beds. It has been a gloriously icy season.

Snow is as functional as it is beautiful. Snow’s albedo, or ability to reflect sunlight back into the atmosphere, is very high. It reflects an average of 80-90 percent of incoming sunlight. This reflection of light helps Earth’s energy balance and cools the planet. Without snow, or in areas where dust has collected on snowpack’s surface, dark-colored debris absorbs and retains heat causing faster snowmelt and decreases the likelihood of snow sticking to the ground. It becomes a vicious cycle. But when snow does stay it does miraculous things for the forest.

Those delicate white flakes gather and become an insulating blanket that protects plants, trees, and wildlife from the creeping midwinter chill. Without snow, super cold temperatures like we experienced last week freeze the soil deeper underground. This can lead to damaged root systems and kill plants and trees. Snow’s insulation efficacy is due to the air pockets found between fallen snowflakes. These air pockets trap warmer air and moisture, effectively slowing down heat loss between the ground and outer temperatures.

And the insulation effect of snow helps protect roots from the cyclic freezing and thawing that often happens this time of year. Milder temperatures and sunshine warm snow-free soil at the surface level and can lead to damage from soil heaving. When this happens, roots dry out and break. Snow-coated soil, however, helps conserve moisture during the long winter months and provides a much-needed dose of water as the snow melts into the ground. These protections help set the pace for spring budding.

But not all snowmelt penetrates the ground. Depending on the landscape, snowmelt also flows over land, contributing to the flow streams and rivers. This helps create temporary streams and vernal pools which become homes to a variety of amphibians such as salamanders and frogs. Vernal pools filled in early spring by snowmelt and rain dry up during summer and yet are incredibly important to certain amphibian species’ mating seasons as they provide a habitat safe from fish predators. It’s a delicate balance but one that often depends on winter precipitation as much as it depends on spring rains.

It's fun to discover the benefits of a snowy winter but let’s be honest, snow isn’t for everyone. As we experienced recently, it can disrupt travel plans, close schools and businesses, and requires physical investment in its removal. Yet, to the forest snow is a welcome sight. A variety of rodents such as mice, voles, and shrews live in or utilize the subnivean zone, that almost-magical world between the snowpack and the Earth’s surface. These creatures live, rest, and find meals here. They go about their days protected from winter’s harshest attitudes by the thick layer of white above them. Without this protection, rodent populations decrease as food supplies dry up and lack of cover opens them to higher rates of predation.

Of course, snow doesn’t give them protection all the time. Owls and foxes are well adapted to hunt for small rodents even in deep snow. Owls’ hearing is stellar, and their ears are designed to triangulate a prey’s location under a thick carpet of white. Studies have shown that owls experience sounds with the visual part of their brain. This means they are likely to see the sounds around them. A mole doesn’t stand much chance against that even if they are tunneled under several inches of snow. Foxes, on the other hand, have not only excellent hearing but an incredible sense of smell as well. They use their well-equipped noses to locate prey tunneling underfoot. And since they grow thick fur coats every year, the cold isn’t likely to stop them hunting for a late-evening meal.

For people, however, winter can be rough. The bitter cold we recently experienced made spending time outside difficult and unsafe. Fortunately, those temperatures were more of an anomaly than the rule in our area of Pennsylvania. And as we’ve seen, more normal temps came back as quickly as they left. It may still be cold out but overall winter is a great time to be outside.

Hiking in the cold brings a wide variety of health benefits from improving overall immunity to boosting your mood and reducing stress. Your body burns more calories when you go hiking in the cold and it can help improve your cardiovascular system. And walking through snow is kind of similar to walking on sand in that it forces you to slow down and works muscles you may have forgotten you had.

Winter hikes have more than just health benefits for anyone willing to brave the chilly air. The lack of bugs is a universal upside for any hiker. No spiderwebs in your hair or mosquitos making you a snack. Plus, there’s something fun about the crunch of snow under our feet as we take a walk outside. It brings out a child-like wonder and excitement as you traipse around the woods.

Or maybe that’s just me. I definitely feel like a kid again when I’m out on a winter hike. Tapping into that energy makes being out in the cold more enjoyable. Plus, the forest is beautiful this time of year. Shimmering ice and snow-dusted trees make a spectacular backdrop for any hike. If you’re looking for an excuse to get outside, this is it. Check out our list of upcoming winter hikes and programs at Strawberry Hill and join us for some winter fun. While you’re out, take in the forest around you and all that winter is doing behind the scenes. After all, this has been a winter to remember and one that will make spring even better for creatures and plants of all varieties.

Anne Gageby is the Environmental Education Manager of the Strawberry Hill Foundation. Strawberry Hill inspires stewardship of our natural world by
connecting the community with educational opportunities.
 Learn more by visiting StrawberryHill.org.