Country Winter
How Nature Prepares for Winter by Nancy Condon
Winter is nearly upon us, and there is lots of work to be done. Today my family spent the day cutting, splitting, and storing firewood to keep the house warm through the coming cold. Plants and animals in the northern hemisphere are getting ready for winter too. None match the wood splitting ability of my husband, but each excels in winter preparation in its own way.
Deciduous trees, like oak and maple, prepare differently than do their evergreen brethren. Winter to a tree is not so much a time of cold as it is a time of drought. Water frozen in the soil becomes unavailable to the plant for use in photosynthesis. Using the diminishing sunlight as a clue, these trees grow a corky barrier where the leaf meets the twig, severing the leaf from the plant. If leaves stayed attached, water could escape through the leaves, into the dry winter air, desiccating and killing the plant.
Have you noticed that some deciduous trees cut off the leaves' water supply, but allow the leaves to hang on for the winter? Leaves of young beech and oak trees do this. We are not sure why, but it could be that old, dead, dried leaves, which are not so palatable to deer and moose, stay on to cover and protect the delicious bud underneath from these big browsers. Others theorize that these trees just haven't gotten the hang of true deciduousness yet.
Throughout winter our snowy landscape will be dotted with the greens of hemlock, pine, and rhododendron. Evergreens hang onto their leaves to save energy in the spring. Without having to re-grow lost leaves when the soil water thaws, they are ready to get going right away. They may also photosynthesize in the winter if conditions permit. This strategy makes sense too.
To protect themselves, evergreen trees and bushes have modified their leaves. Hemlocks, pines and others have needles with waxy coatings and small surface areas to reduce water loss. Rhododendrons also cover their leaves with wax. Notice a rhododendron on a particularly cold winter day. The leaf will curl under to protect the pores (called stomata) on their bottom surface from the drying effects of cold air. Stomata are the doors, if you will, to the moist leaf interior.
Plants are not the only organisms to adapt to the coming cold. White-tailed deer shed their red-brown summer coat for a dull grey winter coat. The thin summer hair protects well from bugs, but the hollow winter hair traps air and provides extra insulation. It insulates so well that a bedded deer could be covered by snow and not cause the snow to melt at all.
Hares and weasels loose their brown summer coloration and change to a white coat to better blend into the winter background. Some species of weasels maintain a small black tuft at the tip of their tails to confuse would-be predators. If the predator chooses poorly, it ends up with a mouthful of hair and not the weasel.
Some animals stay active all winter searching for food, while others stockpile supplies. Grey squirrels stash large piles of acorns and red squirrels stockpile evergreen cones. Throughout the winter they will brave a trip from the protection of their nests out to visit these stores to keep their fat levels up. Chipmunks have spent the fall storing nuts and seeds in underground coffers. They will wake up periodically, make an underground trip through its maze of tunnels, and have a bite to eat.
Throughout winter, fat is an important source of calories and insulation for hibernating mammals. A Black bear's fall quest is to fatten up as much as possible. An individual may gain as much as 3 to 5 pounds of fat per day just on acorns in the fall. Those sunflower seeds in your bird feeder are a high fat food source and quickly become a favorite of bears during their fall quest. Woodchucks likewise, gorge themselves on plants, seeds and roots in the fall until they are waddling bundles of fat, ready to curl up underground and hibernate for months on end.
People are not so different. You too are participating in this annual winter-preparation ritual when you stockpile firewood, dig out the scarves and mittens, purchase extra hot chocolate or freeze the garden bounty. Winter...bring it on!
Nancy Condon is an award-winning Environmental Educator, cross-country canoeist, hike leader, fan of National Parks, and co-founder of NaturePods, Guides for the Nature Traveler. For unique programs to download to your iPod before you travel or explore the outdoors, visit http://www.NaturePods.com
Article Source: http://www.earticlesonline.com/Article/How-Nature-Prepares-for-Winter/447949
Winter Comes to Cougar Country
A Brief Insight Of The Road Network Of Mexico
Are you eyeing to enjoy your holidays to Mexico? Surely, you are going to want to see various sites around the country, not just in its capital Mexico City. Well, you are in luck. Going around the country is quite easy thanks to an extensive roadway network.
Mexico's roads cover virtually all populated places in the country, reaching out into its interior and central parts. In fact, the country has 366,095 kilometers of road of which 116,802 kilometers are paved. There are 10,474 kilometers of multi-lane freeways: 9,544 kilometers of it are highways with four lines while the rest have 6 or more lanes. This makes it the largest paved-roadway network in Latin America.
To make it more convenient for motorists to drive from one place to another, the highways of Mexico are labelled by the types of access and the number of lanes. Undivided or divided two-lane highways, which which comprise the core of the road network, are called carreteras. Speed limits in carretas are determined by terrain conditions.
Freeways that comprise four or more lanes, with restricted or unrestricted access, are called autopistas. These long and large roads link the major cities in Mexico---Mexico City, Monterrey, and Guadalajara. In autopistas, people can drive speeds up to 110 kilometers an hour. Buses and trucks, which are bigger and slower, reach speeds around 95 kilometers an hour. Autopistas are typically toll-roads where you are required to pay a certain fee, or toll. The toll includes some sort of traveler's insurance in the event of an accident occurring within the freeway. Toll expressways generally have phone booths, water wells, and emergency braking ramps at short intervals for people to use.
Just like in many nations with a freeway system, Mexican highways are labelled with 1 to 3-digit numbers. North-to-south highways are labelled with odd numbers while east-to-west highways are labelled with even numbers. Toll expressways often run parallel to a free road, therefore, they are assigned with the same number the free road is identified with, with the addition of a letter "D." For instance, the two-lane highway that connects Mexico City to Puebla is labelled as MX 150 while the 6-lane toll expressway beside it is MX 150D.
When spending your cheap holidays abroad, you are ensured of easy accessibility. Reserve your vacation through Travel Republic.
Country Winter
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