Snowfall for ALL - Wildlife

As snowmelt begins earlier and weather patterns become more variable, our wildlife is experiencing problems with phenotypic mismatch (when species' adaptations become out of sync with their environment), changing animal migration, and difficulties finding food and shelter.

Phenotypic Mismatch

As a result of long-term evolutionary adaptations to the seasonal changes in climate, snowshoe hares (among many other species) adapt to seasons by changing their coat furs with the shortening and lengthening of light. (Learn More: see Pope, 2019).

Since this change is related to light, not snow, we are seeing that when there are unpredictable changes in snowfall there are more frequent mismatch between the colors of these animals and the groundcover–

utimately making animals more succespitable to predation.

Many flowers that bloom in the early springtime are being affected by the changing snowmelt patterns and are faced with pollination challenges.

These plants have evolved to flower immediately after the snow begins to melt, but with the recent patterns of early, variable snowmelt, these flowers are blooming earlier in the year than typically expected.

This exposes them to more severe freeze-thaw conditions (warmer days melt the snow, but cold nights or unpredicted snow storms cause thawed plants to freeze over) and inhibits their pollination process as many pollinators are not in sync with the new snowmelt patterns. (Learn more: see Rigby, 2021).

Nuttall's larkspur (Delphinium nuttallianum) Image Credit: Americansouthwest.net Lewis flax (Linum lewisii) Image Credit: Gardeningknowhow.com Orange Sneezeweed (Hymenoxys hoopesii) Image Credit: SW Colorado Wildflowers Subalpine Larkspur (Delphinium barbeyi) Image Credit: SW Colorado Wildflowers

Consequently, we see a substantial loss of high alpine plant species with each consecutive generation.

Disrupted Migration Patterns

With rising global atmospheric temperatures comes also rising water temperatures.

As many as 626 species of fish on the American west coast are predicted to migrate up to 900 miles north in search of colder waters by the turn of the century.

This has both ecological and economic consequences as west coast fisheries are depleted. (Learn more: see Berwyn, 2018.)

Food and Shelter

Burrowing animals such as groundhogs, gophers, and prairie dogs rely on soft snow to dig through in order to nest underground and escape predators.

With new variable weather patterns that cause freeze-thaw conditions, the snow partially melts and then recrystallizes into ice creating a solidified structure that is much more difficult to burrow.

The inability to find shelter makes burrowing animals particularly susceptible to the new climate conditions of the southwest. (Learn more: see Poirier 2021).

These changes in snowfall patterns affect wildlife communities through their natural adaptations, their seasonal necessities, and their inability to find shelter.