Wild About Winter Poster

Winter is a big deal for our wildlife. Snow covers the plants and soil, and it decreases mobility for many species. The days are shorter, leaving less solar energy for plant life. Temperatures are lower, decreasing available thermal energy (heat) for all lifeforms. Since growth and activity are at lower rates, less nutritional energy (food) is produced and available to both plants and animals. These deficiencies have caused winter to be an evolutionary challenge: to survive, successful organisms have had to balance the impacts of the cold season on their energy supplies, even if much less energy is around to sustain them. Even so, some wildlife has adapted and evolved in unique ways to survive seasonal changes, while still calling Canada home.