By: Trinity Eobbi, Outreach & Engagement Intern
One of the biggest myths about winter is that nature shuts down completely. When the snow falls and the air turns sharp with cold, it can look like the landscape has gone silent. But ecological processes don’t simply pause for the season. Beneath that stillness, life carries on in remarkable and often unseen ways.
Snow covering the ground actually plays a protective role. Acting like an insulating blanket, it helps the soil retain moisture and maintain more stable temperatures. Underneath, microbes such as bacteria, fungi, and archaea remain active. These microscopic communities continue cycling nutrients and even absorbing carbon dioxide, allowing the soil to function as a carbon sink throughout the winter months.
While the cold presents serious challenges, many organisms are specially adapted to survive, and even thrive, in harsh conditions. Fish, for instance, produce antifreeze proteins that prevent ice from forming in their tissues. In frozen lakes, the surface may harden into ice, but liquid water persists below, creating a stable habitat where aquatic life can endure the season.
Not all animals rely on migration or full hibernation. Many remain active in their habitats, using strategies like torpor, a temporary reduction in metabolic rate, to conserve energy when food is scarce. Others continue foraging and storing supplies to sustain themselves through the cold. Winter survival is less about stopping and more about adjusting.
Although winter can seem like a quiet time for rewilding, nature is far from lifeless. There is still plenty we can do: take slow walks to observe tracks in the snow, build bird feeders, or leave brush piles to provide shelter for small wildlife. By spending time outdoors in this quieter season, we reconnect with natural rhythms and move a little closer to the way humans once lived, intertwined with the living world.
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