Life in Winter

 As we enter the later days of November, the transition into winter becomes more noticeable. As seen in the images below, there is less greenery, the deciduous trees (with the exception of pine trees since they don’t lose their green features) have lost all or most of their leaves, with the latter now covering the ground. Most of the larger animals that I used to see in my landscape such as squirrels and deer I have also seen considerably less of, meaning they are getting ready to or already are hibernating. Due to less growing it can be assumed there may not be growth or even a lack of nutrients in the environment. This could not be further from the truth though. While trees are going dormant and larger animals migrate or hibernate, a return of nutrients to the soil is still ongoing. This is because of the leaves on the ground. Since the leaves are already decomposing, it is only a matter of time when they will fully decompose into the soil, returning lots of nutrients to the soil, one of which being carbon. The carbon returns to nearby plants, which helps increase photosynthesis rates. The return of nutrients also improves soil structure, allowing for it to hold more moisture. This can be seen through the lack of mud in my landscape.