scholarly journals Adaptations of large marsupials to survival in winter snow cover: locomotion and foraging

2016 ◽  
Vol 94 (11) ◽  
pp. 753-759
Author(s):  
K. Green
Keyword(s):  
Snow Cover ◽  
Dietary Habit ◽  
Mammalian Fauna ◽  
Morphological Aspects ◽  
Plant Groups ◽  
Winter Snow ◽  
Lower Elevation ◽  
Common Wombat ◽  
Seasonal Snow Cover ◽  
Swamp Wallaby

The small extent of seasonally snow-covered Australian mountains means that there has not been a great selective pressure on the mammalian fauna for adaptations to this environment. Only one large marsupial, the common wombat (Vombatus ursinus (Shaw, 1800)), is widespread above the winter snowline. In the past 20 years, with snow depth and duration declining, the swamp wallaby (Wallabia bicolor (Desmarest, 1804)) has become more common above the winter snowline. The red-necked wallaby (Macropus rufogriseus (Desmarest, 1817)) is common in alpine Tasmania where seasonal snow cover is neither as deep nor as long-lasting as on the mainland, but has only been recorded regularly above the winter snowline in the mainland Snowy Mountains since 2011. This study examines morphological aspects of locomotion of these three herbivorous marsupials in snow. The wombat is the best adapted to snow, with quadrupedal gait and an expanded home range allowing it to locate and feed on the same plant groups as it does at lower elevation. Wallabies are poorly adapted to locomotion in snow, but the browsing swamp wallaby is able to maintain its dietary habit by feeding on exposed shrubs in deep snow, whereas the red-necked wallaby, which depends more on grazing, appears constrained to areas where snow is shallow.

scholarly journals Observation of internal structures of snow covers with a ground-penetrating radar

2004 ◽  
Vol 38 ◽  
pp. 21-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tatsuya Yamamoto ◽  
Kenichi Matsuoka ◽  
Renji Naruse
Keyword(s):  
Snow Cover ◽  
Ground Penetrating Radar ◽  
Noise Levels ◽  
Seasonal Snow ◽  
Periodic Noise ◽  
Radar Echoes ◽  
Winter Snow ◽  
Internal Structures ◽  
Ground Penetrating ◽  
Seasonal Snow Cover

AbstractTo complement a technique to detect internal structures of seasonal snow covers and glacier firn with ground-penetrating radar (GPR), we carried out calibration experiments and an observation of winter snow cover (5.7m thick dry snow with numerous ice layers) with an 800 MHz GPR. In particular, we aimed to discriminate periodic noise, which is inherent in GPR, from radar echoes and to obtain a relationship between the observed reflection strength and the magnitude of density contrasts. Experiments were done in air to evaluate noise levels and receiver characteristics of this system. Based on these, we removed noise from radar echoes in the snow-cover observation. We recognized numerous marked echoes in a noise-free radargram. The depths of these echoes coincided roughly with those of large density contrasts observed in the snow pit. Thus, we argue that the echoes correspond to thin ice layers. Furthermore, the minimum density contrasts detected by this GPR are found to vary from about 100 to 250 kgm–3 at 1–6m depth in the seasonal snow cover.

Effect of seasonal snow cover on litter decomposition in alpine forest

2013 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 296-305 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qi-Qian WU ◽  
Fu-Zhong WU ◽  
Wan-Qin YANG ◽  
Zhen-Feng XU ◽  
Wei HE ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Snow Cover ◽  
Litter Decomposition ◽  
Seasonal Snow ◽  
Alpine Forest ◽  
Seasonal Snow Cover

Modelling the hypsometric seasonal snow cover using meteorological parameters

2014 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Snehmani ◽  
Anshuman Bhardwaj ◽  
Mritunjay Kumar Singh ◽  
R.D. Gupta ◽  
Pawan Kumar Joshi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Snow Cover ◽  
Meteorological Parameters ◽  
Seasonal Snow ◽  
Seasonal Snow Cover

scholarly journals Seasonal and Ephemeral Snowpacks of the Conterminous United States

Hydrology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 32
Author(s):  
Benjamin J. Hatchett
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
At Risk ◽  
New England ◽  
Snow Cover ◽  
Snow Water Equivalent ◽  
Atlantic Coast ◽  
Seasonal Snow ◽  
Temperature And Precipitation ◽  
Lower Elevation ◽  
Precipitation Estimates

Snowpack seasonality in the conterminous United States (U.S.) is examined using a recently-released daily, 4 km spatial resolution gridded snow water equivalent and snow depth product developed by assimilating station-based observations and gridded temperature and precipitation estimates from PRISM. Seasonal snowpacks for the period spanning water years 1982–2017 were calculated using two established methods: (1) the classic Sturm approach that requires 60 days of snow cover with a peak depth >50 cm and (2) the snow seasonality metric (SSM) that only requires 60 days of continuous snow cover to define seasonal snow. The latter approach yields continuous values from −1 to +1, where −1 (+1) indicates an ephemeral (seasonal) snowpack. The SSM approach is novel in its ability to identify both seasonal and ephemeral snowpacks. Both approaches identify seasonal snowpacks in western U.S. mountains and the northern central and eastern U.S. The SSM approach identifies greater areas of seasonal snowpacks compared to the Sturm method, particularly in the Upper Midwest, New England, and the Intermountain West. This is a result of the relaxed depth constraint compared to the Sturm approach. Ephemeral snowpacks exist throughout lower elevation regions of the western U.S. and across a broad longitudinal swath centered near 35° N spanning the lee of the Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic coast. Because it lacks a depth constraint, the SSM approach may inform the location of shallow but long-duration snowpacks at risk of transitioning to ephemeral snowpacks with climatic change. A case study in Oregon during an extreme snow drought year (2014/2015) highlights seasonal to ephemeral snowpack transitions. Aggregating seasonal and ephemeral snowpacks to the HUC-8 watershed level in the western U.S. demonstrates the majority of watersheds are at risk of losing seasonal snow.

scholarly journals Mapping the Distribution of Buried Glacier Ice – An Example From Lago Delle Locce, Monte Rosa, Italian Alps

1986 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 78-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Haeberli ◽  
F. Epifani
Keyword(s):  
Snow Cover ◽  
Seismic Refraction ◽  
Italian Alps ◽  
Frozen Ground ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Winter Snow ◽  
Glacier Ice ◽  
Geoelectrical Resistivity ◽  
Monte Rosa

Techniques for mapping the distribution of buried glacier ice are discussed and the results, from a study carried out within the framework of flood protection work in the Italian Alps, are presented. Bottom temperatures of the winter snow cover (BTS) primarily indicate the heat flow conditions in the underlying ground and mainly depend on the presence or absence of an ice layer beneath the surface. Determination of BTS values is therefore an inexpensive method for quickly mapping the near-surface underground ice in areas where there is 1 m or more of winter snow cover. At greater depths, and/or when more detail is required, geoelectrical resistivity soundings and seismic refraction soundings are most commonly used to investigate underground ice. A combination of the two sounding techniques allows the vertical extent and the main characteristics (frozen ground, dead glacier ice) to be determined in at least a semi-quantitative way. Complications mainly arise from irregularity in the horizontal extension of the studied underground ice bodies, and they may have to be overcome by expensive core drillings and borehole measurements. Widespread occurrence of buried glacier ice was observed in morainic deposits, surrounding an ice-dammed lake near Macugnaga, Italy.

scholarly journals An outline of avalanches in the Tien Shan mountains

1992 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
pp. 7-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hu Ruji ◽  
Ma Hong ◽  
Wang Guo
Keyword(s):  
Snow Cover ◽  
Basal Layer ◽  
Liquid Water Content ◽  
Snow Accumulation ◽  
Tien Shan ◽  
Large Temperature ◽  
Snow Avalanches ◽  
Climatic Variations ◽  
Tien Shan Mountains ◽  
Seasonal Snow Cover

The seasonal snow cover in the Tien Shan mountains is characterized by low density, low liquid-water content and low temperature. It is known as typical dry snow. Large temperature gradients in the basal layer of the snow cover exist throughout the entire period of snow accumulation, and depth hoar is therefore extremely well-developed. Full-depth depth-hoar avalanches, however, seldom occur. Avalanches in the Tien Shan mountains are mostly loose snow avalanches. Although normally not large in size, they are the most dangerous type. The occurrence of hazardous avalanches shows cycles of about ten years because of periodic climatic variations.

scholarly journals Climatic influence on the composition of snow cover at Austre Okstindbreen, Norway, 1989 and 1990

1994 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
He Yuanqing ◽  
Wilfred H. Theakstone
Keyword(s):  
Snow Cover ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Early Summer ◽  
Late Winter ◽  
Crustal Material ◽  
Air Masses ◽  
The North ◽  
Air Temperatures ◽  
Winter Snow ◽  
Marine Source

Winter snow cover at Austre Okstindbreen is influenced strongly by patterns of atmospheric circulation, and by air temperatures during precipitation. Differences of circulation over the North Atlantic and Scandinavia during the winters of 1988–89 and 1989–90 were reflected in the ionic and isotopic composition of snow that accumulated at the glacier. Early summer ablation did not remove, or smooth out, all the initial stratigraphic differences. In the first half of the 1988–89 winter, most air masses took a relatively short route between a marine source and Okstindan; late winter snowfalls were from air masses which had taken a longer continental route. The snow that accumulated in the first half of the 1989–90 winter was associated with air masses which had followed longer continental routes, and so brought higher concentrations of impurities from forests, lakes and crustal material. The ablation season began earlier in 1990 than in 1989, and summer winds and rain supplied more impurities to the snowpack surface.

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