Winter woes, the winter blues, cabin fever, there are so many common complaints about the winter season. I hate to shovel – that’s my number one complaint. No doubt winter is a tough times especially for our coming and going and our everyday human activities. But in the natural world every season has its purpose and unexpected gifts.
Out in the preserve there is a quiet and peacefulness that is transcendent. Walk out alone and in some places the crunch of snow and ice under your boots is the only sound. It is absolutely silent which is rare in these days and times. Stop for a minute, close your eyes and just breathe in and the winter silence is a gift of the season that warms the soul. All of nature looks like it is sound asleep, in its infinite blanket of snow and ice.
But there is much more to consider. What else does winter give besides a brief time of peace and rest?
In a wetland some of the physical and geological processes are as active as ever and, in fact, are readying the wetland for the year to come. Take the phenomena of HYDROPERIOD. This is one of the definitive wetland functions and actually is part of the definition of a wetland. All wetlands have a hydroperiod -when and where waters flow in and out of the system in special ways. In a tidal wetland the hydroperiod is usually daily (semi-diurnal or diurnal) with a slightly higher monthly cycle synchronized to the spring and new moon. In all seasons of the year the salt marshes of the Alley still have their twice daily flooding and draining as the tides rise and fall in Little Neck Bay and Alley Creek. These are endless cycles not really affected by change of season.
More seasonal are the water levels in the freshwater wetlands and particularly the WETLAND PONDS. Last fall one of the senior classes did a resource management study in the Alley and one of the particular findings was that water levels at that time had fallen dramatically (by up to two feet) giving the appearance that some of the ponds were headed toward drying entirely. Not to worry. I had the chance to walk the nearby preserve in early January and it is not at all surprising that water levels (i.e. the hydroperiod) had returned to ‘normal’ levels. With a foot or two of snow and ice still covering the preserve, the inevitable spring melt will add to the shallow groundwater or directly into the wetlands bringing the water levels up even further.
Think about it. Ground water flows do not stop even in the winter. With frozen surface conditions and evaporation being greatly reduced (by near freezing temperatures) and with transpiration by plants being almost zero the water levels will almost certain rise until the wetlands and ponds are brim full. This is the normal cycle of things with water levels declining in the late summer and across the fall and returning in the winter and during the wet spring season. Without winter our ponds and wetlands would certainly diminish. On a scale perhaps a million times larger, our distant reservoirs and catchment areas would run dry without their annual recharge for the coming year. We couldn't get through the next summer without the gift of rain, ice and snow.
This is one of the true gifts of winter – a chance to recharge all of our vital water resources- and a chance for us humans to rest up and get ready for the year to come. Be thankful for winter. Happy New Year everyone.
