The weather is getting colder, and the days are getting shorter. Our complaints on the blistering heat have been replaced by complaints by the tormenting winds and gloomy clouds. We are never happy aren’t we?
To tell you the truth, I love this season. It’s my favourite season and time of the year. Have you ever heard of sweater weather. Well now is the perfect time of the year to pull out all my hoodies and get comfy. For me, this is the perfect temperature. It’s not too cold, or hot like in the summer. The earth becomes so pretty with all the changing colours as well. The trees are changing to red and orange, and some animals are becoming white. It’s just such an aesthetically pleasing time, magical to a certain extent.
But going back to animals, that will be the topic of our blog. Animal Adaptation. What does adaptation mean?
Adaptation is defined as any physical or behavioural change an animal or plant might go through in order to help them survive in a changing climate.
When I say physical or behavioral, what do I mean by that? When we say physical, it means change regarding the physical appearance of the animal/plant. For example, their fur. It might become thicker or even change colour. Also, have you noticed how trees change colour when it becomes colder, and eventually all those leaves fall to the ground?
But when we talk about behavioral changes, we are talking about the way an animal acts or goes about their day to day life. Have you heard of migration? That is a behavioral change that can take place. Migration is when animals move from place to place in order to combat changing weather. Monarch butterflies migrate south every winter down to Mexico, because just like we do, they don’t like the harsh Canadian winters. But for butterflies, and many other animals, they don’t migrate for mere satisfaction, but in order to make it to the next year. Animals aren’t like us humans, they just can’t turn on the heat during winter, so they adapt in ways they can.
So let’s look at various adaptations that animals can go through.
Physical Adaptations in Animals
1. Camouflage: many animals change their fur or skin colour for the purpose of blending in with their surroundings. For example, a seasonal camouflage change we see are hares turning white to blend in with the snow and avoid predation.
2. Thick fur or feathers: Animals such as wolves and penguins grow thicker fur or feathers to insulate against the cold. Insulate means to trap heat, so with thicker fur or feathers they are able to preserve their body heat to help them stay warm.
3. Large ears: Animals in hot climates, like elephants, have large ears to help dissipate heat. Dissipate means to release the heat.
Physical Adaptions in Plants
1. Leaf shedding: deciduous trees shed their leaves in autumn to conserve water and energy during water. As sunlight decreases with the colder weather, they aren’t getting enough sun to produce the green pigment chlorophyll, so they change colors to red, orange, brown, and then eventually become too weak and fall to the floor. That is when we pull out our rakes, and make the leaves into huge piles that we can jump into!
2. Thick bark: Just like animals, trees in colder climates can have thicker barks to protect themselves from freezing weathers and preserve heat.
3. Deep roots: plants in dry environments can have roots that go so deep to access water that is way below the surface. Even if it doesn’t rain or there are no lakes or rivers nearby, these plants can still survive.
4. Seasonal flowering: some plants only flower during specific seasons to take advantage of optimal pollination conditions. Pollination is the process of how plants are able to reproduce, and with the help of insects such as bees or just through the wind, they are able to spread their pollen in other places to create new plants! Usually this occurs in spring 🌷
Behavioural changes in animals
1. Migration: As I’ve mentioned earlier, some animals, or insects, move far, far, far away. They go on vacation in Cancun! Like we all want to do when it’s -30°C. It’s something that animals have been doing for centuries, they move with their resources. As the weather gets colder, their food begins to disappear, so they move to where the food is, basically.
2. Hibernation: Now not all animals can move far away, because it’s difficult. The animals that tend to move are the animals that can fly, or the ones that travel in large groups, such as bison. But a lot of animals don’t travel in large groups, such as bears. A lot of animals hibernate, but a great example are bears. Bears would eat and collect food all summer, and gain a lot of weight, then they would sleep all winter to conserve their energy and warmth with the lack of food. They usually sleep in deep caves, but they can also dig themselves burrows underground like many other animals do.
Behavioural changes in plants
1. Dormancy: Sort of like hibernation in animals, plants can enter a dormant state during unfavorable conditions such as cold temperatures or during a drought, in order to survive till conditions improve. They would take a long nap, and once they feel the essential components to their survival around them, they come back to life, such as adequate sunlight and water.
That is the end of the blog, and I hope you learned some cool new facts about plants and animals, and how they change with the change of time. It’s interesting to know how plants and animals adapt to changing weather, and let us all reflect on the ingenious beauty of our planet.
