How Kansas' natural symbols survive the winter
By PAUL G. JANTZEN
Contributing writer
The weather in the Midwest prairie changes daily and seasonally. Temperatures in Kansas alone have ranged from 121 degrees at Fredonia (July 18, 1936) to -40 degrees Fahrenheit at Lebanon (Feb. 13, 1905). How can living organisms survive these weather swings? Let's look at the winter survival strategies of Kansas natural symbols.
Like all mammals and birds, American bison are warm-blooded with a nearly constant body temperature regardless of surroundings. Their four-chambered heart provides an efficient circulatory system which makes this possible. Their large size presents a small surface area-to-volume ratio reducing heart loss. In winter, a heavy coat of fur retains the bison's body heat. During blizzards, they face into the storm protected by an extra shaggy mantle of long fur on the head, neck, shoulders, and front legs. Early white settlers used bison skins for warmth as they rode their buggies and sleighs through cold winter winds.
The food of our State Mammal consists entirely of plants, largely grasses but also a wide variety of broad-leaved plants. Herds of thousands of grazing bison probably migrated southward in winter. Some speculate that they also moved westward to short grass country because tall grasses transfer their nutrients to below ground for the winter. Where the snow is deep, a bison pokes its nose into the snow and sweeps its shaggy head form side to side to expose the grasses below.
Western meadowlarks, like bison, are warm-blooded. Their covering of feathers helps retain the body heat generated by energy-rich foods. Over half of their winter diet is seeds supplemented with less-available insect material. The concentration of blood sugar in birds is about twice that in human blood. Flocks of our State Bird also move a bit south and east for the winter.
The ornate box turtle, our State Reptile, is cold-blooded. Its body temperature fluctuates with that of its surroundings. Its rate of metabolism is therefore lower in winter and requires less food. After being active outdoors from April to October, this turtle digs into the ground as winter approaches, or enters burrows or dens prepared by other animals. In grasslands, it may dig 18 inches or more into the ground to below the frost line. There it awaits the warm, moist weather of spring. It eats insects, earthworms, carrion, mushrooms, and the leaves, stems, and fruits of various plants.
The tiger salamander, our State Amphibian, avoids the extremes of temperature and moisture by living in the burrows at night even when the temperature approaches the freezing point. They eat a variety of animals such as insects, earthworms, fish, and tadpoles.
The honey bee, our State Insect, spends its winter in a hive or any hollows in which it has stored honey made from nectar gathered from summer flowers. These bees assemble in a loose cluster and flutter their wings vigorously. The energy released by active wing muscles maintains a hive temperature of about 50 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit. To conserve their winter honey supply, the worker bees let the drones starve. Another generation of drones will develop from unfertilized eggs late the next spring and early summer.
In fall, the jet stream moves southward and brings in cooler northwinds. With cooler nights, less intense sunlight, and shorter days, the chlorophyll in leaves is not generated as fast as it degenerates. As chlorophyll disappears, other pigments become visible. The eastern cottonwood, Kansas' State Tree, not only sees its leaves change from glossy green to golden yellow; it actually loses its leaves for the winter. Like many perennials plants, cottonwoods respond to the sorter fall days by developing two layers of weaken tissue at the base of each leaf stalk allowing the leaf to drop when the wind or rain moves the leaf. This greatly reduces the loss of water by evaporation from leaves and their use of water for photosynthesis during the dry winter season.
The cottonwood also protects the delicate dormant buds destined to become next year's stems and leaves. The buds are protected by tough hard scales.
In cottonweed seeds, the period of dormancy delays their germination until moisture and temperature conditions of spring promote healthy new growth.
Kansas' State Wildflower, the common sunflower, survives the cold winter only as dormant seeds. The parent plant dies following its seed production. The seeds not eaten by sparrows, bobwhites, ground squirrels or other animals, germinate in spring and develop the bright flowers that delight the eyes of prairie wanderers.
Kansas' State Soil, Harney silt loam, experiences lower humification rates as its temperature drops. Chalk, our State Rock, probably experiences no significant change as it cools. After all, it has survived 100 million years of change.
