a small leaf pile will destroy the grass underneath it quickly, but an even thicker snow pile that lasts for months throughout the winter seems to have no effect. Why?

Question

Editing just to say thanks to everyone who has contributed. The responses make perfect sense!

In: Biology

Answer 1

leave block more light than snow. snow lets a surprising amount of energy though mostly because un-compacted snow is very low density in made of transparent material ie ice and water, for instance if you get snow on solar panels the panels can still make some energy not much but there is enough light to also heat up the glass so snow falls off.

to make a long reply short the grass can still photosynthesize and its cold so it needs less light anyway