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

Snow is just water, and most northerly grass is well conditioned to handle dormant months under snow.

Tree leaves aren’t just water, and may even be intentionally poisonous. Plants aren’t always passive observers to the forest, they’re active participants and they compete with eachother.

Sometimes this competition is quite vicious, and many trees have evolved leaves that don’t just rot away to nothing on the forest floor, but rather salt the earth below them to exterminate any nearby competition.

The chemicals (and if it’s big enough, the heat) released by a rotting leaf pile can kill any living plants nearby.