Forests store up to 30% of winter snowfall, Swiss study finds

Forests store up to 30 per cent of the snow in winter Keystone-SDA

Forests hold on to around 20-30% of winter snowfall, playing a key role in how much water is available later on. Researchers at the WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research (SLF) have been looking into how this process works.

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The study, published on Wednesday, finds that forests do more than just hold on to snow: they also affect how it melts. Both the structure of the forest and the shape of the land play an important role.

The research concludes that snow melts faster on north-facing slopes than on forested south-facing ones. This effect is especially noticeable in winters with low snowfall. In open terrain, however, the pattern is reversed.

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One reason snow melts more quickly on north-facing slopes is simply that there is less of it to begin with, the report says. On south-facing slopes, by contrast, the shade from trees slows the thaw, meaning snow in forested areas there tends to linger for longer.

Translated from German by AI/sp

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