The following sections of this BookRags Literature Study Guide is offprint from Gale's For Students Series: Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Commonly Studied Works: Introduction, Author Biography, Plot Summary, Characters, Themes, Style, Historical Context, Critical Overview, Criticism and Critical Essays, Media Adaptations, Topics for Further Study, Compare & Contrast, What Do I Read Next?, For Further Study, and Sources.
(c)1998-2002; (c)2002 by Gale. Gale is an imprint of The Gale Group, Inc., a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Gale and Design and Thomson Learning are trademarks used herein under license.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Encyclopedia of Popular Fiction: "Social Concerns", "Thematic Overview", "Techniques", "Literary Precedents", "Key Questions", "Related Titles", "Adaptations", "Related Web Sites". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Guide to Literature for Young Adults: "About the Author", "Overview", "Setting", "Literary Qualities", "Social Sensitivity", "Topics for Discussion", "Ideas for Reports and Papers". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
All other sections in this Literature Study Guide are owned and copyrighted by BookRags, Inc.
Winter range is an area that animals use in winter for food and cover. Generally, winter range contains a food source and thermal cover that together maintain the organism's energy balance through the winter, as well as some type of protective cover from predators. Although some species of animals have special adaptations, such as hibernation, to survive winter climates, many must migrate from their summer ranges when conditions there become too harsh. Elk (Cervus elaphus) inhabiting mountainous regions, for example, often move from higher ground to lower in the fall, avoiding the early snow cover at higher elevations. Nothern populations of caribou or reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) often travel over 600 mi (965 km) between their summer ranges on the tundra and their winter ranges in northern woodlands. Still more extreme, the summer and winter ranges of some animals are located on different continents. North American birds known as neotropical migrants (including many species of songbirds) simply fly to Central or South America in the fall, inhabiting winter ranges many thousands of miles from their summer breeding grounds.