winterkill

Freeze-induced plant death

Winterkill is the death of plants or animals from exposure to harsh winter conditions—extreme cold, ice, or lack of food and shelter.

The term appears most often in agriculture and wildlife management: We lost half the wheat crop to winterkill.

As a verb, to winterkill is to die or be killed by winter: The roses winterkilled despite the mulch.

agriculture

overwintering

Enduring the cold months

hardinessAbility to endure adversity
dormancySuspended biological activity
diebackPlant tissue dying progressively

tender · nonhardy · freeze-thaw · desiccation · mulching · windbreak · microclimate · replanting

wildlife

die-off

Rapid population disappearance

starvationExtreme nutritional deprivation
mortalityState of eventual death
deerAntlered hoofed mammal

elk · carrion · carcass · exposure · weakness · predation · scavengers

frost

hoarfrost

Frozen fog deposit

rimeGranular ice deposit
freezeBecome solid from cold
subzeroBelow the freezing point

frostbite · permafrost · glazing

dormancy

hibernation

Prolonged winter dormancy

torporInactive, sluggish state
overwinteringEnduring the cold months
diapauseInsect developmental suspension

quiescence · denning · lethargy · supercooling · insulation · burrow

Categories

die-offsmass mortality, mass extinction, population crash, colony collapse
fish killsmass mortality, die-off, dead fish, fish carcass, carcasses
wildlife mortalitymortality rate, die-off, mass die-off, natural death, natural causes

Opposites

seasonal cause of death

winterkilldrought damage

Harm from prolonged dryness

heat death · sunscald · desiccation · frost damage

plant outcome

winterkillwinter survival

Persisting through freezing conditions

overwinter · cold hardiness · cold tolerance · frost resistance

Family

Familiarity: Top 500,000
Profile: Used worldwide · Timeless · Concrete · Negative · Rated G