The change in seasons is caused by the tilting of the earth’s axis away from (winter) or towards (summer) the sun. This heating and cooling affects the plant and animal life at the Litzsinger Road Ecology Center, and results in some exciting changes. Students at LREC delight in learning about the plants and animals here by observing the perpetual cycle of seasons: dormancy or hibernation in the winter; resprouting, new growth, return from migration, and mating in the spring; peak of growth and activity in the summer, then seed production, leaf color change and leaf fall, and migrating away in the autumn.

The same location can be very different at different seasons. Look at the photos below which were both taken of the same location at different times: the left taken January 10, 2005 and the right, March 10, 2005.