How changing snow can affect predators and prey

As climate change warms the planet, the consistency of snow - how fluffy it is, or where it is - could change.
Laura Prugh, a wildlife ecologist and University of Washington associate professor in the School of Environmental & Forest Sciences, wants to know how these changing conditions will affect how predators hunt prey.
She teamed up with Jessica Lundquist, a UW professor of civil and environmental engineering. Together with a group of researchers, they looked at where prey would get stuck in deep snow but predators would not.
In a recent study, they defined danger zones for ten predator-prey pairs in both the Methow Valley and Denali National Park in Alaska.