Due to the December 2013 ice storm, the old needles on the pine tree shed. The needles that fell off from the white pine sapling accumulated beneath the pine tree. They play an important role of retaining soil moisture and temperature of the plant’s roots found underground; hence maintaining the plant’s metabolism. This is significant during the winter season whereby the temperatures drop below freezing point thus less liquid water is available in the soil for the plants. On the other hand, retaining of temperature allows metabolic processes such as photosynthesis to take place continuously.