Sinclair, B.J. 2001. Field ecology of freeze tolerance: interannual variation in cooling rates, freeze-thaw and thermal stress in the microhabitat of the alpine cockroach Celatoblatta quinquemaculata. Oikos 93: 286-293.
This paper takes laboratory data on the low temperature thermal biology of an alpine cockroach, and applies it to the interpretation of field microclimate data spanning 4 years. During the 1998 El Nino winter a lack of snow cover (and therefore insulation) resulted in much more extreme winter temperatures and many more freeze thaw events. This situation is used as an analogue for predicted climate change, and suggests that an alpine zone community may be maintained at low(ish) altitudes by severe frost events in this scenario.
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