! "Why Do Leaves Change Color?" EEK! -. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2013.! WebsiteLinkTagsParentheticalEditDelete! ! ! Why Do Leaves Change Color?!

! ! Where do leaf colors come from?! How do leaves change color?! Do leaves change color because of weather?! Why do leaves fall?! 2013 Fall Color Report (Dept. of Tourism)! While you were playing in the hot sun during summer vacation the trees on the streets, in the parks, and in the forests were working hard to keep you cool. To feed the shiny green leaves that make shade, trees use sunlight to convert water and carbon dioxide into sugar. This is called photosynthesis.! ! Now it's autumn, and you're ready -- okay, almost ready -- to be back in school. Those hardworking trees, on the other hand, need to take a break from all that photosynthesizing. When leaves change color from green to yellow, bright orange, or red, you'll know that trees are beginning their long winter's rest.! ! Where do leaf colors come from?! ! Leaf color comes from pigments. Pigments are natural substances produced by leaf cells. The three pigments that color leaves are:! ! chlorophyll (green)! carotenoid (yellow, orange, and brown)! anthocyanin (red)! Chlorophyll is the most important of the three. Without the chlorophyll in leaves, trees wouldn't be able to use sunlight to produce food.! ! Carotenoids create bright yellows and oranges in familiar fruits and vegetables. Corn, carrots, and bananas are just a few of the many plants

colored by carotenoid.! ! Anthocyanins add the color red to plants, including cranberries, red apples, cherries, strawberries and others.! ! Chlorophyll and carotenoid are in leaf cells all the time during the growing season. But the chlorophyll covers the carotenoid -- that's why summer leaves are green, not yellow or orange. Most anthocyanins are produced only in autumn, and only under certain conditions. Not all trees can make anthocyanin.! ! ! ! How do leaves change color?! ! As the Earth makes its 365-day journey around the sun, some parts of the planet will get fewer hours of sunlight at certain times of the year. In those regions, the days become shorter and the nights get longer. The temperature slowly drops. Autumn comes, and then winter.! ! Trees respond to the decreasing amount of sunlight by producing less and less chlorophyll. Eventually, a tree stops producing chlorophyll. When that happens, the carotenoid already in the leaves can nally show through. The leaves become a bright rainbow of glowing yellows, sparkling oranges and warm browns. What about red leaves? Read on.! ! ! ! Do leaves change because of weather?! ! Perhaps you've noticed that in some years, the red fall colors seem brighter and more spectacular than in other years. The temperature and cloud cover can make a big di"erence in a tree's red colors from year to year.! ! When a number of warm, sunny autumn days and cool but not freezing nights come one after the other, it's going to be a good year for reds. In the daytime, the leaves can produce lots of sugar, but the cool night

temperatures prevent the sugar sap from owing through the leaf veins and down into the branches and trunk. Anthocyanins to the rescue! Researchers have found out that anthocyanins are produced as a form of protection. They allow the plant to recover nutrients in the leaves before they fall o". This helps make sure that the tree will be ready for the next growing season. Anthocyanins give leaves their bright, brilliant shades of red, purple and crimson.! ! The yellow, gold and orange colors created by carotenoid remain fairly constant from year to year. That's because carotenoids are always present in leaves and the amount does not change in response to weather.! The amount of rain in a year also a"ects autumn leaf color. A severe drought can delay the arrival of fall colors by a few weeks. A warm, wet period during fall will lower the intensity, or brightness, of autumn colors. A severe frost will kill the leaves, turning them brown and causing them to drop early. The best autumn colors come when there's been:! ! a warm, wet spring! a summer that's not too hot or dry, and! a fall with plenty of warm sunny days and cool nights.! ! ! Can you tell a tree from its colors?! ! You can use fall leaf color to help identify di"erent tree species. Look for these leaf colors on the trees in your neighborhood: (click on the tree species to see the tree shape, bark, fruit, and leaf shape.)! ! ! ! Oaks: red, brown or russet! Hickories: golden bronze! Dogwood: purple-red! Birch: bright yellow! paper birch! yellow birch! Poplar: golden yellow!

Maple trees show a whole range of colors:! Sugar Maple: orange-red! Black Maple: glowing yellow! Red Maple: bright scarlet! ! Why do leaves fall?! ! ! A tree's roots, branches and twigs can endure freezing temperatures, but most leaves are not so tough. On a broadleaf tree -- say a maple or a birch -- the tender thin leaves, made up of cells lled with water sap, will freeze in winter. Any plant tissue unable to live through the winter must be sealed o" and shed to ensure the tree's survival.! ! As sunlight decreases in autumn, the veins that carry sap into and out of a leaf gradually close. A layer of cells, called the separation layer, forms at the base of the leaf stem. When this layer is complete, the leaf is separated from the tissue that connected it to the branch, and it falls. Oak leaves are the exception. The separation layer never fully detaches the dead oak leaves, and they remain on the tree through winter.! ! Evergreen trees -- pines, spruces, cedars and rs -- don't lose their leaves, or needles, in winter. The needles are covered with a heavy wax coating and the uids inside the cells contain substances that resist freezing. Evergreen leaves can live for several years before they fall and are replaced by new growth.! ! On the ground, fallen leaves are broken down by bacteria, fungi, earthworms and other organisms. The decomposed leaves restock the soil with nutrients, and become part of the spongy humus layer on the forest oor that absorbs and holds rainfall. In nature, nothing goes to waste!! ! ! ! ! ! !

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Why Do Leaves Change Color?" EEK! -. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2013.! ! ! ESF HOME > ECENTER > EIS! Read and download Professor Donald J. Leopold's...! ! Guide to Fall Colors in Upstate New York! ! ! The guide features color images of the fall foliage of 47 tree and shrub species.! ! Download the guide! Why Leaves Change Color! ...as featured on weather.com! The Splendor of Autumn! ! Every autumn we revel in the beauty of the fall colors. The mixture of red, purple, orange and yellow is the result of chemical processes that take place in the tree as the seasons change from summer to winter.! ! During the spring and summer the leaves have served as factories where most of the foods necessary for the tree's growth are manufactured. This food-making process takes place in the leaf in numerous cells containing chlorophyll, which gives the leaf its green color. This extraordinary chemical absorbs from sunlight the energy that is used in transforming carbon dioxide and water to carbohydrates, such as sugars and starch.!

! Along with the green pigment are yellow to orange pigments, carotenes and xanthophyll pigments which, for example, give the orange color to a carrot. Most of the year these colors are masked by great amounts of green coloring.! ! Chlorophyll Breaks Down! ! But in the fall, because of changes in the length of daylight and changes in temperature, the leaves stop their food-making process. The chlorophyll breaks down, the green color disappears, and the yellow to orange colors become visible and give the leaves part of their fall splendor.! ! At the same time other chemical changes may occur, which form additional colors through the development of red anthocyanin pigments. Some mixtures give rise to the reddish and purplish fall colors of trees such as dogwoods and sumacs, while others give the sugar maple its brilliant orange.! ! The autumn foliage of some trees show only yellow colors. Others, like many oaks, display mostly browns. All these colors are due to the mixing of varying amounts of the chlorophyll residue and other pigments in the leaf during the fall season.! ! Other Changes Take Place! ! As the fall colors appear, other changes are taking place. At the point where the stem of the leaf is attached to the tree, a special layer of cells develops and gradually severs the tissues that support the leaf. At the same time, the tree seals the cut, so that when the leaf is nally blown o" by the wind or falls from its own weight, it leaves behind a leaf scar.! ! Most of the broad-leaved trees in the North shed their leaves in the fall. However, the dead brown leaves of the oaks and a few other species may stay on the tree until growth starts again in the spring. In the South, where the winters are mild, some of the broad-leaved trees are evergreen; that is, the leaves stay on the trees during winter and keep their green color.!

! Only Some Trees Lose Leaves! ! Most of the conifers - pines, spruces, rs, hemlocks, cedars, etc. - are evergreen in both the North and South. The needle- or scale-like leaves remain green or greenish the year round, and individual leaves may stay on for two to four or more years.! ! Weather A"ects Color Intensity! ! Temperature, light, and water supply have an inuence on the degree and the duration of fall color. Low temperatures above freezing will favor anthocyanin formation producing bright reds in maples. However, early frost will weaken the brilliant red color. Rainy and/or overcast days tend to increase the intensity of fall colors. The best time to enjoy the autumn color would be on a clear, dry, and cool (not freezing) day.! ! Enjoy the color, it only occurs for a brief period each fall.! ! Text prepared by Carl E. Palm, Jr.