WHITE RIVER JUNCTION – Bright red leaves under a clear blue sky make for a spectacular sight, but what strikes us as simple beauty could mean survival for a tree. As green chlorophyll breaks down without replacement, we begin to see the underlying orange and yellow carotenoids characteristic of our region’s birch, beech, and maple leaves. These pigments help capture light energy during the growing season, unlike the red anthocyanins made in maple leaves during fall leaf senescence. They are manufactured from sugars found in the leaf and produced in greater amounts as the nights cool and days shorten. When a hard freeze comes along, production ends. Why would a tree use energy to make a pigment in a leaf that is about to die and fall off? Find the answer at https://vtecostudies.org/blog/turn-red-or-youre-dead/ or read more at fs.usda.gov/visit/fall-colors/science-of-fall-colors
Kent McFarland is a staff member at the Vermont Center for Ecostudies.
Kent McFarland
Kent McFarland is a member of the staff at the Vermont Center for Ecostudies.
