Photo from Mr. Thursday

If you’ve ever wondered why leaves turn those beautiful shades of red, yellow, and orange in the fall, here is your answer.

By taking careful stock and laboratory analyses of the autumn foliage of sweetgum and red maple trees along transects from floodplains to ridge-tops in a nature preserve in Charlotte, N.C., former University of North Carolina at Charlotte graduate student Emily M. Habinck found that in places where the soil was relatively low in nitrogen and other essential elements, trees produced more red pigments known as anthocyanins.
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Hoch found that if he genetically blocked anthocyanin production in red-leafed plants, their leaves were unusually vulnerable to fall sunlight, and so sent less nutrients to the plant roots for winter storage.

As with everything in nature, there is a purpose and the purpose isn’t merely human pleasure. The pigmentation of the leaves is caused by anthocyanins, which protect the leaves and allow the tree to recover more nutrients for winter survival. Nature is fun stuff.

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Tags: autumn, forest