Thread: Trees and Colour and Leaves

Well I don't know if this belongs here or in the earth sciences forum. Anyways my question is: why and how do the leaves on trees change colour? I am on my way to do some googling but I always like getting info from here.

I believe it has to do with sugars either being moved or being changed. I think moved, but I'm not positive (because once the leaf falls off the tree, if the sugar was still inside the leaf it would be wasted). The leaves could not survive the winter, so it would be a waste of energy to keep on the tree. They are therefore taken as an acceptable loss and things are salvaged to an extent.

I think.

-Ajain

When the light of days gets shorter in the autumn the leaves produce less and less chlorophyll(which is what gives leaves their colour)and this production eventually stops causing the leaves to change to their autumn colour(which is always there but masked by the brightness of the green).

Then the cells at the base of the leaves grow and close up the leaves(leaving small amounts of sugars in there), they then finally drop

I have read that trees drop leaves not only to survive winter but also to rid the tree of waste products