| Submit your comments on this article |
| -Signs, Portents, and the Weather- |
| Is Climate Change Dulling Fall Foliage? |
| 2008-09-27 |
| UNDERHILL, Vt. (AP) — Could climate change dull the blazing palette of New England's fall foliage? Underhill. Isn't that where Bilbo Baggins lived? Or was it Winnie ther Pooh? It's a fary tale anywhoo. The answer could have serious implications for one of the region's signature attractions, which draws thousands of "leaf peepers" every autumn. Leaf Peepers? Sounds Kinky. Biologists at the University of Vermont's Proctor Maple Research Center will do some leaf peeping of their own to find out — studying how temperature affects the development of autumn colors and whether the warming climate could mute them, prolong the foliage viewing season or delay it. Warming isn't prolonged here. It's normal. Using a three-year, $45,000 U.S. Department of Agriculture grant, they're planning to measure the color pigments in leaves exposed to varying temperatures in hopes of finding a pattern. The study starts next month, although some experiments are already under way. They only got 45 Grand? Pikers! "It is getting warmer, No it isn't and people want to know how that's going to affect this big process that's so important to us," said research associate Abby van den Berg. When I was working in Cambridge, Mass back in '92 I was showing some fall pictures of East Tennessee to a young Engineering graduate. She said, "These pictures are in Tennessee?". I said yes. She then said, "I thought New England was the only place the leaves changed color in the fall". The three-week period of peak foliage color — usually from the end of September to mid-October — is among the busiest of the year for Vermont tourism, bringing in an estimated $364 million, according to state officials. It's also an important time for tourism in the other New England states. It's all about the money. "It's a critical season for us," said Allison Truckle, owner of Tucker Hill Inn, in Waitsfield, which does about 40 percent of its business in autumn. It's a myth that the leaves are prettier in New England. Many variables go into triggering leaf color, but for now the research will focus on temperature. The experiment is starting with the researchers' assumption that the brilliant colors are promoted by cold nights followed by warm, sunny days. My observations of foliage color change in South Alabama are not scientific but it can be 90 degress in October and the leaves still change color. I think it has more to do with moisture content. "Do cold nighttime temperatures affect and promote fall coloration? And specifically, we're really looking at anthocyanin synthesis, the red pigments that are created at that time," van den Berg said. The study also will look at whether cold daytime weather plays a role. In the fall, chlorophyll — the green pigment in leaves — breaks down in response to decreasing day length, revealing the yellow to orange anthocyanin pigment. In preliminary experiments so far this year, van den Berg has been subjecting groups of sugar and red maple saplings to a range of temperatures. Some of the test subjects are kept in a constantly refrigerated box with a window to let in sunlight, some potted saplings spend their days outdoors and then are moved into a cooler at night, and some just remain outdoors with no artificially altered temperature. Every few days, she tests the leaves with handheld meters to measure their chlorophyll and anthocyanin content. So far, it's too early to tell what effect temperature is having, but the researchers expect to have results before the three years is up. The study is unique in investigating how climate change might affect the timing and color of fall foliage, said Jake Weltzin, head of the USA National Phenology Network, which has started its own volunteer effort to track how climate change affects certain plants. In previous years, the University of Vermont research center found a link between the amount of stress on sugar maples during the growing season — marked by a lower level of nitrogen in leaves — and the onset and amount of red in the leaves. "So trees that were experiencing a little more stress tended to start turning color a little earlier and making more red," van den Berg said. Van den Berg says she's noticed that in warmer autumns, brilliance is muted in some places. But she tries not to put too much stock in what she sees from place to place. "It's always great. ... It can be peak in different places at the same time so you just drive around and you hit all these different pockets of the landscape, so it's always fabulous," she said. |
| Posted by:Deacon Blues |
| #11 Here in Colorado, we see a very systemic change of fall colors from our aspens. The higher the elevation, the earlier the trees change color. As the weeks progress, the color becomes more pronounced on lower and lower slopes, until even the aspens in town change. FWIW, the change started about a week EARLY this year... |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2008-09-27 21:21 |
| #10 tw, the small leaves in the Spring are best for Spice Bush Tea. It doesn't take many. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2008-09-27 19:27 |
| #9 nothing here |
| Posted by: Frank G 2008-09-27 19:10 |
| #8 Spice Bush tea? Not yet, Deacon Blues. The bushes are still too small for me to feel comfortable harvesting twigs and bark. And not a single word out of the rest of you on that statement, is that understood? |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2008-09-27 18:44 |
| #7 $45,000 -- just another reminder of why we need to clean house in Washington. |
| Posted by: Darrell 2008-09-27 17:30 |
| #6 here in San Diego, some of our hottest months are September/October. No wonder our fall foliage isn't turning colors |
| Posted by: Frank G 2008-09-27 17:06 |
| #5 Yeah, things are sure getting dull. Here is a dull picture of a rainbow and fall foliage on Eagle River Road, north of Anchorage. It was taken by my friend Jacqueline in a moment of bordom, heh. GWMA: |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2008-09-27 16:35 |
| #4 tw, do you make Spice Bush Tea? The dried berries are an excellant substitution for allspice. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2008-09-27 16:32 |
| #3 Colour change? Due mostly to the length of daylight, is my understanding. The relative brilliance isrelated to moisture and nutrition stress on the trees. Red is only one of the colours, and I believe sugar maples are the most common red-leaved trees up there in leaf peeper country; yellow another. I have native spice bushes in my back yard, and they should turn the most amazing clear, bright yellow soon. Autumnal colours are much bolder here than in Europe, in my experience. At least in Germany, where the trees in the woods near my house turned only subtle shades of dull yellow and brown. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2008-09-27 16:17 |
| #2 1. 20th century warming wasn't due to rising CO2, something else is. Most likely changes in the sun. 2. Increased atmospheric CO2 should REDUCE stress on plants and trees. |
| Posted by: Minister of funny walks 2008-09-27 15:53 |
| #1 "So trees that were experiencing a little more stress tended to start turning color a little earlier and making more red," van den Berg said. The key to a brilliant fall - Hire drill instructors to yell at the trees. Now where's my $45K? |
| Posted by: ed 2008-09-27 15:30 |