Nature & Environment
Brilliant Autumn Hues May Last Longer with Climate Change: Fall Foliage Persists
Catherine Griffin
First Posted: Sep 19, 2014 10:28 AM EDT
As autumn sweeps across the United States, the leaves on trees are bursting into brilliant red and gold and orange hues. Now, scientists have found that this season may be lasting a little longer. It turns out that as summer temperatures linger later in the year, fall foliage season may arrive later but could also last longer.
"We're really interested in understanding how these systems will change as we experience global warming or climate change," said David Medvigy, one of the researchers, in a news release. "What these results are suggesting is that different locations will change in different ways, and that these differences are actually going to be quite interesting."
Trees need daily temperatures to be low enough and daylight hours to be short enough in order to produce the vibrant colors associated with autumn. In fact, the researchers found that daily temperature and daylight hours can not only be sued to predict the timing of leaf coloration, but that the influence of these factors depend on individual tree species and the specific geographic area.
In order to better understand the influence of climate on plants, the researchers collected data on leaf-change dates for several tree species, both in Alaska and in Massachusetts. Species of trees that were examined included American beech, aspen, black oak, northern red oak, paper birch, red maple, sugar maple and sweet birch. They grouped the trees into three categories based on their preference for shade, and then compared the leaf-change dates to temperature.
"When plants have green leaves, they're doing photosynthesis and taking carbon out of the atmosphere," said Medvigy. "The longer you have green leaves, the more carbon dioxide you can take out of the atmosphere. At least, that's how the current thinking goes. So, figuring this out could potentially be important for understanding the impacts of climate change."
In the end, the researchers found that temperature and duration of sunlight were both significant factors in determining when tree leaves color in the fall. In addition, they discovered that the timing of leaf change is far more sensitive to temperature in warmer areas than in cooler reasons. For example, if there is an increase in autumn temperatures, tree species in Massachusetts will respond to a greater degree than species in Alaska. In fact, the researchers predict that Massachusetts' foliage season will likely occur in November instead of October as it does now.
"We now have a much better understanding of how temperature, day-length and leaf color are related," said Medvigy. "This understanding will help us make better forecasts for climate, as well as for the basic dynamics of forests. My group is now investigating these issues together with researchers from GFDL."
The findings are published in the journal Global Ecology and Biogeography.
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First Posted: Sep 19, 2014 10:28 AM EDT
As autumn sweeps across the United States, the leaves on trees are bursting into brilliant red and gold and orange hues. Now, scientists have found that this season may be lasting a little longer. It turns out that as summer temperatures linger later in the year, fall foliage season may arrive later but could also last longer.
"We're really interested in understanding how these systems will change as we experience global warming or climate change," said David Medvigy, one of the researchers, in a news release. "What these results are suggesting is that different locations will change in different ways, and that these differences are actually going to be quite interesting."
Trees need daily temperatures to be low enough and daylight hours to be short enough in order to produce the vibrant colors associated with autumn. In fact, the researchers found that daily temperature and daylight hours can not only be sued to predict the timing of leaf coloration, but that the influence of these factors depend on individual tree species and the specific geographic area.
In order to better understand the influence of climate on plants, the researchers collected data on leaf-change dates for several tree species, both in Alaska and in Massachusetts. Species of trees that were examined included American beech, aspen, black oak, northern red oak, paper birch, red maple, sugar maple and sweet birch. They grouped the trees into three categories based on their preference for shade, and then compared the leaf-change dates to temperature.
"When plants have green leaves, they're doing photosynthesis and taking carbon out of the atmosphere," said Medvigy. "The longer you have green leaves, the more carbon dioxide you can take out of the atmosphere. At least, that's how the current thinking goes. So, figuring this out could potentially be important for understanding the impacts of climate change."
In the end, the researchers found that temperature and duration of sunlight were both significant factors in determining when tree leaves color in the fall. In addition, they discovered that the timing of leaf change is far more sensitive to temperature in warmer areas than in cooler reasons. For example, if there is an increase in autumn temperatures, tree species in Massachusetts will respond to a greater degree than species in Alaska. In fact, the researchers predict that Massachusetts' foliage season will likely occur in November instead of October as it does now.
"We now have a much better understanding of how temperature, day-length and leaf color are related," said Medvigy. "This understanding will help us make better forecasts for climate, as well as for the basic dynamics of forests. My group is now investigating these issues together with researchers from GFDL."
The findings are published in the journal Global Ecology and Biogeography.
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone