Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Autumn Revelations



Just this week, the leaves here began to turn in a marked way. And, finally, biology and urban naturalism are coming together. Leaves change color because of triggers such as length of light, temperature, and amount of precipitation, maybe things we already knew or could guess. But, what I learned is that these factors cause elements of the light-absorbing green pigment chlorophyll to degrade, allowing other pigments that were already present to show through. The stronger green now makes way for the orange and red (carotenoids) and yellow (xanthophylls), no longer masking the brilliant variety of color. 

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