Leaves Change Color Every Fall, Why?

During the spring and summer, chlorophyll, which aid plants in absorbing sunlight, conceals any other colors in tree leaves. The vibrant oranges and yellows of fall leaves are there, but you can’t see them.  In autumn, trees break down the nutrients and green pigments in their leaves. The nutrients are transported into the tree’s roots for reuse in the spring. This is why the leaves change color every fall.

As leaves exhaust their chlorophyll, you start to see the other colors. Some tree leaves turn mainly brown, signifying that all colors are gone.

In the winter, it takes plenty of water and energy for trees to maintain healthy leaves. But winter is dry, cold, and very little sunshine. The sun provides trees with power.

So, instead of attempting to keep their leaves, some trees drop their leaves and close the spots on their limbs where the leaves were attached.


What does this have to do with leaves and their colors?
Pigments color leaves. The pigment that makes leaves turn green is chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is critical for plants to prepare food with sunlight. During summer and spring when there is lots of sunshine, plants create plenty of chlorophyll.

In the fall when it begins to get cold, some trees halt producing chlorophyll. Instead, these trees tear down chlorophyll into tiny molecules. As chlorophyll fades away, other pigments begin to show their true colors.

The color change typically occurs before the leaves drop from a tree. Why? It takes a right amount of energy to create chlorophyll. If the trees tear down the chlorophyll and push it out of their leaves before the leaves drop, trees save energy. The trees can reabsorb the molecules that produce chlorophyll. When it's sunny and warm enough to flourish once more, the trees can use those molecules to re-create the chlorophyll.

The other pigments in leaves are carotenoids. Carotenoids are orange and yellow. Anthocyanins are other tree pigments that are only produced in the fall. These pigments form purple, red, or pink colors. Additionally, anthocyanins also shield leaves from getting sunburned or being eaten.

When the temps change, some trees break down all the green pigment. This lets dazzling oranges, reds, and yellows colors shine through in the autumn. If you need some help in raking up all those vivid-color leaves, ask a company that offers tree service in Syracuse.​

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