Why do deciduous trees change color?

Answer 1

The red, browns and yellows of leaves are always there, simply masked by the dominate green of Chlorophyll. In Autumn, Chlorophyll production ceases and, with no more masking green available, Autumn colours are revealed.

Answer 2

Deciduous trees use chlorophyll to produce their food from sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide. Chlorophyll contains iron. Trees like to save their iron over the winter. When they remove iron from their leaves to save it, the green color departs from their leaves. The other color has been there all along but the green has overpowered it.

Answer 3

Most simply, to survive the winter, deciduous trees need to store nutrients in their roots, which means they must absorb the nutrients in their leaves. Changes in color are triggered as the trees absorb essential nutrients. Here's how it works:

Throughout the warm sunny months, trees are lush and green because they're working hard. Tree leaves are green because the abundance of the pigment chlorophyll, which is essential to converting sunlight, water and carbon dioxide into energy-rich sugars. If plants hadn't figured out the trick of photosynthesis, we'd all be out of luck, since the energy humans need to live comes from plants, or the animals that eat plants. Tree leaves are also busy using other essential nutrients, like nitrogen and phosphorus (the same main ingredients in most store-bought fertilizers, or in compost), so these nutrients are abundant in summer foliage.

As summer wanes, changes in tree leaves are triggered by the cooler temperatures, changes in rainfall and weather, and most of all, the shortening of daylight hours. Much of the change happens without our knowing it, as trees begin to absorb essential nutrients and store them in their roots so they are available for the following spring. As the trees absorb the last of the chlorophyll, however, the brilliant colors we associate with autumn begin to appear.

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Answer 4

Deciduous trees change color because the chlorophyll in their leaves breaks down as the days get shorter and cooler. This reveals other pigments in the leaves, such as carotenoids and anthocyanins, which create the vibrant fall colors. The combination of these pigments and varying levels of sugars in the leaves results in the diverse array of colors seen in the fall.

Answer 5

Deciduous trees shed their leaves in the dry season to conserve water.

Answer 6

The leaves have alkaline waste products in the leaves, so they change colors and are disposed of by falling.

Answer 7

the tree is breaking down the chlorophil and other useful chemicals in the leaf for storage in the runk and roots for the winter time