You may have already noticed some trees turning or losing their leave already. According to Stevenson, most of these trees are located in urban areas/neighborhoods. The drought has had some impact on these trees, but it’s more due to the soil in those areas are a lot drier and more compact. The trees are stressed, so they can shut down a little faster.
In a typical fall year, peak color season in southwest Ohio is around mid to late October, but this year may not arrive until about one to two weeks later.
“The dry summer and drought definitely pushed back our fall color,” says Stevenson, “but regardless of the high heat and dry weather, as the temperatures start to drop in the evening and we get bright sunny days the fall color will come out.”
The latest fall color report released by ODNR shows that Caesar Creek is still green, while Buck Creek, Indian Lake, Grand Lake St. Marys, John Bryan, and Sycamore State parks are all beginning to change.
Have you ever wondered how leaves change color? Kirstie and I asked Stevenson that very question.
“All year we see the chlorophyll in the leaves,” he says. “That’s the chemical within the leaf that gives it the green color. Chlorophyll is constantly building up and breaking it down as part of the photosynthetic process. A process that uses sunlight energy to produce sugars that help build wood and new leaves during the Spring.”
Also within the leaves is something called carotenoids, other pigments such as orange and yellow. During the fall season, the chlorophyll breaks down but doesn’t get replaced. This allows the brighter colors to be revealed. According to Stevenson the reds and the purples are additional pigments that are actually formed in the Fall.
“As the daylight changes, the anthocyanins (reds/purples) are used to help protect the chlorophyll so it can continue to take nutrients out of the leaves and store them in the twigs for the next spring,” said Stevenson.
That process is why you may see the tops of trees turning color first before the rest of the tree. Those top leaves will use the anthocyanins to protect the rest of the leaves below.
To hear more of our conversation with Tyler Stevenson on Cloudy with a Chance of Podcast, you can download and listen through the Apple Podcast app, Google Play, Stitcher and at WHIO.com.
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