Recent research by Dr. Dave Wilkinson at at the School of Biological and Earth Sciences at Liverpool John Moores University and colleague Martin Schaefer at the University of Freiburg, Germany confirms that the bright colours of autumn leaves have evolved to help plants remove important nutrients for re-use the next year. But at the same time helping leaves (the plant) to continue utilizing the sun’s energy during the last period of the life of the leaves before the fall.
Photosynthesis does not stop once leaves change from green to red. In the autumn plants can be subjected to a potentially destructive combination of low temperatures and high light levels. The red and yellow pigments act like a sunscreen to protect the plants from the effects of chemicals produced by light acting on the contents of the dying leaf. The red and yellow pigments may actually help plants to photosynthesize better at lower temperatures.”www.alphagalileo.org Publication “Trends in Ecology and Evolution” E-mail: s.wilkie@livjm.ac.uk www.jmu.ac.uk |
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