TREE TALK
by Gary Martin
How’s
it going this month! Hope you’re enjoying fall and the
changing landscape. It may be a slight change, but it’s sure a
pretty one. Our Western Larch turning yellow, always amazes
me. I had a nice trip up to Little Owhi Lake and enjoyed the
color. Most of the color, at this lower elevation, comes from
our “broadleaved” trees, like aspen. These trees have real
thin, delicate leaves. Such leaves can’t survive a freezing
winter, so they are shed, to help the tree survive. Leaves
fall to the ground and help nourish the soil. Good soil in
turn, benefits the whole forest. The fallen leaves also serve
as food for many soil organisms. Combine this leaf fall with
color and you’ve got one of the many beautiful
inter-relationships that happen in the forest. I can’t fully
explain this color change, but it’s fun to “talk” about. There
are three key ingredients to our color recipe. One is the
longer night times. Leaf pigments are another key. We have
three types. Chlorophyll gives leaves their green color and is
a key to photosynthesis. Carotenoids sounds like “carrots”,
which reminds me of the color orange. This pigment also gives
us yellows and browns. Anthocyanins give us reds and purples.
This pigment is produced mainly in the autumn. As the nights
get longer, chlorophyll production slows down and eventually
goes away. With the “green” gone, the other colors get to show
themselves. The remaining ingredient in our color recipe is
the weather. This mostly involves temperature and moisture.
Warm, sunny days and cool nights help bring on the show of
colors. The amount of soil moisture affects the colors. This
always varies from year to year. Just like the weather. So the
timing of the colors and the brilliance of them are always
different. Mother Nature is just this way, exciting and
unpredictable. I hope you get a chance to travel in the forest
and enjoy the color. It always gives me a smile. To further my
studies of this amazing process, I’m off to Virginia. Take
care and we’ll talk with you again next month. J
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WSU Colville Reservation
Extension Coordinator
Family & Consumer Sciences
WSU Colville Reservation Extension Coordinator – Family &
Consumer Sciences, WSU Extension Colville Reservation,
Nespelem WA. (Administrative Professional, FT, Temporary,
12-Mo, renewable). Required: Earned Bachelor’s degree with two
year’s experience in education, nutrition or related field OR
any combination of relevant education and experience may be
substituted for the educational requirement on a year-to-year
basis. Screening begins November 4, 2005. For position
description listing all qualifications and application
process, visit: http://www.hrs.wsu.edu/employment/FAPvacancies.asp
(Search #4034). Contact Sherri Frederick, WSU Extension,
509-335-2933, extension@wsu.edu. EEO/AA/ADA
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