When the days become shorter and the sun no longer generously shares its warmth with the earth, one of the most beautiful times of the year begins - autumn. She, like a mysterious sorceress, changes the world around her and fills it with rich and unusual colors. These miracles occur most noticeably with plants and shrubs. They are one of the first to respond to weather changes and the onset of autumn. They have three whole months ahead to prepare for winter and part with their main decorations - leaves. However, first, the trees will certainly delight everyone around with the play of color and the madness of colors, and the fallen leaves will carefully cover the earth with their blanket and protect its smallest inhabitants from severe frosts.

Autumn changes in trees and shrubs, the reasons for these phenomena

In autumn, one of the most important changes in the life of trees and shrubs occurs: a change in the color of foliage and leaf fall. Each of these phenomena helps them prepare for winter and survive such a harsh time of year.

For deciduous trees and shrubs, one of the main problems in the winter season is the lack of moisture, so in the fall all the beneficial substances begin to accumulate in the roots and core, and the leaves fall off. Leaf fall helps not only to increase moisture reserves, but also to save them. The fact is that leaves evaporate liquid very strongly, which is very wasteful in winter. Coniferous trees, in turn, can afford to show off their needles even in the cold season, since the evaporation of liquid from them occurs very slowly.

Another reason for leaf fall is the high risk for branches to be broken under the pressure of a snow cap. If fluffy snow fell not only on the branches themselves, but also on their leaves, they would not be able to withstand such a heavy load.

In addition, many harmful substances accumulate in the leaves over time, which can only be gotten rid of when the leaves fall.

One of the recently uncovered mysteries is the fact that deciduous trees, placed in a warm environment, and therefore not needing preparation for cold weather, also shed their leaves. This suggests that leaf fall is not so much associated with the change of seasons and preparation for winter, but is an important part of the life cycle of trees and shrubs.

Why do leaves change color in autumn?

With the onset of autumn, trees and shrubs decide to change the emerald color of their leaves to brighter and more unusual colors. At the same time, each tree has its own set of pigments - “paints”. These changes occur because the leaves contain a special substance, chlorophyll, which turns light into nutrients and gives the foliage green color. When a tree or shrub begins to store moisture and it no longer reaches the emerald leaves, and the sunny day becomes much shorter, chlorophyll begins to break down into other pigments, which give the autumn world crimson and golden tones.

The brightness of autumn colors depends on weather conditions. If the weather outside is sunny and relatively warm, then autumn leaves will be bright and variegated, and if it rains often, then brown or dull yellow.

How the leaves of different trees and shrubs change color in autumn

Autumn owes its riot of colors and their unearthly beauty to the fact that the foliage of all trees has different combinations of colors and shades. The most common color of the leaves is purplish. Maple and aspen boast a crimson color. These trees are very beautiful in autumn.

The leaves of birch become light yellow, and those of oak, ash, linden, hornbeam and hazel - brownish-yellow.

Hazel (hazel)

The poplar quickly sheds its foliage; it just begins to turn yellow and has already fallen off.

Shrubs also delight with the variety and brightness of colors. Their foliage turns yellow, purple or red. Vine leaves (grapes are shrubs) acquire a unique dark purple color.

The leaves of barberry and cherry stand out against the general background with a crimson-red hue.

Barberry

Rowan leaves can be yellow to red in autumn.

The viburnum leaves turn red along with the berries.

Euonymus dresses in purple clothes.

The red and purple shades of foliage are determined by the pigment anthocyanin. An interesting fact is that it is completely absent from the leaves and can only be formed under the influence of cold. This means that the colder the days, the more crimson the surrounding leafy world will be.

However, there are plants that not only in autumn, but also in winter, retain their foliage and remain green. Thanks to such trees and shrubs, the winter landscape comes to life, and many animals and birds find their home in them. In the northern regions, such trees include: pine, spruce and cedar. To the south the number of such plants is even greater. Among them are trees and shrubs: juniper, myrtle, thuja, barberry, cypress, boxwood, mountain laurel, abelia.

Evergreen tree - spruce

Some deciduous shrubs also do not part with their emerald clothing. These include cranberries and lingonberries. On Far East There is an interesting wild rosemary plant, the leaves of which do not change color in the fall, but curl up into a tube in the fall and fall off.

Why do the leaves fall but there are no needles?

Leaves play an important role in the life of trees and shrubs. They help create and store nutrients and also accumulate mineral components. However, in winter, when there is an acute lack of light, and, therefore, nutrition, the leaves only increase the consumption of useful components and cause excessive evaporation of moisture.

Coniferous plants, which most often grow in areas with a rather harsh climate, are in great need of nutrition, so they do not shed their needles, which act as leaves. The needles are perfectly adapted to cold weather. The needles contain a lot of chlorophyll pigment, which converts nutrients from light. In addition, they have a small area, which significantly reduces the evaporation of much-needed moisture from their surface in winter. The needles are protected from the cold by a special wax coating, and thanks to the substance they contain, they do not freeze even in severe frosts. The air that the needles capture creates a kind of insulating layer around the tree.

The only coniferous plant that leaves its needles for the winter is larch. It appeared in ancient times, when summers were very hot and winters incredibly frosty. This climate feature led to the fact that the larch began to shed its needles and there was no need to protect them from the cold.

Leaf fall, as a seasonal phenomenon, occurs in each plant at its own specific time. It depends on the type of tree, its age and climate conditions.

Poplar and oak are the first to part with their leaves, then the time comes for rowan. The apple tree is one of the last to shed its leaves, and even in winter, there may still be a few leaves left on it.

Poplar leaf fall begins at the end of September, and by mid-October it completely ends. Young trees retain their foliage longer and turn yellow later.

The oak begins to lose its leaves at the beginning of September and after a month it completely loses its crown. If frosts start earlier, leaf fall occurs much faster. Along with the oak leaves, acorns also begin to fall off.

Rowan begins its leaf fall in early October and continues to delight with its pink leaves until November 1st. It is believed that after the rowan leaves its last leaves, dank, chilly days begin.

The leaves on the apple tree begin to turn golden by September 20th. By the end of this month, leaf fall begins. The last leaves fall from the apple tree in the second half of October.

Evergreen plants and shrubs do not lose their foliage even with the onset of cold weather, as do ordinary deciduous trees. Permanent leaf cover allows them to survive any weather conditions and maintain a maximum supply of nutrients. Of course, such trees and shrubs renew their leaves, but this process occurs gradually and almost imperceptibly.

Evergreens do not shed all their leaves at once for several reasons. Firstly, then they do not have to spend large reserves of nutrients and energy to grow young leaves in the spring, and secondly, their constant presence ensures continuous nutrition of the trunk and roots. Most often, evergreen trees and shrubs grow in areas with a mild and warm climate, where the weather is warm even in winter, however, they are also found in harsh climatic conditions. These plants are most common in tropical rainforests.

Evergreen plants such as cypresses, spruce trees, eucalyptus trees, some types of evergreen oaks, and rhodendron can be found over a wide area from harsh Siberia to the forests of South America.

One of the most beautiful evergreens is the blue fan palm, which grows in California.

The Mediterranean oleander shrub is distinguished by its unusual appearance and height of more than 3 meters.

Another evergreen shrub is gardenia jasmine. Its homeland is China.

Autumn is one of the most beautiful and vibrant times of the year. Flashes of purple and golden leaves preparing to cover the ground with a multi-colored carpet, coniferous trees piercing the first snow with their thin needles and evergreens, always pleasing to the eye, make the autumn world even more delightful and unforgettable. Nature is gradually preparing for winter and does not even suspect how fascinating these preparations are to the eye.

Let's start in order, as the questions are asked in the textbook, to fill out the observation diary. Just remember that for different areas, autumn changes occur at different times.

The leaf fall of the linden ended on October 7, the leaf fall of birches almost ended on October 10, the last leaves fell from the poplars on October 1, the lilac retained its foliage until October 24.

On September 10, a flock of swifts flew south, and the river became unusually quiet. From September 20 to October 10, almost every day flocks of ducks and geese fly south.

In September, you can still find hedgehogs, mice, and squirrels in the forest; if the day is warm, then snakes even crawl out onto the paths.

With the loss of foliage, the autumn forest becomes transparent, light and cold rains often fall, but a few mushroom pickers still roam the forest.

The world around us, grade 3: How to correctly fill out a diary of observations of autumn nature in a scientific diary?

1. Observe and write down (day of the month) when the first frost occurred.
2. When did the puddles first become covered with ice?
3. Write down when the first snow fell?
4. 4. Mark when the river, lake, pond became covered with ice?
5. Write down in which month the birch trees ended leaf fall __ , at the linden trees __, in other trees___ what are their names.
6. When did flocks of migratory birds appear?
7. What animals did you manage to see in the fall?
8. Other observations?

How fortunate that today I can quite accurately fill in some of the columns of this observation diary.

For example, today, September 27, the puddles in the morning were covered with the first ice, although the first frosts began two days ago on September 25.

The situation with the first snow is even more curious; for us it fell on September 24 and it was very unexpected.

Rivers in our region become covered with ice only by the end of October, or even at the beginning of November, although lakes with standing water certainly become covered with ice earlier in mid-October.

The leaf fall of birches begins in early September, but finally ends only in October, let it be the 10th. Around the same time, linden trees lose their leaves. But aspen and poplar fly around by the end of September, on the 28th-30th.

The first flocks of migratory birds moved south in early September; these were swallows and swifts, and songbirds. Now, in the 20th of September, ducks fly south.

When I recently went for honey mushrooms, I discovered that the autumn forest was still alive. Mice were scurrying about in the fallen grass, it was warm and frogs were jumping, and once a chipmunk crawled out onto a stump and screamed shrilly, something of his own.

In September you can still pick mushrooms, although it is difficult to find boletuses and saffron milk caps under the fallen leaves, but honey mushrooms have occupied numerous stumps in the neighboring forest.

A tree common to Russia, it has beautiful curly leaves with five sharp ends. The tree is very picturesque, especially noticeable in the fall, when the foliage acquires many shades of gold and red. And when the leaves fall, it’s so nice to collect bright autumn bouquets from them.

In this article we will talk about the maple itself, its characteristics and types, as well as when the leaf fall of the maple begins and ends, on what conditions the timing of this depends natural phenomenon.

Why does a tree need leaf fall?

With the onset of the first signs of cooling in the tree trunk, the delivery of nutrients through the stem vessels slows down. It is in the root system that the supply of these substances occurs, and each leaf of a tree is a small laboratory for their production. From the incoming water with minerals dissolved in it, under the influence of photosynthesis (that is, with the help of sunlight), the cells of the green leaf produce everything the plant needs for life.

But now there is less and less sun and warmth, the days are getting shorter, and the tree, as if realizing that winter will soon come with cloudy days and frosts, begins to store the necessary substances in the roots. As the plant prepares for winter dormancy, the leaves change color and fly off. This is how leaf fall begins.

Special maple

Maple is a unique tree in many ways. It is frost-resistant, is one of the first to “wake up” in the spring, and easily tolerates drought in the summer. It is avoided by insect pests common to other trees, and rodents and moose do not like young foliage and bark because of its bitter taste. That is why maple leaves often remain intact until autumn, without flaws or wormholes.

Fans of picking mushrooms know that it is useless to look for them under this tree.

Bees are actively flying to a flowering maple tree. Squirrels, field mice and some birds such as bullfinches and nuthatches love to feast on maple winged seeds and flowers. Seeds, by the way, only ripen late autumn, when the maple leaves fall and fall onto the snowy ground.

Maples look great in parks and gardens - they have a light, fluttering crown with curly leaves thanks to long petioles, a beautiful wood color and bright autumn foliage colors.

From some types of maple (sugar, black, red, Norway), when the trunk is cut in the spring, maple sap is obtained, which is then boiled to syrup. Maple syrup has a special taste. It is often used as an additive to confectionery products.

Types of maples

Maple is widespread throughout the earth, mainly in the Northern Hemisphere. There are 20 species of maples growing in Russia. The most famous of them: holly (or sycamore), Tatarian, white, field.

Holly has five leaf lobes. Field maple leaves have three to five ends.

Japanese maple is found in the Far East. It has seven- and nine-pointed leaves and a bizarre bending trunk. This species is listed in the Red Book.

Some specimens of maples, for example, white maple, can reach a height of 40 meters, while the usual height of Norway maple is 28-30 meters. There are shrub maples in which individual trunks can be ten meters long.

Timing of maple leaf fall

Maple, as mentioned above, easily tolerates cold. Its active shedding of foliage begins after the first frost, and this is on average September 27th. By this time everything Maple leaves are already painted in autumn colors.

It's time in October heavy leaf fall in most trees. It is impossible to say exactly when maple leaf fall ends, but usually by the middle or end of the month the tree loses its foliage.

It is clear that the average date is not accurate. Because if you live in the southern regions, the end of maple leaf fall may shift by a month or more - and leaf fall will end only by mid-November. But if in the north, on the contrary, the first frosts can arrive in these regions even at the end of August.

The timing of when maple leaf fall ends depends on the specific winter. It happens that autumn is protracted and not cold, frosts come later than usual, and leaf fall begins and ends later.

Much depends on the conditions in which the tree grows. For example, in open and flooded or wetlands, a tree loses leaves faster than in the thicket of a forest.

Interestingly, trees growing nearby street lamps, sheds its leaves later - after all, the daylight hours for them are increased.

Also, the timing of leaf shedding depends on the age of the plant. How younger tree, the later it loses its leaves.

In order to know exactly what “routine” the plants and animals live in your area, you need to observe changes in wildlife. It's educational and interesting.

Katerina, Voronezh city

Tell me, when does the leaf fall period end for apple trees and rowan trees?

Leaf fall is a seasonal phenomenon in the life of trees and shrubs, which is observed in early autumn. By getting rid of leaves before the onset of winter cold, trees regulate the process of moisture consumption, significantly reducing its need. The process of leaf fall different trees starts and ends at different times. This largely depends on weather conditions and the area where green spaces are grown, as well as the types of trees and their age.

It is difficult to unequivocally answer the question of when leaf fall ends. It has been noticed that poplars lose their leaves first, then oaks and rowan trees. Apple trees are slowly losing their leaves, and even in winter, single leaves on some trees continue to flutter in the cold wind.

Trees during leaf fall

Dropping leaves from trees serves another purpose - the crown under the snow cover has significant weight. Tree branches, especially young ones, are unable to withstand such a load. Fallen leaves help reduce the load on the skeletal branches of the tree, protecting the crown from damage.

Thanks to the process of photosynthesis, the leaves accumulate a large number of harmful substances that, with the beginning of leaf fall, are removed along with fallen leaves.

The end of leaf fall in different tree species

Poplar
During the period of leaf fall, adult poplar trees lose a third of their leaves in the period from September 15 to 20; in the first ten days of October, up to 10% of the foliage remains in the poplar crown. Poplar leaves are completely lost by mid-October. Young poplars remain green longer than older trees; they later turn yellow and shed their leaves.

Oak
Oak leaves begin to fall off in the first half of September; after about 30 days, the trees completely lose their leaves. With early frosts, the timing of the end of leaf fall on oaks is reduced - trees quickly lose leaves at sub-zero temperatures. Oak leaves immediately turn brown, and ripe acorns fall off the tree along with the leaves.

Rowan in autumn: video

Sasha K. (Belogorsk)

In what period does leaf fall begin and end in linden and birch?

As September approaches, the trees gradually begin to change their summer emerald green leaf color to autumn yellow. A little more time will pass and all the golden foliage will flow to the ground. Observing nature, people often wonder: when does leaf fall end for birch, linden, maple and other favorite yellowing trees? Let's try to answer this question.

When the leaves turn yellow

The foliage begins to change color long before the first frost. As a rule, this happens at the end of August, when the days have already noticeably shortened and it has become a little colder, and lasts for 14-20 days. At first, only isolated gray-yellow areas are visible on the branches, but day after day they become more and more numerous.

By mid-September, the birch leaves become ocher-golden and gradually begin to fall off. The branches of the maple are no less beautiful at this time. The crowns of the tree are covered with foliage in yellow, brick-red, red and even purple shades. The linden foliage, which is only half yellowed, stands out noticeably.

The beginning of leaf fall

For many trees, leaf fall occurs unevenly, that is, it happens at different times. For example, after the first hard frost, leaves begin to fall on linden and maple trees. By this time the birch had already dropped most leaves. Its leaf fall begins in the first ten days of September and lasts 15-20 days.

Important! The beginning of leaf fall depends on the weather. Dry sunny weather and windless days delay the golden decoration of the trees.

Leaf fall is especially abundant after the third frost. The leaves fall to the ground very thickly, forming a thick mat on the ground. Birch trees drop about 30 kg of leaves in the fall. In adult linden and maple this amount reaches 40-50 kg.

The end of leaf fall

The end of leaf fall is usually accompanied by significant cooling, worsening weather conditions, frequent rains and strong gusts of wind. By October 7-10, linden and birch trees lose their last yellow leaves. Maples become bare much later, only by October 20th. Single leaves can remain on the branches until mid-November, reminding passersby of the past golden time of the year.

Observations of nature during leaf fall

The period of active leaf fall is accompanied by significant cooling and the arrival of night frosts. Summer white clouds are replaced by a solid gray veil. There is often fog in the morning. The first flocks of migratory birds take to the sky.

The end of leaf fall in the linden and maple trees is accompanied by gloomy rainy weather, frost on the still green grass and thin ice on the puddles. Rooks gather in flocks and fly south. Gradually the earth cools down and nature falls asleep.

Autumn leaf fall: video