Countryside

Forests - Autumn to Winter

Watch the image change between a beautiful copper and gold leafed autumn spectacle, to the sparse dark branches outlined against a fiery wintry sky.

Whether your idea of a forest is a few small trees in a valley or a woodland that stretches across the expanse of several hundred miles, there is no getting away from the fact that trees (forests) matter.

If you get the chance, take yourself to the nearest forest you can find and just breathe in the aroma, listen to the sounds of the birds and animals and just relax.

Nowhere is there anything more peaceful and de-stressing, than in the middle of those tall and imposing green or sometimes, golden-red leafed giants.

Why do Leaves change Colour?

When the days grow short and night time temperatures fall, a tree realises that autumn and winter are coming. Most trees do not grow in autumn and winter, so there is no need for food and so it stops the process of absorbing nutrients.

The chlorophyll left in the leaf is not needed and starts to decompose. This means, other pigments start to show - and they are the golds and reds that we know as autumn colours

© 2007 - 2009 Sunderland Countryside Rangers affiliated to the British Trust Conservation Volunteers Charity. Identification No. 51600. - All Rights Reserved

© 2007 - 2009 Sunderland Countryside Rangers affiliated to the British Trust Conservation Volunteers Charity. Identification No. 51600. - All Rights Reserved