20 September 2006
Gold rush!
Indian Summer offers extravaganza of autumn colour
The Woodland Trust is predicting a stunning autumn this year thanks to our wet August and the hot, dry start to September.
Nick Collinson from the Woodland Trust says: “If this sunny September continues we can look forward to a spectacular autumn with a range of colours from fiery reds to vivid golds. The wet autumn has revived trees suffering from July’s drought and an Indian Summer with warm sunny days and cool dry nights provides just the right conditions for some stunning October colours.”
Thanks to the Autumnwatch (1) survey, run by the Woodland Trust and the BBC, tens of thousands of volunteers across the UK are looking out for the signs of autumn. Each one of the volunteers is making a vital contribution to climate research and anyone can join their ranks. Becoming a recorder is fun, easy and free! You can take part in several ways, but all you really need is a recording postcard (2) or internet access and a walk in your local woods, parks, gardens and high streets in all their autumnal glory (3).
Why do leaves change colour?
Early in the year, when there is plenty of light, the leaves produce chlorophyll – the green colour in grass stains. This is used to convert sunlight into energy which the leaf stores as sugar. Chlorophyll isn’t the only pigment, (red) anthocyanin and (yellow) carotene, the main colour in carrots, are also present. Just like a grass stain, the chlorophyll covers up all of the other colours in the leaf making it appear green. However, as light and temperature drop at the end of the summer, the leaves stop making chlorophyll and it breaks down revealing the colours underneath. Beech and maple, which have more anthocyanin have red leaves in autumn while hazel and birch have more carotene and yellow autumn leaves. The intensity of the colour in the leaves is controlled by how concentrated the stored sugar is. The more concentrated the sugar, the better the colours. After a hot, dry September with cool nights, the sugar is particularly concentrated and we get the benefit in a spectacular autumn.
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For media enquiries contact:
Rory Francis (Publicity and Public Affairs Officer for Wales) on 07760 171174
Afallon, Tanygrisiau, Blaenau Ffestiniog, Gwynedd LL41 3RH
Email roryfrancis@woodland-trust.org.uk
For BBC media enquiries please contact Lindsay Smith or Beth Regan in the BBC Publicity Unit on 0117 974 2319 or email lindsay.smith@bbc.co.uk or beth.regan@bbc.co.uk
or The Woodland Trust Press Office on 01476 581121, e-mail media@woodland-trust.org.uk
Notes to editors
1 Autumnwatch broadcasts LIVE on BBC Two starting in October. For more information please visit www.bbc.co.uk/autumnwatch
2 Postcards are available from your local BBC Radio station. Alternatively, you can record your sightings via the internet at www.bbc.co.uk/autumnwatch
3 For a list of woods in your area visit www.woodland-trust.org.uk/news/autumnleaves/walks.htm
Coed Cadw (The Woodland Trust)
The Woodland Trust is the UK’s leading woodland conservation charity. It has 250,000 members and supporters. The Trust has four key aims: i) No further loss of ancient woodland; ii) Restoring and improving the biodiversity of woods; iii) Increasing new native woodland; iv) Increasing people’s awareness and enjoyment of woodland.
Established in 1972, the Woodland Trust now has over 1,000 sites in its care covering approximately 20,000 hectares (50,000 acres). These include over 100 sites in Wales, with a total area of 1,580 hectares (3,900 acres). It offers free public access to nearly all of its sites. Further news can be accessed via www.coed-cadw.org.uk The Trust adopted a new Welsh language name in 2000: “Coed Cadw”. This is an old Welsh term, used in medieval laws to describe protected or preserved woodland.
UK Phenology Network
The UK Phenology Network is the result of a partnership between The Woodland Trust and the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology. It now has more than 40,000 registered recorders observing the signs of the changing seasons across the UK.
