Are Canada's leaves changing colour earlier than usual this year?
CTV
If you’ve noticed trees in parts of Canada have been changing colours earlier than usual in recent years, you’re not alone, according to a botany expert who spoke with CTVNews.ca.
If you’ve noticed trees in parts of Canada have been changing colours earlier than usual in recent years, you’re not alone, according to a botany expert who spoke with CTVNews.ca.
Santokh Singh, a biology professor at the University of British Columbia and author of numerous studies on the phenomenon, noticed the leaf changes in B.C.'s Lower Mainland region, as well as parts of Vancouver Island.
"I have seen some trees that have been changing colour a bit earlier. And that has been since the last three or four years," Singh said in a video interview with CTVNews.ca.
Singh specializes in senescence, or the seasonal effects on leaves. He says he has observed some trees as especially sensitive to early colour changes in recent years — in particular, those that struggle to grow.
"It's just sometimes the older trees or trees, which are not doing well, which are not growing well in the previous season or couple of seasons, they could start to show early change in leaf colour," he said, noting that more research was needed in the area.
Leaf senescence is the change in leaves, both seen and unseen, that signal the transition from a tree's growing season to dormancy, Singh said.
In addition to the change in colours, leaves also lose proteins and undergo many changes in their genes and hormones during the process.
