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lsandersonThose Brilliant Fall Outfits May Be Saving Trees
By CARL ZIMMER
"As trees across the northern United States turn gold and crimson, scientists are debating exactly what those colors are for.
The scientists do agree on one thing: the colors are for something. That represents a major shift in thinking. For decades, textbooks claimed that autumn colors were just a byproduct of dying leaves. "I had always assumed that autumn leaves were waste baskets," said Dr. David Wilkinson, an evolutionary ecologist at Liverpool John Moores University in England. "That's what I was told as a student." "
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/19/science/19leaf.html?pagewanted=print&position=
By CARL ZIMMER
"As trees across the northern United States turn gold and crimson, scientists are debating exactly what those colors are for.
The scientists do agree on one thing: the colors are for something. That represents a major shift in thinking. For decades, textbooks claimed that autumn colors were just a byproduct of dying leaves. "I had always assumed that autumn leaves were waste baskets," said Dr. David Wilkinson, an evolutionary ecologist at Liverpool John Moores University in England. "That's what I was told as a student." "
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/19/science/19leaf.html?pagewanted=print&position=
