Why Do Leaves Change Color in the Fall?为什么秋天 树叶会变色？

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Within temperate and boreal forests， trees and shrubs that drop their leaves are called deciduous plants; they include groups such as aspens， cottonwoods， maples and oaks. On the other end of the spectrum are plants that don’t shed their leaves—for example， the pines， spruces， cedars and firs that make up the conifers， or evergreens. Both types of trees produce less energy in the winter， but conifers have adaptations， such as a waxy coating to minimize water loss， that help them keep their needles year-round.

In early fall， the weather conditions start to change： It gets cooler—with crisp， but not freezing， nights—and the duration of daylight is reduced. Collectively， there’s less sunlight for plants to harvest using the chlorophyll in their leaves， so deciduous trees begin to pull back their investment in keeping them alive.

By the time the first freezes hit， the trees are well on their way to dormancy.

While chlorophyll is the most common pigment that plants use to harvest light—green leaves look that way because chlorophyll absorbs red and blue light and reflects green light—plants often have a variety of secondary pigments， too. As the chlorophyll in a tree’s leaves begins to wane， these underlying pigments become visible. This is what we’re seeing when fall foliage peaks， Kristina Bezanson， an arboriculturist at the University of Massachusetts Amherst， told Live Science in an email.

在温带和北方森林中，会落叶的乔木和灌木被称为落叶植物，包括杨树、棉白杨、枫树和橡树等。（剩余1669字）