Fall Foliage Post #2

In the few weeks that have gone by since my last post, some leaves have shown dramatic changes in color while others are hesitant to change. 

The sycamore, which used to have a somewhat dense coverage of bright green leaves, has lost some of that density and more sky can be seen through the branches. In addition, the leaves have taken on a brown hue, making their leaves a bit less vibrant. The leaves also seem to be drying out and shriveling up as if they are giving up slowly before completely dropping off of the tree. This makes me believe that the tree might be reabsorbing some of the water and nutrients in the leaves before letting them fall.  
The locust trees on the left side of the image seem to have undergone a process similar to that of the sycamore. All of the trees in this area of woods look more brown and less dense, but have not yet changed to vibrant colors as seen in other types of trees. Because the trees that are growing close to other trees are not changing as drastically as those growing further apart (like the sugar maple), I have proposed that species of trees that grow in higher population densities do not rely on vibrant color change to prepare for winter. 
In stark contrast to the other types of trees, the sugar maple to the left of the train station has transitioned to a bright orange color. Although it looks a bit brown in this photograph, it has been very vibrant in the past few weeks, catching the eyes of everyone who has passed by. The sugar maple has more of a round shape than the locust trees, showing that it prefers to grow further from other trees, which might have something to do with the differences in their autumn actions. 
In nature, the leaves that are dropped from the tree would normally stay near the base of the tree to decompose. I believe that the changes in color could result from this phenomena. For instance, the sugar maple's orange leaves might attract organisms that would speed up the process of decomposition and return the nutrients to the soil near the base of the tree. The trees that do not have bright leaves might not need to attract as many decomposers because the trees are living in the woods, where small organisms are plentiful all of the time. 
Similarly, the trees might rely on this ground covering of leaves to keep the soil a bit warmer and the different colors absorb different wavelengths of light, which would affect how much heat is absorbed into the ground. 
However, because humans often rake up leaves that fall into our yards and campuses, we may be altering how the trees can use either of these proposed methods to thrive in the winter.To study this further, I would have to find these species of trees in the wild and study these processes. 

Fall Foliage Post #1

Despite the fact that several scientific studies have been done on the senescence of leaves in autumn, there has yet to be a definite conclusion regarding why the leaves change color and exactly how they do it. While some researchers believe that the process is due to cell recycling (Ougham et. al), others are trying to prove that the color change is due to abiotic factors and animal interactions (Archetti, et. al). Over the course of the next few weeks, I will be making observations of leaf color change at Sweet Briar College and try to gain a better understanding of the process of color change. Although I will not be focusing on formal research, I hope that my heightened interest in leaf senescence will make me notice some aspects of the process that I have never realized before. Along the way, I will be posting Gigapan pictures of the same area of campus and narrate the changes that I observe in the colors of the leaves. 


This Gigapan shows several kinds of trees surrounding the Butterfly garden at Sweet Briar College. In the foreground of the photograph is a sycamore tree. I do not expect the leaves to change to a vibrant color, perhaps this tree will be valuable in gaining more understanding of why and how leaves change color in the fall because it is different than many other species. In the background of the picture, a sugar maple can be seen to the left of the train station, just beyond the cedar trees. This tree is already beginning to change to a light orange color as compared to the vibrant green it was just a few weeks ago. Sugar maples are known for changing to a bright yellow/orange color throughout the autumn. The contrast between the sycamore tree and sugar maple might give some more insight into the process of color change as the season progresses. To the left of the sugar maple in the photo, there are several locust trees. Like the sugar maple, I expect these leaves to turn yellow before being dropped for the winter. Since there are several of the same kind of trees in this area, I will pay attention to the relationship between the color change among them. I think they will all change at the same time and be the same color, but if I am wrong, I might be able to make more assumptions about the scientific process of the color change.

Camp Currency

Each year, over ten million American kids attend summer camps across the nation, so there is reason to believe that camp societies could function with their own form of currency: friendship bracelets. As a camp counselor, I have seen first-hand how much time campers put in to tying cotton threads into knots and trading them around camp. Children could buy snacks and souvenirs at the camp store, and use bracelets to trade for items and better bracelets with their friends. Since they are aesthetically pleasing, laborious to make, and easy to store and transport, friendship bracelets would be a feasible form of currency at summer camp.

Threads of countless colors can be made into bracelets with several patterns, which makes the possible combinations almost infinite. Bracelets with few colors and with plain patterns are worth less than those that are less intricate. Since the bracelets are a piece of jewelry and already have value for that reason, they have some value of their own, which makes it even more possible for them to be used as currency around camp. For instance, an item in the camp store could cost 5 simple bracelets or 2 intricate bracelets. Campers might even be able to buy more string from the camp store or their friends by trading in bracelets they have made, allowing the bracelet making cycle to continue. Since cotton friendship bracelet string is cheap and somewhat durable, it would not be a challenge for most kids to "buy in" to the bracelet making cycle and begin using this new form of currency. However, since cotton string often fades and gets dirty, the aesthetic value of bracelets goes down over time, which is very different from most forms of currency that gain value as they get rare after a long period of time. Making beautiful, valuable bracelets can take a lot of work, therefore, the amount of labor put in to making a bracelet gives it a large part of its value.

Because some bracelets take more time and energy to make, friendship bracelets are a feasible form of currency because different ones can be worth different amounts of money. For instance, the Chinese Staircase is simple and quick to make, while Bracelets with Letters are much more difficult and time consuming. Therefore, campers would be able to use several simple bracelets to buy the same item as someone who paid with one difficult bracelet. By using friendship bracelets as currency, campers would also learn the concept of having to work in order to get what they want. They would be able to compare how much they want something with how much time they are willing to put in to making bracelets. The friendship bracelet process also presents many opportunities for campers to teach each other new things and make new friends. Older campers, and those with more experience, would be able to teach younger campers how to make bracelets which would help them form friendships and learn to help each other. While friendship bracelets can be time consuming to make, they are easy to store and transport, making them feasible forms of camp currency.

At camp, people's wrists are often covered with bracelets showing how many friends they have made at camp. If we were to begin using bracelets as currency, we would be able to use those bracelets to show how "wealthy" we are. Bracelets can also be tied in knots that allow them to be taken on and off frequently so they can be traded around camp. Even during the off camp season, campers could store bracelets in bags or boxes and save them for the next year without letting them wear out or fade. In addition, bracelets are easy to mail, so campers could  continue trading when they are away from camp. 

Even though friendship bracelets have beauty and labor value, and are easy to store, there would be some difficulties with making them into a form of currency at camp. For instance, the friendship bracelet economy would be a relatively closed market. For instance, if campers could use bracelets to buy items at the camp store, the camp would lose money because they would have to use real money to purchase the items from the retailer. In addition, by making friendship bracelets a form of currency, it might devalue the fun of making bracelets, and make it seem more like a chore and a burden.