A study of the patterns and characteristics of leaf fall

This article submitted by Kristy Meurer, Allison Wheat, Gretchen Wagner, Chris Seabolt on 9/23/97.


Purpose:

To study the pattern and characteristics of leaf fall within a set area of the woods behind Boyd Hall on Western campus.

Questions:

§ In general, when do trees start to lose their leaves?
§ How many leaves will fall in the set area per week and in total for the month of October?
§ What is the percentage of each color leaf that falls?
§ When is leaf fall the heaviest?
§ Why is it that leaves fall this time of year?
§ In general, how long does it take a leaf to change color?

Procedure:

We will establish a set area within the woods behind Boyd Hall on Western campus where we will collect our data. Our next step will be to randomly place chicken-wire cylinders which will serve as collection bins for leaves. We will periodically check the collection bins over the month of October to aid in our calculation of the above quantitative and qualitative assessments. Finally, we will estimate the total leaf fall for the set area using the random sampling techniques we used with the clover lab.

Please respond with any questions or comments.

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