About 10 years ago, we had a freak snow storm in early October in the northeast us.
The trees that normally shed their leaves had not done so yet and huge numbers of them suffered serious breaks from the weight of the snow clinging to the leaves.
It was at that point that I realized the purpose of shedding leaves in the winter.
Prior to that I used to think, "Okay, so what if there is LESS sun in the winter time? Why bother shedding leaves when you can pick up some extra energy from winter sunlight? And you don't have to expend the energy rebuilding leaves in the spring.'
My suspicion is that the leaves fall primarily to avoid snow-induced
catastrophic breaks and related damage.
The trees that normally shed their leaves had not done so yet and huge numbers of them suffered serious breaks from the weight of the snow clinging to the leaves.
It was at that point that I realized the purpose of shedding leaves in the winter.
Prior to that I used to think, "Okay, so what if there is LESS sun in the winter time? Why bother shedding leaves when you can pick up some extra energy from winter sunlight? And you don't have to expend the energy rebuilding leaves in the spring.'
My suspicion is that the leaves fall primarily to avoid snow-induced catastrophic breaks and related damage.