Question Re: Observing Falling Leaves

[Allison Bordewick]

Hello All,

I have another phenophase question from my volunteer phenology group.  If someone reports "no" to leaves and "no" to colored leaves, would they also report "no" to falling leaves?  A volunteer said the tree they visited this week had dropped almost all of its leaves since last week and the few leaves that remained on the tree were completely dead.  They would report "no" to leaves and colored leaves this week but were wondering if it was correct to report "yes" to falling leaves as there has been a big leaf drop since their observation last week.  It seems to me they should also report "no" to falling leaves if they are reporting "no" to leaves, but I am hoping someone can verify this for me.

Thank you for your help!

Allison Bordewick

MPS in Horticulture, University of Minnesota

[Brendon Reidy]

Hi Ali et al,

My interpretation is that it reporting "no" for leaves, and leaf color, while still reporting "yes" for falling leaves is possible, sometimes. 
The NPN definition is as followed 

 

Falling leaves: One or more leaves are falling or have recently fallen from the plant.

The bolded text of "recently fallen" is what makes the situation you describe possible. An observer may visit a tree one week and it has a huge crown of golden leaves on it, only to come back the next week and find it without any leaves. Those leaves had to go somewhere,  most likely they fell off of the tree in the time period between when the tree had leaves on it and the period when the observer came out and there were no leaves. So it can be reasonable to deduce that the leaves have recently fallen, and one would record "yes" for the falling leaves phenophase. 

Since we are only recording "yes" for the leaf phenophases when live leaves are visible on the tree, and we can record "yes" for falling leaves for leaves that have recently fallen and now require me to rake, yet again,  in the yard, the scenario you describe is possible. 

I think it is important to note that in the scenario you describe above if the observer returns the following week and those dead brown leaves are still clinging on and nothing has changed on the tree, they would record "no" for falling leaves. 

I hope this helps, feel free to reach out if you have any other questions,
Brendon

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Brendon Reidy (He/Him/His) |  Research Coordinator
The Morton Arboretum  |  4100 Illinois Route 53  |  Lisle, Illinois 60532 

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[Ellen Denny]

Hi Allison,

Your observer and Brendon are absolutely correct! You would report “no” to Falling leaves at that first site visit after all the live and colored leaves fell off the tree. But after that one site visit, there are no more (live/colored) leaves that could have fallen off, so you’d report “no” for Leaves, Colored leaves, and Falling leaves. And once a leaf is dried and dead but still clinging to the tree, we don’t consider it a leaf for our purposes and when it eventually falls off, you don’t report anything for that.

Best,

Ellen

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/natures-notebook-community-of-practice/CAKsGpXqf-Th9ZMUpoz4N%3Dxm1zdLa9fEE3nutOUhpXVsNtDkmMQ%40mail.gmail.com.

Ellen Denny (she/her)

Monitoring Design & Data Coordinator

USA National Phenology Network, University of Arizona

University of Arizona Land Acknowledgment

www.usanpn.org

eden...@gmail.com

el...@usanpn.org

I work from my home in Kittery, Maine on N’dakinna, which is the traditional ancestral homeland of the Abenaki, Pennacook and Wabanaki Peoples past and present. I acknowledge and honor with gratitude the land and waterways and the alnobak (people) who have stewarded N’dakinna throughout the generations.

[Allison Bordewick]

Thank you both for your quick responses on this.  I will be sure to pass along the information to our group.

-Allison Bordewick