COMMENTS ON THE BROWN LEAVES OF SPRING

Question:

Can he provide some numbers to back up his assertions? For instance, the page you directed us to says, "Now the forests are filled with brown spring leaves." That's very disturbing, but what forests? Where? HAve surveys been conducted? 

Reply:

I took your hint above and inserted the modifier "nearby" in front of forests in the opening text at /brown_leaves_of_spring.htm since these specific observations are being made near my home and office.  These observations are made in the context of having spent my entire life (minus short international assignments) observing the nearby trees (I was out in these woods "helping" my grandfather log back in the 50's) .  My travels this spring have not been extensive, but I have seen both greener leaves and much browner leaves in my travels through adjacent towns.   This spring leaf browning has generally become more pronounced over the years, but I know of no surveys that have been conducted.  The browning is sort of sneaking up on us and it is hard to reference back to what a healthy spring green should look like.  I don't know where you would find reliable baseline data to conduct an objective survey. Old color photos might provide limited means of comparison.

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Contact Gerry Hawkes: ghawkes@eco-systems.org