Changing Leaves

The tree that I observe and track for the science based community forum called Nature’s Notebook is a vine maple that I had transplanted into the corner of the yard about 10 years ago.

Vine Maple is one of those species that is a good indicator variety. When enough people/stations located around the country and planet, and observations are logged into the system, the data is used to keep an eye on the overall health of an area.

My vine maple is not watered. It is growing under a variety of native species from 50 year old Douglas Fir trees, along a row of cedars that were started about the same time as the Vine Maple, a copse of wild cherry with buck brush.

The plant that I observe typically has leaves that are brilliant with reds, oranges and yellows by this time of the year.

This year the tree looks like the dry, hot summer had taken a toll. The plant does not have a lot of leaves anymore since they dried up and fell off several weeks ago.

There are no bright colors, more like a wash out from the vivid green that had graced the tree earlier in the year.

The one limb that has the pink logger tape attached is the specific branch that I use for the observation and log in.

Using one specific branch throughout the years leads to very specific observations. By marking the branch I can be sure that my counting and observations are indeed the same branch that I have been monitoring.