In recent years, woodland autumnal color changes have been occurring later in the season whilst re-greening in spring has been occurring earlier. During the last 30 years across Europe, autumnal senescence ?EUR??,,????'??? the process of plant aging where leaves discolor and then fall ?EUR??,,????'??? has been delayed by 1.3 – 1.8 days a decade. To date, this has been explained by global warming, with increasing temperatures causing longer growing seasons.

However, while a strong correlation has been observed between increased global temperatures and earlier spring re-greening and bud break, the correlation between autumn leaf color change and fall and temperature trends in 14 European countries is weak.

Over the 30 years that progressive delays in autumnal senescence have been observed, atmospheric CO2 has risen by 13.5 per cent. Experimental studies show that increased atmospheric CO2 affects plant physiology and function, influencing a myriad of processes.
The Southampton researchers undertook two large forest ecosystem experiments in which poplar (Populus) trees in separate plots were exposed to either ambient or elevated levels of CO2 from planting to maturity. The elevated concentration was at 550 parts per million, proposed as representative of concentrations that may occur in 2050. Changes in the tree canopy were measured by remote sensing.

The trees exposed to elevated CO2 retained their leaves for longer and also experienced a smaller decline in end of season chlorophyll content, resulting in a greener autumn canopy relative to that in ambient CO2.

Adapted from materials provided by University of Southampton.