East Hampton - Leaf collection season marks the time where leaves are piled, bagged, and removed from lawns and streets to maintain an aesthetically pleasing landscape. East Hampton Town's majority vote to suspend the Highway Department's roadside leaf pick-up program has become a hindrance in a process that has previously been effective for a local community. While some may favor the program, others believe it is unimportant and does not require additional funding for its continuity. Leaf litter is an extremely important facet of nature's reproductive cycle, which aids in the build-up of local forests. The decomposition of leaves allows for a great deal of nutrients to be released into the soil targeted for consumption by many living organisms.

Leaf litter is an extremely important facet of nature's reproductive cycle.

Leaves are essentially plant organs whose flat shape works to expose the cells to more light and increase CO2 absorption to assist in fueling a plant's growth. Leaves also offer protection for plants against wind, snow, ice and sun. The abscission of leaves typically occurs in the fall and can be recognized by the changing of colors. While trees, such as evergreens, shed old leaves sporadically throughout the year, others, such as deciduous trees, typically shed before the winter. A beneficial function of senescence is ultimately the reproduction of old leaves into nutrients to be absorbed into the soil. The biodegradation of leaves is extremely important to the ecosystem, which explains why the full-fledged removal would be disadvantageous.

The commencement of senescence, or the biological aging of leaf matter, occurs because a process called photoperiodism allows a tree to measure the amount of sunlight it receives per day. As the winter solstice approaches, the plants sense the decreasing amount of sunlight. The cells within the leaves begin to dismantle as the production of chlorophyll ceases. Hence the term 'fall,' as leaves drop and litter the ground, they will eventually deteriorate and replenish the soil beneath them and give rise to a more nutrient rich carbon base from which more plants and trees can grow. The degradation of macromolecules, proteins, nucleic acids, and lipids occur as photosynthesis slows as well. As the leaves blanket the ground, nature begins its winter feeding by supplying the underlying soil with free fertilizer.

Homeowners should not rake leaves bare around the tree trunks as seen here.

Ultimately, with respect to nature, the most effective action to take when leaves fall is to leave them be. In an article published by Cornell University, author Tuomi states that, "litter decomposition is an important process in the global carbon cycle by stabilizing the soil organically." Raking and blowing from streets and driveways should not result in the full-fledged removal of the leaves as they contain vital ingredients in plant growth as well as for healthy soil. A more practical solution to leaf litter removal from landscaped properties would be to redistribute them to a more suitable area on a given property to allow the return of nutrients into the soil. Lawn care companies whose instruction is to remove all leaves on the property can simply collect the leaves to avoid a cluttered landscape and scatter them in a woody area to continue their life cycle. Leaf litter has a profound impact on the existence and preservation of indigenous plants and trees to a given area. One can find further information about tree preservation through the International Society of Arboriculture's website at www.treesaregood.com.