 I'm here on Muddy Mountain in the Laramie Range in central Wyoming and this is a glorious autumn day and I want to talk to you about fall color and the changing of the seasons. Now we all know that as day length decreases, so does chlorophyll production in our plants leaves decrease. And what really happens is it allows for new pigments to come on board. As we look at aspens and the yellows to the oranges and reds, they're absolutely outstanding. Just consider too that there are some subshrubs in plants that are changing colors as well. Take for example our native buckwheat. Here it is coming from a dark green leaf to a red. And then also the creeping Oregon grape. This is a native of our mountain ranges. Again, they turn from dark green to a brilliant red and persist that way through the winter. But there is also another change happening in the forest and that's with our conifers. Now let's even take a look at this pine tree. Look closely and you'll see the needles, the interior needles in fact, turning brown and falling off. That's a symptom of fall as well. In fact it occurs system wide in the northern hemisphere beginning in September. And actually we have a term for it. It's called fall needle drop. Now that can occur on the mountain, but it can also occur in your backyard on your pine trees as well. So as you enjoy autumn's fall color change, just remember that there's more to the change than aspens. This has been Tom Heald from the University of Wyoming Cooperative Extension Service exploring the nature of Wyoming.