Autumn foliage, recycling and harvest
As plants transfer their valuable chlorophyll from leaves to trunks and stems, hikers get to enjoy the resulting colourful autumn foliage. Eventually the trees drop an enormous quantity of leaves on the ground. This organic matter is utilised by fungi and other decomposers, which recycle the nutrients within, making them available to plants once more. The work carried out by decomposers is silent and discreet, but absolutely vital!
Acorns and hazelnuts attract squirrels, Eurasian jays and small rodents racing to amass as much food as possible in their winter stores. Woodpeckers peck holes in tree trunks to get to the invertebrates hiding within, roe deer strip wilting plants of what edible parts are left and badgers dig around in the forest litter for something to eat. The forest feeds its inhabitants even when leafless!
