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Monteverde Cloud Forest a Riot of Color

Why is fauna colorful, why are plants green, why are flowers colored and how? Monteverde Costa Rica

Nature’s Colors by Dr. Kara Lefevre, 2014

The Origins of Nature’s Colors

Nature is a riot of color. Typically we’re so used to this simple fact, it’s easy to overlook the splendid nuances of the colors that surround us. Then, when you’re on the verge of becoming indifferent, the sight of a hardwoodforest’s leaves turning in autumn, the bloom of an orchid, or the metallic surface of a beetle can take your breath away.

Color figures prominently in the lives of forest organisms. The color of plants and animals can function in heating and cooling, and many other biological processes. A major one is communication, which frequently involves color. Animals use complex color patterning to impress potential mates, or they may use cryptic patterns in an opposite way, for camouflage. Creatures from plants to insects to frogs have bright warning signals that alert predators to the toxic repercussions of choosing the wrong meal.

Often the particular color of things in nature has no particular purpose, being simply a visual side effect of the way that light plays. (For lack of a better rhetorical question, why is the sky blue?).

That touches on some functions of living colors, but the real aim of this article is to explore the “how”. That is, what causes nature’s palette?  Every direction one looks in a tropical rainforest showcases a rich array of objects and materials, in all hues and shades. And the origin of each of those colors can be vastly different.

There are two main ways that the visual effect of color is produced: chemically, or physically.

The chemical production of colors

The chemical route of color production involves pigments. These organic molecules, are found in both plants and animals.They absorb different wavelengths of visible light energy, and can retain it briefly because of their chemical structure.

“Visible light” refers to a portion of the radiation that reaches our planet from the sun, at wavelengths of~380-750 nanometers. When the human eye views that range of radiations at once, “white light” is perceived. When just a narrower range is viewed though, the result is a light beam of a particular color, depending on the wavelength.

Living beings contain various pigments in their biochemical make-up. When incoming light hits an organism, each type of pigment absorbs certain wavelengths and reflects others, creating their characteristic colors.

Pigments play many different roles in plants. Of course green is the prevalent color in forests. This is an effect of the pigment chlorophyll that plays an essential role in making plant food, by converting light energy to chemical energy in the process of photosynthesis.

Colors are also used in signaling, to help plants stand out from the green background. For example, pigments play a central role in creating bright floral displays that attract animal pollinators and seed dispersers. Complex biochemical processes can further control color changes within flowers. Some of the factors that affect petal color are temperature, pH, cell shape, and the presence of co-pigments, metals (which can affect pigment structure), and sugars.

Still other pigments may play roles in activities like heat exchange, defense, or other unknown physiological functions. Some of the most common pigment types are described here:

  • Tetrapyrroles have been called the “pigments of life” because of their vital roles in many biological processes. Their structure includes porphyrins, a class of cyclic, organic compounds that have a metal atom in their centers. For example, they form the active cores of the chlorophylls (which contain magnesium), considered to be the most abundant pigments on earth, and the pigment in red blood cells (which contains iron).
  • Carotenoids are long-chain, lipid-soluble molecules that are essential to plants, playing numerous physiological roles. They are usually yellow, orange and red, and are abundant in flowers such as marigolds and dandelions, and many fruits.They are made by plants and then consumed by animals, influencing for example the brilliant red feathers of the maleNorthern Cardinaland the bright orange spots on male guppies, a small freshwater fish.
  • Flavonoids are complex water-soluble molecules found in mostflowering plants. They play a major role in flower coloration, producing yellow, red and blue hues, and in various biological functions.
  • Melanins occur in most animals and cause the dark color of skin, hair, scales, fur and feathers. They exist as granules in those tissues, and confer some amount of protection from the elements.Many birds have black wing feathers, for example, to protect the tips of feathers from the wear caused by flight.

Birds are also, in fact, a great overall example of animals that use color for signaling and communication. Tropical bird species display a particularly wide range of colors on their plumage. The pigments that color bird feathers are mainly porphyrins, carotenoids and melanins.

The physical production of colors

In addition to chemical pigments, the colors of some animals are produced physically, via the structural make-up of their integument (such as skin, feathers, or exoskeleton). Microscopic features of the tissues can produce colors by scattering or interfering with certain wavelengths of light.

Many animals produce colors in this fashion. The iridescence observed in some insects is a structural effect—think of the jewel-like elytra of some beetles, or the glimmering wings of many butterflies, moths, flies, wasps and bees. In these cases, the color that results depends on the angle of observation. Light is refracted and split into its different component colors, which can produce a changing, dazzling visual display. The throat feathers of many of the hummingbirds you will encounter at Monteverde are a classic example of this stunning phenomenon.

Some structural colors are not iridescent, such as most blue-tinged feathers. Those hues result when light hits feather barbs and scatters, which creates a single color of light. Still other colors in nature result from the combination of a pigment with structural colors. For example, feathers can appear green due to an overlap of structural blue with yellow pigments, such as the greens of many parrot plumages.

Interestingly, some animals can see light in the ultraviolet range, including bees and diurnal bird species. Thus, the color displays that they encounter would look very different than what is perceived by our human eyes.

Whether appreciated solely for aesthetics, or for the intricate functions they perform, the resplendent colors of the cloud forest will surely bewitch you.

References

  • Britton G (1983). The Biochemistry of Natural Pigments. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
  • The Cornell Lab of Ornithology (accessed 21 April 2014)
  • http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/studying/feathers/color/document_view
  • Doucet SM&Meadows MG (2009).Iridescence: a functional perspective.Journal of The Royal Society Interface 6, no.Suppl 2: S115-S132.
  • Miller R, Owens SJ &Rørslett B (2011). Plants and color: flowers and pollination. Optics & Laser Technology 43: 282-294.
  • Rodd, F.H., K.A. Hughes, G. Grether, C.T. Baril. 2002. A possible non-sexual origin of a mate preference: are male guppies mimicking fruit? Proc. R. Soc. B. 269:475-481.
  • The University of Bristol (accessed 21 April 2014)
  • http://www.bristol.ac.uk/biology/research/behaviour/vision/4d.html
  • Warren M & Smith A (2009).Tetrapyrroles:  Birth, Life and Death. Springer, New York.

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