I live in the dry rain forest of northern Guanacaste, Costa Rica. We endure 4-5 months without rain and many of the trees lose their leaves during this "dry season". The landscape turns gray/Brown. My question is this. A month or so before the first rain the trees begin to show signs of leafing, their green begins to return without any rainfall. The biology teacher here believes it is because the trees are beginning to die and are leafing in a last gasp effort at survival. I had always thought that this was a form of cyclical/learned behavior in that the trees were accustomed to the regularity of the dry and wet season and began to leaf in the "knowledge" that rain would soon follow. Which is it or are other factors involved.
Thank You sincerely,
Rodgers Bestgen