We applied the grey system theory to evaluation of chlorophyll (Chl) degradation in Chamaecyparis Sieb. & Zucc. var. formosana (Hayata) Rehder needle-leaf in the Yuanyang Lake Nature Preserve of northern Taiwan. Pigment analysis was finished within 12 h after collecting the samples. Four grey prediction models for the degradation of Chl a, Chl b, and for the change of Chl a/b ratio and water content were established and compared with the results of linear and exponential regression analysis. The residual error and accuracy range show that the grey prediction process is much better than regression analysis. The degradation of Chl a and b contains two phases, one being fast and the other slow. and C. M. Yang ... [et al.].