Tree healing – Maple Research

Assessing Damage to Maple Sapwood Caused by Tapping

The area of stained sapwood associated with tapping or other wounds in maple trunks has long been interpreted to represent the area of wood that is compartmentalized, and thus unavailable for sap flow. We tested this interpretation by passing dye through maple stems that had been tapped and observing the area that was blocked. Our results indicate that the blocked portion of the trunk associated with a wound taphole is somewhat larger than the area which is visually compartmentalized (stained).

Date:: March 20, 2023

Compartmentalization: A Conceptual Framework for Understanding how Trees Grow and Defend Themselves

The purpose of this chapter is to describe a conceptual framework for understanding how trees grow and how they and other perennial plants defend themselves. The concept of compartmentalization has developed over many years, a synthesis of ideas from a number of investigators. It is founded on observations of trees injured in the field by wind, snow, ice, fire, animals, and insects, as well as during pruning, coppicing, sugaring, and other forest and orchard management practices. It is based on experimental studies of natural and artificial wounds with and without controlled inoculations with selected pathogenic and saprophytic microorganisms.

Publication:: Annual Review of Phytopathology
Date:: January 1, 1984