Tag: Trees

Showing 1 – 10 of 53 resources

Exudation Pressure in Maple Trees: Comparing Simulations with Experiments

Exudation is the process whereby trees can generate a large positive pressure in stems or roots during months when the tree is leafless and mostly dormant and temperatures fluctuate above and below freezing. This article aims to provide an update on recent modelling efforts
in combination with experimental measurements from red/sugar maple trees at the University of Vermont Proctor Maple Research Center that validate the model results.

Publication:
Maple Syrup Digest
Date:
June 1, 2022

Are Sweet Trees Actually Sweet? 

The Cornell Maple Program in Lake Placid, NY has been managing groves of sugar maples selected and propagated for having genetically sweeter sap for close to 40 years. Are these trees actually sweeter and how much sap do they produce? Recent sampling looked back over the plantation to test the heritability of sap sweetness. 

Date:
December 8, 2021

Drought Stress and Water Availability for Maple Sap Production: A Correction

Sap flow and stem pressure in sugar maples during winter dormancy depend on the expansion and contraction of gas bubbles. These gas bubbles are primarily located in the libriform fibers of wood tissues, not in the xylem vessels. Though there are gas bubbles (embolisms) in the xylem vessels, these bubbles are not the dominant drivers of stem pressurization.

Publication:
Maple Syrup Digest
Date:
December 1, 2020

Sugarbush Management Notebook

A sugarbush is a special type of woodland. Woodlands include a complex mixture of natural processes and attributes such as soil type, elevation, tree species, types of wildlife, history of use, tree age and more. Foresters can help maple producers gain an in-depth understanding of these factors to achieve a healthy and productivity sugarbush, but there are several steps a maple producer can take on their own.

Date:
October 1, 2020

Silviculture, and Why it Belongs in a Sugarbush

We are seeing new challenges for our maples and their offspring. Invasive species, climate change, poor forest management, and other factors are all serious threats to the productivity of harvesting maple sugar in the decades to come. However, there are things we can do to protect the tradition of maple sugaring in our regions. Silviculture is our primary tool.

Publication:
Maple Syrup Digest
Date:
February 1, 2020

Maple Handbook

A handbook for beginning sugarmakers, covering the basics of tree identification, sap collection, boiling, and more.

Date:
January 1, 2020

Sugarbush Mapping: What’s in your woods? Measuring density

Looking around your woods youÕll see that there are far more trees on the landscape than you have time to measure. The science of forestry has taught us that similar stands (ones that have the same species composition, size classes, productivity, and management history) do not need to undergo a 100% census to get an accurate picture of what is there. Foresters use sampling methods that inventory stands to get an accurate representation of what is in them and the quality of the resource.

Publication:
Maple Syrup Digest
Date:
December 1, 2019

Sugarbush Mapping: Finding information to assist in forest management and planning in the sugarbush

Technological advances by maple equipment manufacturers, continued outreach and education by local, state, federal, and provincial maple organizations, and widespread adoption of new management practices by producers have revolutionized the maple industry over the last 20 years. The design and layout of sap collection systems and advances in vacuum pumps and releasers has resulted in higher per tap sap yields well beyond the old standards. Increased per tap volume has been matched with modern high brix reverse osmosis systems and efficiency gains in evaporators, pushing the economic potential of making maple syrup to new heights. Value-added products, niche marketing and branding, and social media and online platforms, coupled with health conscious and savvy consumers,have altered the retail sales landscape and linked rural maple producers to consumers around the world.

Publication:
Maple Syrup Digest
Date:
October 1, 2019