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1998 Ice Storm Effects on the Health and Productivity of Sugar Bushes of Eastern Ontario: Part 2

In 1998, fifteen managed sugar bush blocks with 7% to 72% ice-induced crown damage were established in eastern Ontario. All blocks received dolomitic lime (calcium and magnesium) and phosphorous (P) and potassium (K) treatments in June 1999. Initial crown damage, fall root starch, sap production and sweetness were all measured. Syrup production was calculated.

A Guide to Sugarbush Stocking

Sugarbush managers have long needed a guide for determining the stocking of their sugar maple stands. The question is: for desirable sugar maple sap production, how many trees per acre are needed? To provide information about stocking, the USDA Forest Service’s sugar maple sap production project at Burlington, Vermont, has made a regionwide study of the relationships between crown diameter and d.b.h. (diameter breast high) of open-grown sugar maple trees (Acer saccharum Marsh.). We found a strong relationship between crown diameter and d.b.h., and converted these data into stocking guides for various stand-size classes. The stocking guide are based on the assumption that trees with full crowns produce the best sap yields.

A Model of the Tapping Zone

A model that calculates the proportions of conductive and nonconductive wood in the tapping zone of a tree over time given user-input values for tree diameter and tapping practices.

Age, allocation and availability of nonstructural carbon in mature red maple trees

The allocation of nonstructural carbon (NSC) to growth, metabolism and storage remains poorly understood, but is critical for the prediction of stress tolerance and mortality. We used the radiocarbon (14C) Ôbomb spikeÕ as a tracer of substrate and age of carbon in stemwood NSC, CO2 emitted by stems, tree ring cellulose and stump sprouts regenerated followingharvesting in mature red maple trees. We addressed the following questions: which factors influence the age of stemwood NSC?; to what extent is stored vs new NSC used for metabolism and growth?; and, is older, stored NSC available for use?

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. 

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Assessing the Commercial Potential of a Site for Maple Sap Collection

These 9 variables are intended to help a potential commercial maple producer evaluate the relative merits of one or more selected woods for profitable maple production. A poor or medium rating does not mean that the woods should not be tapped but that production costs in money or labor will likely be higher or greater investments will be necessary to allow the sap collection to be established relative to other sites. Some problems may be avoided if the potential producer is a creative problem solver. Small-scale producers and hobby producers have less emphasis on financial return, so these variables are relevant but perhaps not weighted as heavily.

Associations of calcium and aluminum with the growth and health of sugar maple trees in Vermont

We compared tree growth and crown condition with soil and foliar elemental composition in 14 sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.) stands in VT, USA, to evaluate if deficiencies or imbalances in cation nutrition were associated with growth and health reductions in native stands. The Till Source Model (TSM) was used to select study sites potentially high or low in calcium (Ca) by predicting the relative Ca concentration of soil parent material derived from glacial till. The TSM successfully identified high or low levels of soil Ca (P = 0.031) and foliar Ca (P = 0.011) among stands.

Calcium and aluminum impacts on sugar maple physiology in a northern hardwood forest

Forests of northeastern North America have been exposed to anthropogenic acidic inputs for decades, resulting in altered cation relations and disruptions to associated physiological processes in multiple tree species, including sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.). In the current study, the impacts of calcium (Ca) and aluminum (Al) additions on mature sugar maple physiology were evaluated at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest (Thornton, NH, USA) to assess remediation (Ca addition) or exacerbation (Al addition) of current acidified conditions. Fine root cation concentrations and membrane integrity, carbon (C) allocation, foliar cation concentrations and antioxidant activity, foliar response to a spring freezing event and reproductive ability (flowering, seed quantity, filled seed and seed germination) were evaluated for dominant sugar maple trees in a replicated plot study.