Showing 1 – 10 of 13 matching resources

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.

Asian Longhorned Beetle and its Host Trees

This pictorial guide provides basic information for identifying the Asian longhorned beetle, its injury characteristics, and its common host trees. The guide will help users detect the beetle in both urban and forested settings.

Cost of Maple Sap Production for Various Size Tubing Operations

Reports sap production costs for small (500 to 1,000 taps), medium (1,000 to 5,000), and large (5,000 to 15,000) maple syrup operations that use plastic tubing with vacuum pumping. The average annual operating cost per tap ranged from $4.64 for a 500-tap sugarbush operation to $1.84 for a sugarbush with 10,000 taps. The weighted average was $2.87 per tap or $11.48 per gallon (assumes four taps required to produce a gallon of syrup). The average annual investment cost for a plastic tubing system ranged from $7.90 for a 500-tap operation to $6.03 for a 10,000-tap system. The average labor time per tap was 4.74 minutes in 1998 compared to 9.60 minutes in 1975. The break-even (zero profit) size for a sugarbush operation was 900, 1,500, and 3,800 taps for a 3.0, 2.5, and 2.0o Brix sap, respectively.

Evaluation of Sugar Maple Dieback Trends in the Upper Great Lakes Region

Crown dieback and declines in tree health of sugar maple (Acer saccharum) have been reported on various land ownerships in the western Upper Great Lakes region in recent years (MDNR 2009, 2010, 2012). In some areas, the crown dieback has affected high-value crop trees. Historically, sugar maple dieback (fig. 10.1) has been reported more frequently in the eastern part of its range and has not been described on the same scale in the Great Lakes region since the 1950s and 1960s (Bal and others 2015, Millers and others 1989). As a result, fewer studies of canopy health of sugar maple exist in the Midwest than in the Eastern United States.

How to Identify and Control the Sugar Maple Borer

The sugar maple borer, Glycobius speciosus (Say), a long-horned wood boring beetle, is a common pest of sugar maple (the only known host) throughout the range of the tree. Although borer-caused mortality is rare, infestations lead to value loss through lumber defect caused by larval galleries, discoloration, decay, and twisted grain.

Maple Syrup Producers of the Lake States, USA: Attitudes Towards and Adaptation to Social, Ecological, and Climate Conditions

Maple syrup is an important non-timber forest product derived from the sap of the sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marshall). However, maple syrup producers are facing a diversity of challenges, including: potential range shifts in the maple resource; increasing variability in the timing, duration and yield of sap flow and syrup operations; invasive species, pests and diseases; and intergenerational land and business transfer challenges. Members of Maple Syrup Producer Associations in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan were surveyed to learn about their operations, adaptation strategies, concerns, and information needs.

Sugar Maple Ecology and Health: Proceedings of an International Symposium

During the past four decades, declines of sugar maple have occurred throughout its range. Each decline event has been the subject of intense research.The declines were ephemeral, preventing a complete understanding of conditions and causes.The most recent decline in Pennsylvania was the impetus to organize an international symposium on sugar maple ecology and health. Speakers from the United States and Canada were invited to share their research and explore a variety of topics concerning sugar maple history and ecology, recent sugar maple declines, nutrient and beiowground dynamics in northeastern forests, and interactions of forest health with biotic and abiotic stressors. Posters also were contributed. Attending scientists, natural resource professionals, and land managers participated in two days of talks and discussions and a day-long field trip to sugar maple decline research sites in northwestern Pennsylvania and southwestern New York.