FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Acer saccharum | Sugar Maple 



FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS : 
Sugar maple typically increases in the absence of fire [40].  Seedlings
occasionally sprout, but postfire establishment occurs primarily through
an abundance of wind-dispersed seed.

Central States:  Fire has played an important role in deciduous forests
of the central and eastern United States [63,76].  Fire suppression has
favored sugar maple and other northern hardwood species, while
fire-tolerant species such as white oak, northern red oak, and Shumard
oak (Quercus shumardii) have experienced declines [55].  Dramatic
increases in sugar maple during the past 48 years in central hardwood
forests have been attributed to fire suppression [65].  Sugar maple was
formerly nearly absent in areas of central Missouri which bordered the
fire-prone prairies [55].  Since settlement times, it has increased as
mean fire intervals have declined.

The Southeast:  Fire was a major influence in presettlement forests of
the Southeast [73].  Increased fire suppression in this region has also
favored shade-tolerant hardwoods, such as sugar maple, and has resulted
in a decrease in oaks [73].

Northeast:  Mean fire intervals are typically long in most northern
hardwood forests.  In New England, fire is a less important disturbance
agent than windthrow or insect infestations [22].  In northern hardwood
stands in Maine and New Hampshire, mean fire intervals in presettlement
forests ranged from 230 to 4,970 years [22].  In New Brunswick, fire
rotations have been estimated at 625 years in both sugar maple-yellow
birch-fir and sugar maple-eastern hemlock-pine forests [22].  In
hardwood stands in parts of New Hampshire, sugar maple has been
increasing [45].

Great Lakes Region:  Northern hardwood forests of the Great Lakes Region
lie between the fire-prone savanna and prairie communities to the south
and west [8].  Fires in these forests were presumably fairly common in
presettlement times but may have occurred at intervals which exceeded
the lifespan of individual trees [8].  Shade-tolerant species, such as
sugar maple, commonly assume dominance in the absence of fire in Great
Lake's hardwood forests.  Where fire frequencies are high, aspen and
paper birch (Betula papiferya) are common dominants [69].  In
presettlement times, sugar maple was typically absent from portions of
the North Woods which burned at frequent intervals [13].


POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY : 
   survivor species; on-site surviving root crown or caudex
   off-site colonizer; seed carried by wind; postfire yrs 1 and 2

Related categories for Species: Acer saccharum | Sugar Maple