VALUE AND USE
SPECIES: Acer saccharum | Sugar Maple 



WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE : 
Sugar maple wood is tough, durable, hard, heavy, and strong [36,68].  It
is well suited for many uses and is commonly used to make furniture,
paneling, flooring, and veneer [18,42].  It is also used for gunstocks,
tool handles, plywood dies, cutting blocks, woodenware, novelty
products, sporting goods, bowling pins, and musical instruments
[12,36,42].


IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE : 
Sugar maple is commonly browsed by white-tailed deer, moose, and
snowshoe hare [31,53,71].  In Nova Scotia and New Brunswick,
white-tailed deer and snowshoe hare use is heaviest during the winter
[71].  The red squirrel, gray squirrel, and flying squirrels feed on the
seeds, buds, twigs, and leaves of sugar maple [30].  The porcupine
consumes the bark and can, in some instances, girdle the upper stem
[30].


PALATABILITY : 
Sugar maple is at least somewhat palatable to deer in most areas.
Samaras are palatable to squirrels and many other small mammals.


NUTRITIONAL VALUE : 
The nutrient content of sugar maple browse varies by plant part and by
phenological development [15].  Starch content is highest in early fall
and lowest in winter.  Sugar maple leaves average 1.81 percent calcium,
0.25 percent magnesium, 0.75 percent potassium, 0.11 percent phosphorus,
0.67 percent nitrogen, and 11.85 percent ash by dry weight [30].  Unlike
many plants, the leaves of sugar maple typically contain relatively high
levels of calcium, magnesium, and potassium when they are shed in autumn
[12].


COVER VALUE : 
Numerous species of songbirds nest in sugar maple.  Cavity nesters such
as the black-capped chickadee excavate nest cavities or utilize
preexisting cavities [33].  The common flicker, pileated woodpecker, and
screech owl also nest in maples [33].


VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES : 
Sugar maple has potential value for rehabilitation of disturbed sites.
It can be propagated by seed, which averages 7,000 per pound (15,400/kg)
[30].  Early spring plantings generally produce the best results [30].
Sugar maple can also be propagated vegetatively by budding, grafting,
air-layering, or by rooting stem cuttings [30,42].


OTHER USES AND VALUES : 
Sugar maple is the primary source of maple sugar and syrup [30].  The
maple syrup industry is important throughout much of eastern North
America and accounted for more than 100 million dollars in trade during
1989 [34].  Maple sugar and syrup were used as trade items by many
Native American peoples [75].  Sugar maple is an attractive shade tree
and is widely planted as an ornamental [42,54].  It is sometimes used in
shelterbelt plantings [54].


MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
Damage:  Sugar maple is susceptible to wind damage and to damage caused
by ice storms and winter freezes [11,30].  De-icing salts often damage
sugar maples which grow along roadways.  Individuals within the
overstory are susceptible to air pollutants such as sulfur oxides,
nitrogen oxides, chlorides, and fluorides [30].  Sugar maple is
susceptible to logging injuries which frequently permit the entrance of
decay [30].

Insects/disease:  Sugar maple is host to numerous insects including bud
miners, aphids, borers, and defoliators such as the gypsy moth, tent
caterpillar, linden looper, and cankerworms [2,30].  Cankers, root rot
(Armillaria spp.), and wilt also affect sugar maple.  Since the early
1900's, this species has been periodically affected by a condition known
as maple decline [52].  Increases in die-back have been observed in many
parts of the Northeast since 1982 [34].  Causes of maple decline are
unknown, but acid rain and other pollutants are possible contributors
[74].  Trees already weakened by pollutants may be increasingly
susceptible to root rot and tent caterpillar infestations [34].  Maple
decline may be accentuated by a series of unusual climatic events; large
diameter trees are most susceptible [37].

Silviculture:  Past exploitation has resulted in the degradation of many
sugar maple stands [19].  However, in some areas, high-grading of oaks,
hickories, and walnuts, has actually produced a proportional increase in
sugar maple [12].  Shelterwood harvests and progressive strip cut
methods are often applied to mixed hardwood stands which include maple
[31,50].  For best growth of sugar maple, the residual canopy left after
the first shelterwood cut should admit approximately 40 percent light
[31].  A two-cut shelterwood system "cannot guarantee natural
regeneration" in stands which are less than 40 years in age.

Chemical control:  In general, sugar maple is resistant to foliar
herbicides [25].  Studies indicate that Tordon may be effective in
controlling sugar maple [25].

Related categories for Species: Acer saccharum | Sugar Maple