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The iconic sugar maple, one of the most economically and ecologically important trees in the eastern United States and Canada, shows signs of being in decline, according to research results published today (Oct. 21, 2015) in the journal Ecosphere.
Scientists at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) analyzed growth rings from hundreds of trees in the Adirondacks and found a decline in the growth rate began for a majority of sugar maple trees after 1970. The reasons for the decline are unclear.
“Given their relatively young age and favorable competitive status in these forests, these sugar maples should be experiencing the best growth rates of their lives. It was a complete surprise to see their growth slow down like this,” researcher Daniel Bishop told the Adirondack Almanack. “But our data tells a clear story. We can detect the start of a region-wide downturn after 1970, with a large proportion of the trees continuing this trend over recent years.”
Sugar maple is arguably one of the most culturally important species in eastern North America. Prized for its high-quality wood and spectacular fall colors, sugar maple gets its Latin name – Acer saccharum – from its remarkably sweet sap (“saccharum” translates to “sweet”). This sweetness fuels a multi-billion dollar maple syrup industry. Sugar maple is also an ecologically vital foundation of the region’s northern hardwood forests, where it fosters more fertile soils, provides nutritious browse for wildlife, and supports a higher biodiversity of plants and soil organisms.
Bishop’s work built on an earlier study of acid rain impacts on sugar maple forests in the Adirondacks. That study, which showed lower regeneration and poor health of sugar maple in forests heavily impacted by acid rain, was led by Dr. Timothy Sullivan at E&S Environmental Chemistry of Corvallis, Oregon, and Dr. Gregory Lawrence at the U.S. Geological Survey in Troy, New York [pdf].
In Bishop’s study, researchers analyzed sugar maple growth rings and compared them to climate data during the same time period. The study was set across a range of soil degradation caused by acid rain, which is a major stressor for sugar maple and a chronic issue in the Adirondacks. The researchers expected that poor growing conditions related to acid rain would influence how the trees responded to a warming climate.
“The last few decades have brought warmer and wetter conditions to the Adirondacks, which are typically good for plant growth,” said Dr. Colin Beier, an associate professor of ecology at ESF who supervised Bishop’s research. “Meanwhile, there have been big strides in reducing acid rain, which is especially damaging to sugar maple. Given these changes, we would expect these trees to be thriving, but they are not.”
Beier said researchers do not know the reasons for the decline in growth. The detailed analysis conducted by Bishop and his co-authors did not find conclusive evidence that climate change or acid rain were the culprits – but Beier said this does not eliminate the possibility that these factors play a role. Such stressors can predispose trees to become less resistant to or tolerant of pests, diseases or other forms of stress. A number of factors, including insect outbreaks and late frost damage, are known to affect sugar maple.
“Outside of studies of red spruce in the 1970s, I have never seen anything quite like this,” said a study co-author, Dr. Neil Pederson, an ecologist at Harvard Forest in Massachusetts and an expert on tree rings and climate change. “Most tree-ring studies of canopy trees in the region do not show a decline like what we see in these sugar maple. Combined with evidence of reduced natural regeneration of sugar maple in the region, it is a concern.”
A question remains regarding whether similar declines are occurring in New England and eastern Canada. Prior research by U.S. Forest Service Northern Research Station [pdf] scientists suggests similar growth declines might be occurring widely across the region, but further study is needed to verify their observations.
Beier said that although a suddenly slower pace of growth is not a sure sign that a tree’s death is imminent, or that recovery is impossible, such changes when observed across a wide area can indicate a significant problem for a species. From a practical standpoint, lower growth rates have direct implications for the management of sugar maple forests, whether the focus is on wood products or sap and syrup production. Guidelines for sustainable tapping require an understanding of growth rates to minimize long-term damage to tree tissues, while foresters creating management plans need to know how rapidly trees are reaching commercial size.
“Time will tell if slower growth is a harbinger of something more serious for sugar maple,” said Beier. “But given the ecological, economic and cultural importance of this tree, the stakes could be high. We need to sort out whether these declines are more widespread, the reasons why they are occurring, and what their implications might be for our ecosystems and local economies.”
The study is available online at the open-source journal Ecosphere.
Photos, from above: Sugar maples during the peak fall foliage season (courtesy visitadirondacks.com); tourists visiting a sugarbush in Thurman, Warren County, during the annual Thurman Maple Days; a map showing the areas trees were sampled for the study; some large sugar maples near Ampersand Mountain (photo by Daniel Bishop); and Daniel Bishop coring a sugar maple (photo by Neil Pederson).
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“The reasons for the decline are unclear.”
You can bet it has something to do with human activity. This does not come as a surprise to me.As time goes on we are going to see more and more species declining in numbers. If only we would stop creating more humans….maybe then there’d be a chance for all other lifeforms.
One must keep in mind that trees need more than rain and sun. Although acid rain may have been decreased, it isn’t so easy getting rid of mercury and other long-lasting toxins that are left behind. A healthy tree requires an entire community of micro-organisms and minerals in the soil to provide the proper growing medium. If these are wiped out or altered, do we really know how long it takes for the soil to recover?
Good points. Both the immediate effects and the long-term legacy of acid pollution in Adirondack forest soils are complex and may hold some surprises. Recovery in the most acid impaired systems will be very slow – i.e., on geologic time scales – and may require restoration efforts such as liming (calcium addition). Plants don’t uptake mercury, but fungi and soil animals do, and it can bioaccumulate in the highest order predators such as loons and coyotes. Related work in our lab is studying the effects of acid rain on soil animal communities across the northeast US, with a focus on some of the most acid-impaired areas of the ADKs. So far we are actually seeing a lot of resilience in these communities – for example, we found eastern red-backed salamanders thriving in soils with much lower pH (2.73) at Honnedaga Lake than were long thought to be toxic (pH less than 3.5). But as always there is more work that needs to be done, especially when it comes to the impacts of mercury in the soil food web, which we are also looking at right now. Changes to the nitrogen cycle could be implicated here too, as could increased belowground competition with diseased and root-suckering beech trees (the first post-aftermath set of beech-bark disease root sprouts are now sick and dying). Myriad other factors could be in play too… Growth declines in trees like sugar maple almost always involve a cast of characters and conditions to sort out.
I can confirm the decline of maple trees as nearly a third of the maple trees on my property have died during the past 20 years and those remaining are not in robust health. It’s depressing.
Just curious, did you ever tap your trees? Did any of your neighbors tap theirs?
Start studying the heavy tapping going on now. Guidelines may have been set but who knows if those are even correct or if they’re being followed.
The Southern Boreal and Northern Hardwood forests have been undergoing continual change since the retreat of the continental ice sheet. It is possible that this is a northward retreat of the optimal conditions for these forest species. The pollution loads and human caused climate change are obviously at play but there may be longer term factors involved.
Acid rain may be stripping the soils of nutrients needed for healthy maples.
Another thought is that the sugar maples do not represent the climax forest.
I didn’t notice if the sampled trees were part of a sugar bush or not but I have been wondering what impact the over tapping of trees and collecting sap with tubing has. Of special concern is the practice of running the tubing to a plant which vacuums the sap out the trees.
I just recently attended a talk by a professor at Skidmore detailing the ongoing impacts of acid rain on soils and the accumulation or loss of various nutrients or harmful metals even though the acid rain itself has been controlled.