As submitted by Tom Mccrumm
Coordinator for Mass Maple Producers Assoc.

Research Reports on Ice Storm Damage to Sugarbushes
Due to the severe ice storm that Massachusetts maple producers suffered on December 11th, there is much interest in the future health of the damaged trees, and questions about future tapping recommendations.
I have copies of the following research reports which I can email to anyone who is interested. Let me know if you would like to see any of these reports.

Carbohydrate reserves in Acer saccharum (Sugar Maple) damaged during the January 1998 ice storm in northern New York, 10 pages.

Summary: Technical analysis of damaged trees indicates that sugar and starch reserves in damaged trees drops over the dormant cold period, probably allowing the tree to survive cold temperatures until full recovery, with resulting lower sugar content in the spring.

Effects of Ice Storm Damage and other Stressors on Sugar Bush Health and Sap Productivity - Literature Review and Synthesis, 91 pages
Summary: The report includes preliminary management recommendations for ice damaged sugarbushes. This review also covers literature relating to maple sap production since recovery of sap production is important to commercial maple syrup producers. The report concludes that trees and stands in commercial sugar bushes should be closely monitored during the recovery period. It also recognizes that recovery is complex, involving a number of different variables and a species of tree that exhibits considerable genetic variation. Careful management planning for each damaged commercial sugarbush is an important step in achieving the best possible recovery.

Taping and Sap Collection Techniques in Ice-Damaged Sugarbushes, 8 pages.
Summary: This report summarizes the important points to consider when tapping and collecting sap in ice-damaged sugarbushes.

Ice Damage Effects on Stem Carbohydrate Reserves in Sugar Maple, 18 pages.
Summary: A study of recovery in two ice-damaged sugar bushes.
Reports presented at the Ice Storm Research/Monitoring Workshop, Dorchester, NH, September 2000.

* Response of understory to ice storm disturbance in hardwood forests of northern New York
* The impact of deer herbivory on hardwood regeneration in ice storm disturbed forests of northern New York
* Ice damage impacts on the health of the forest in northern New York
* Monitoring recovery and sap production of sugarbushes in northern New York following the 1998 ice storm
* Ice storm impacts on Adirondack streamsides and streams
* Human dimensions of forestry stakeholders following the 1998 ice storm – A focus on SIP assistance and woodlot/sugarbush owner education
* Overview of monitoring activities in Vermont related to the January 1998 ice storm
* Assessing changes in breeding bird populations in ice-damaged forests
* A cool disturbance: Monitoring ecological effects of the 1998 ice storm at The Nature Conservancy’s Shaw Mountain Natural Area in Benson, Vermont
* Aerial survey program: Mapping the ice storm
* Ice storm damage assessment of rare plant populations and natural communities in New Hampshire
* Cooperative Extension activities in New Hampshire related to the January 1998 ice storm
* Crown damage survey and verification: The 1998 ice storms in Maine Response of trees to ice storm injury in thinned and un-thinned hardwood stands
* Patterns of tree response to storm injury
* Biochemical indicators of stress in crowns of trees injured by ice

A Forest Damage Assessment for New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine, 36 pgs.
Summary: An assessment of the 1998 ice storm

1998 ice storm effects on the health and productivity of sugarbushes in eastern Ontario, 17 pgs.
Summary: Results suggest that severe ice storm damage to crowns resulted in reduced fall root starch levels and less sap production and/or sap sweetness, and therefore lowered the syrup production capacity of sugar maple for six years after the storm.

Ice storm and fertilization effects on root starch, sap productivity and sweetness, diameter growth, and tap hole closure in sugar maple stands of eastern Ontario, 6 pages.
Summary: The effect of fertilizer was examined on 15 sugar maple stands in eastern Ontario managed for syrup production that sustained 7% to 72% ice-induced crown damage.

Some websites for more information:
http://maple.dnr.cornell.edu/Ext/icestorm/USDA_DEC.htm
http://maple.dnr.cornell.edu/Ext/icestorm/index.htm
http://maple.dnr.cornell.edu/Ext/icestorm/recover.htm
http://www.na.fs.fed.us/pubs/tps/sto...e_injuries.pdf