Coniferous Understory Influences Sugar Maple (Acer Saccharum Marsh.) Sap Production

Sap and maple syrup equivalent production increased after a coniferous understory was removed from a sugarbush in northwestern Vermont. These increases, which became apparent the sixth year after treatment, were 14 and 17 percent for sap and syrup respectively, relative to the yields from an adjacent open sugarbush. The open sugarbush yields were used as the control in the analysis, to indicate the influence of weather conditions in each sapflow season. Understory removal also stimulated growth of the overstory maple trees.