In the New York Times

The New York Times published an article, The Bloom is On for Maple Syrup, in their Science Times section today. The article describes my research which was published in the journal Forest Ecology and Management. I used data from Vermont to show that big seed years are followed by years with lower production of maple syrup. When syrup producers tap sugar maple trees to collect their sap, they are extracting some of the stored carbohydrates that trees use to make seeds. After a big seed year when the trees use these stored carbs, there is likely less sugar left over to go into sap. With less sugar in the sap, syrup producers need more sap to make an equivalent amount of syrup. The result is that less syrup is produced overall. Not to worry this year though, last year was a low seed year in New England, so the coming tapping season should be a good one.