Climate Change Impacting the Freeze Thaw Cycle of Sugar Maple Tree Sap Productivity

The Canadian maple syrup industry accounts for over 600 million dollars of Canada’s economy each year and provides jobs to thousands of Canadians (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 2025). This product synonymous to the Canadian identity is under threat as recent years have seen some of the lowest maple syrup production in history (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 2025). This drop off is scientifically believed to be as result of climate change and other anthropocentric impacts on the environment which have led to a decline in the health of sugar maple trees (acer saccharum) (Boakye et al., 2023). These trees have seen a reduction in their overall health and growth rate as well as changes to their environments which are becoming more extreme (Boakye et al., 2023). This paper uses dendrochronology and sap collection reports to see if there has been an observable change in tree growth rate, health, and sap production in tandem with climate monitoring data to study changes in the environment. Studying these variables not only grants a view into the changes in health and success of the trees with climate change, but also see if there has been an overall shift in what could be described as the “optimal” geographic area for these trees to grow and the possible economic impacts of that change (Rapp et al., 2019).