• Parker, Bruce L.
  University of Vermont
  
• Skinner, Margaret
  University of Vermont
  
• Tobi, Donald
  University of Vermont
  

In Vermont 31% of hardwood trees are sugar maple. In 2011, revenue from maple syrup sales in Vermont was $40 million. When revenue from value-added products such as maple candy and syrup repackaging was included it was $226 million. In New England maple is an important source of income for small family farms. A well-managed sugarbush represents a unique ecosystem providing valuable products and a verdant habitat with benefits including forest biodiversity and carbon sequestration. In Vermont >75,000 acres are managed for syrup production and in New England >130,000 acres. Historically, sugarbushes were pure monocultures of sugar maples with large, full crowns. These sugarbushes produced sweeter sap per tree, but were more vulnerable to pests and diseases negatively impacting tree health and sustainability. We compared the abundance and negative impacts of insect and disease pests between Traditional management where stands were 90-100% sugar maple, and Ecological management where about 25% of the basal area was non-sugar maple.