About the Guide d'aménagement de l'érablière

About the Maple Stand Management Guide
What was initially intended to be a short promotional video for the sale of the brand-new Maple Stand Management Guide has turned into a series of maple-related capsules published in rapid succession! A countdown before the announcement of 7 million new quotas on December 15th.

Let's call it: the Advent Calendar of new quotas

This 281-page work, co-written by Michaël Cliche and Anne Boutin, forestry engineers from APBB Maple Services, presents in simple language the most up-to-date scientific and technical knowledge on sustainable maple stand management. This brand-new guide was designed for maple producers to help them better understand the impact of maple stand management on the production of liquid gold.

Discover the work in the company of our president, Sylvain Bilodeau, who talks with one of its authors, Michaël Cliche. You can order the book from our online store.

About the Authors

Michaël Cliche, P. Eng.
Forest engineer and holder of a DEP in maple syrup production, Michaël works in private forests in Chaudière-Appalaches and the Eastern Townships as part of the APBB Sugar Bush Services team. He has a particular interest in maple syrup production in sugar bushes, and sugar bush management is his specialty.
Anne Boutin, P. Eng.
Forest engineer specialized in maple syrup production. She has been working in the private forests of southern Quebec, particularly in the Beauce region, since the beginning of her career. As part of the APBB Sugar Bush Services team, she provides advice to producers to help them improve the health, quality, and yield of their sugar bushes.

Table of Content

1. Foreword
2. Introduction
3. Evolution of maple stands over time
   1. Impact of past human activities
   2. Natural dynamics of maple stands
4. Ecology of the maple stand
   1. Maple species with tapping potential
   2. Companion species in the lime maple stand and yellow birch maple stand domains
   3. Indicator species
   4. Important understorey species
5. Pest insects of maple stands
   1. Occasional defoliating insects that do not cause significant damage
   2. Primary defoliating insects: pests to watch
   3. Primary and secondary xylophagous insects: opportunists
   4. Exotic insects
   5. General recommendations against insects
6. Methods for assessing stand health
   1. Contextualization
   2. State of regeneration
   3. Density and companion species
   4. Crown mortality
   5. Defects and diseases
   6. Fungi and cankers
   7. Mechanical injuries
   8. Damage caused by wildlife and insects
   9. Cracks, sunburns, and frost cracks
   10. Tap closure and diameter growth
   11. Soil and site characteristics
   12. Summary of criteria analyzed during the diagnosis
7. Maple stand management
   1. Benefits of management
   2. Characterization of the maple stand
   3. Intervention
   4. Regeneration management
8. Planting
   1. Site and species selection
   2. Density
   3. Planting
   4. Plant protection
   5. Tree transplantation
   6. Producing sugar maple seedlings yourself
9. Soil amendment (liming)
   1. Role of nutrients
   2. Effects of liming on the maple stand
   3. Spreading
   4. Important information about liming
10. Education of young stems
    1. Generalities
    2. Training pruning
    3. Thinning
    4. Topping
    5. Application modalities
    6. Intervention period
    7. Intervention frequency
    8. Cutting technique and tools
    9. Main types of defects to correct
11. Conclusion
12. Bibliography

The Maple Stand Management Guide, produced by the Association of Woodland Owners of Beauce, in collaboration with the Canadian Agricultural Partnership Canada-Quebec.