UQAC studies the impact of global warming on sap production from maple trees

The flow of maple sap in the pipes is one of the elements studied by researchers at UQAC at the Sucre d'or sugar bush in Laterrière.

The University of Quebec at Chicoutimi (UQAC) is currently conducting a study at the Sucre d'or sugar bush in Laterriere. The objective is to measure the consequences of global warming on the production of sap from maple trees.

The co-owner of the Sucre d'or sugar bush and former player who played more than 600 games in the National Hockey League, Antoine Roussel, has the impression that global warming is already affecting the sugar bushes.< /p>

Years ago, it will start later, years ago, it will start earlier. There's really no more game plan you can make in advance. You have to be ready for anything in the end, he explains.

Antoine Roussel is co-owner of the Sucre d'or maple grove in Laterrière.

To verify this hypothesis, UQAC installs devices in the sugar bush that record the flow of sap in the pipes, the temperature of the ground in the forest and the fluctuations in the diameter of the trees.

Until now, we had knowledge about the quantity of syrup or sap produced in a certain year, but that is not enough to explain the daily dynamics, emphasizes the professor of forest ecology at UQAC Sergio Rossi.

UQAC has installed devices in the sugar bush that measure the temperature of the ground in the forest and fluctuations in tree diameter.

UQAC also planted more than 400 small maple trees from 30 sites in Canada and the United States. The researchers will, for example, assess the impact of late frosts on varieties that wake up early in the spring.

Sergio Rossi, professor of forest ecology at Université du Québec à Chicoutimi

What will happen in the years, will they enjoy their longest season or they might be damaged more frequently than other provenances?, s asks the scientist.

The University of Quebec in Outaouais (UQO) is carrying out a similar process in Outaouais to compare data with UQAC. The researchers will then assess the impact of late frosts on the varieties that wake up earlier in the spring.

For the entrepreneur, the results of this research will enable him to learn which varieties would be best to plant or give priority to.

UQAC planted more than 400 maple trees from 30 sites in Canada in the summer .

As a producer, what I want to see is do I produce more due to global warming, is my season more favorable ? Am I still in the right environment?, adds Mr. Roussel.

Researchers believe that with global warming, Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean could perhaps become a major producer of maple syrup in the years to come.

The impact of late frosts on maple varieties is studied.

Based on a report by Gilles Munger