Forest Stewardship

From survey to forest data

A closer look at maple forests with LiDAR

The survey above brought together responses from 127 maple producers in the United States and Canada, representing approximately 1.4 million taps and 30,000 acres of sugarbush. It gave IMSI a starting point: information about the operations and forests producers manage. The next question is what a closer look at those forests can tell us.

IMSI and the Ontario Maple Syrup Producers’ Association are exploring that question through a pilot project in Ontario’s Lanark District. Twelve participating producers currently represent about 75,700 taps. They have mapped their active sugarbushes, and the Ontario Woodlot Association is analyzing existing aerial LiDAR data for those areas.

What does LiDAR add?

LiDAR uses laser-based measurements to build a detailed picture of forest structure. For this pilot, the Ontario Woodlot Association is using the data to describe tree height, stand density and the distribution of tree sizes. Those forest measurements can be paired with information from producers about their operations to help estimate carbon stored by the forests alongside emissions from maple production.

What are we seeing so far?

The first forest results showed more similarity among participating sugarbushes than the project team expected, despite differences in their size and location. The analysis also found that smaller tappable trees make up a prominent part of the measured forest structure. These are early observations from the participating sites, not conclusions about every maple forest.

The carbon calculations are still underway. Once the forest and emissions analyses are brought together, the project team plans to discuss the results with participating producers and consider what the approach could offer maple operations in other regions.