![]() ![]() In doing so, I treat maples as a model for other kinds of temperate trees. Specifically, I ask how maple species differ in their response to dry soil conditions and to the shorter, warmer winters that will likely become typical in the Northern Hemisphere. In my research at the Arnold Arboretum, I make use of publicly available data, existing scholarship, and, most importantly, the Arboretum’s collection of over six hundred maple trees (which is nationally accredited by the Plant Collections Network) to predict how the genus will respond to climate change. As the climate changes, maples, like other forest species adapted to the temperate north, face an uncertain future. But contemporary, human-caused climate change is rapidly reconfiguring this climate to a warmer one with less regular and more extreme events of rain or snow, making freakish droughts, early arrivals of spring, and warm winters more common. The extant maples have adapted, by and large, to climatically temperate conditions: warm summers and cold winters, with occasional dry periods interspersed with regular precipitation. Their evolution as a genus occurred through geographical radiation across the Northern Hemisphere, interspersed by extinctions and range retractions when climatic conditions became inhospitable.Ĭontemporary maple diversity is the result of this history and represents only a single, still snapshot from a larger, unspooling reel. Like oaks, willows, and birches, among many other genera, the maples as we know them today differentiated from their nearest relatives at a time when the global climate was hotter and wetter than today’s and have since survived a long period of cooling and drying, including many ice ages. Today, the maple genus ( Acer) extends its reach from Guatemala to Canada, the Mediterranean to Scandinavia, and Southeast Asia to the Amur Valley. Maple trees lend their name to the Toronto Maple Leafs, the official NHL (National Hockey League) team of Toronto, Canada.For all of human history and many millions of years before it began, the forests of the temperate Northern Hemisphere have been populated by maples.The antimicrobial properties of maple syrup have been studied, and it has been found to inhibit the growth of certain bacteria and fungi, making it a potential natural food preservative. Maple syrup can be used as a natural food preservative.Maple syrup donuts, cookies, fudge, ice cream, candy, beer, vinegar, and more can also be enjoyed in Canada and the northeastern United States.It has a nutty flavor and is slightly sweet. However, a less common herbal tea is made from the leaves of maple trees. Maple syrup is often used to sweetened or flavor teas. ![]() These include Benton’s Old Fashioned (which also has a hint of bacon, another famous Canadian food) and Maple Old Fashioned. ![]()
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