32 gallons of sap are required to produce 1 gallon of syrup, with each tree providing between 5 and 40 gallons of sap per year. Maple syrup, like honey, contains bone-building phosphates that aid calcium retention in the body. The sugar maple is important to wildlife . The seeds, buds, twigs, bark and flowers provide food for a variety of birds and animals. Chipmunks, squirrels and other small mammals store caches of the seeds for winter.
Deer browse the twigs, buds and leaves.
Porcupines and squirrels eat the twigs and often girdle the trees by eating the bark. Newton Sentry' is a cultivar with a columnar habit, more suited to smaller sites.