Spatial relationships between sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh), sugar maple dccline. slope, aspect, and atmospheric deposition

Sugar maple decline began to affect Allegheny Plateau forests in the early to mid-1980s. The forests of the regron were exposed to several stresses In the period frorn 1985-1996, incfuding droughts during 1988, 1991, and 1995. Additionally, both native and exotic insects reached epidemic leveis during this period (see, for example, Rhoads, 4093). Other documented stresses in the region include past and present harvesting practices (Allen and others 1992). herbivory by deer (Tiiighman 1989), and low soil nutrient availability (Long et a\. 1997, DeWatle and Swistock 1997) possibly associated with soil acidificatio