Red Maple Replaces Red Oak

Several Penn State University forestry professionals are working to slow red maple's raid on red oak sites in Pennsylvania hardwood forests. These University scientists are very concerned that surveys are showing more red maple trees growing at the expense of the oaks, particularly red oak.
Actually, this change in tree species is not unique to Pennsylvania. A conversion from oak to maple is occurring throughout the Eastern U.S. Forest. Scientists are seeing tree type changes, from New England down to the Carolinas and west to the Mississippi River. They are fearful any massive change in timber type could negatively affect the quality of timber, the forest's potential productivity and the food source for wildlife.
Red maple is an aggressive subclimax species. The shade tolerant maple tree can rapidly move into the overstory when competition is removed. Red maple is a prolific sprouter and seeder and settles onto a site in mass.
Unfortunately, the maple is less valuable than red oak as a forest product. The wood is relatively soft and very susceptible to defect and decay. It has little value as a mast provider. Mast, made up mostly of acorns, seeds and nuts, is the preferred food source for many animal species in the Eastern forest.
Red maple - 100 Top Trees
Sources of Forest Resource Data