Sugar maples naturally develop elevated stem pressures when frozen and then thawed. The hypothesised pressure development mechanism is that water is drawn into gas filled fibres during freezing, and slowly forced out upon thawing.
The team have recently published a paper that showcases the use of synchrotron based MicroCT to observe changes in living sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh) saplings during a freeze-thaw cycle. This non-invasive technique was used to quantify changes in the xylem fibre gas content.
The results showed a drop in fibre gas content between the initial and frozen states, and then a subsequent recovery in gas content after thaw. This supports the pressure development mechanism.
