TAMM review: On the importance of tap and tree characteristics in maple sugaring

•Maple sugaring is an important and rapidly expanding industry in eastern North America with a long and rich history, yet there is to-date no review on the mechanisms of sap runs and how they are affected by tree and tap characteristics.•Here, we review the mechanisms underlying sap runs in the leafless-state of maple species.•We also review knowledge on the importance of tap and tree characteristics, such as tap hole depth and tree size in maple sugaring.•Additionally, we conducted a meta-analysis on compiled data including about 15000 data points on sap yield and the sap’s sugar content from eleven tapping years across ten sites to test various hypothesis.•The meta-analysis revealed that tree and site characteristics are the primary sources of variability in both sap yield and the sap's sugar content.