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Abstract
The migration ranges of sugar maple (Acer saccharum) since the last ice age, as described by Delcourt and Delcourt (1987), were refined to exclude elevations where sugar maple was unlikely to have existed. The elevations, used as indictors of climate limits, were based on the modern regional elevation limits of sugar maple. The paleo-range maps of the range of sugar maple were combined with a digit elevation model in a geographic information system to remove the climatically unsuitable regions for sugar maple. The Appalachian Mountains were shown to constitute a formidable barrier to gene flow, especially when the elevation limits were lowered to represent the site establishment stress caused by migration. The physical barriers that the Appalachian Mountains presented to the migration of sugar maple provide an explanation for the patterns of genetic diversity observed along sugar maples northern limit.