Silver maple has been heavily planted as an ornamental in many urban areas because of its ease of transplanting and establishment, adaptability to a wide range of sites, rapid growth, and good form. The species also has been used for vegetative rehabilitation of surface mined lands as well as for bottomland reforestation.

The abundant seeds of silver maples are eaten by many birds, including evening grosbeaks, finches, wild turkeys, ducks, and other game birds, and small mammals, especially squirrels and chipmunks. The buds are an important food for squirrels when stored food is depleted, particularly in late winter and early spring. The bark is a food source for beavers and deer, and rabbits browse the foliage. Silver maple tends to develop cavities that are used by cavity-nesting birds and mammals and provide shelter and breeding habitat for many other species, including raccoons, opossums, squirrels, owls, woodpeckers, and many other birds. Because of its abundance and the wide distribution of silver maple, its early produced pollen may be important to the biology of bees and other pollen dependent insects. Most references describe silver maple as wind pollinated, but insect pollination may be important, as many insects, especially bees, visit the flowers.”