Old-Growth Forests: Function, Fate and Value

Christian Wirth, Gerd Gleixner, Martin Heimann (auth.), Christian Wirth, Gerd Gleixner, Martin Heimann (eds.)9783540927051, 3540927050

Many terms often used to describe old-growth forests imply that these forests are less vigorous, less productive and less stable than younger forests. But research in the last two decades has yielded results that challenge the view of old-growth forests being in decline. Given the importance of forests in battling climate change and the fact that old-growth forests are shrinking at a rate of 0.5% per year, these new results have come not a moment too soon.

This book is the first ever to focus on the ecosystem functioning of old-growth forests. It is an exhaustive compendium of information that contains original work conducted by the authors. In addition, it is truly global in scope as it studies boreal forests in Canada, temperate old-growth forests in Europe and the Americas, and global tropical forests. Written in part to affect future policy, this eminently readable book is as useful for the scientist and student as it is for the politician and politically-interested layman.

Table of contents :
Front Matter….Pages i-xxvi
Front Matter….Pages 1-1
Old-Growth Forests: Function, Fate and Value – an Overview….Pages 3-10
Old-Growth Forest Definitions: a Pragmatic View….Pages 11-33
Old Trees and the Meaning of ‘Old’….Pages 35-54
Front Matter….Pages 56-56
Ecophysiological Characteristics of Mature Trees and Stands – Consequences for Old-Growth Forest Productivity….Pages 57-79
The Imprint of Species Turnover on Old-Growth Forest Carbon Balances – Insights From a Trait-Based Model of Forest Dynamics….Pages 81-113
Functional Relationships Between Old-Growth Forest Canopies, Understorey Light and Vegetation Dynamics….Pages 115-139
Biosphere–Atmosphere Exchange of Old-Growth Forests: Processes and Pattern….Pages 141-158
Woody Detritus its Contribution to Carbon Dynamics of Old-Growth Forests: the Temporal Context….Pages 159-190
Front Matter….Pages 192-192
Aboveground and Belowground Consequences of Long-Term Forest Retrogression in the Timeframe of Millennia and Beyond….Pages 193-209
Rooting Patterns of Old-Growth Forests: is Aboveground Structural and Functional Diversity Mirrored Belowground?….Pages 211-229
Soil Carbon Accumulation in Old-Growth Forests….Pages 231-266
Is There a Theoretical Limit to Soil Carbon Storage in Old-Growth Forests? A Model Analysis with Contrasting Approaches….Pages 267-281
Front Matter….Pages 284-284
Old-Growth Forests in the Canadian Boreal: the Exception Rather than the Rule?….Pages 285-300
Biomass Chronosequences of United States Forests: Implications for Carbon Storage and Forest Management….Pages 301-341
Temperate and Boreal Old-Growth Forests: How do Their Growth Dynamics and Biodiversity Differ from Young Stands and Managed Forests?….Pages 343-366
Old-Growth Temperate Rainforests of South America: Conservation, Plant–Animal Interactions, and Baseline Biogeochemical Processes….Pages 367-390
Tropical Rain Forests as Old-Growth Forests….Pages 391-408
Front Matter….Pages 410-410
Detecting Intact Forests from Space: Hot Spots of Loss, Deforestation and the UNFCCC….Pages 411-427
Impacts of Land Use on Habitat Functions of Old-Growth Forests and their Biodiversity….Pages 429-450
Old-Growth Forests in the Context of International Environmental Agreements….Pages 451-461
Front Matter….Pages 464-464
Old-Growth Forests: Function, Fate and Value – a Synthesis….Pages 465-491
Back Matter….Pages 493-512