Old-growth forests: function, fate and value

Abstract

Part I Introduction 1 Old-growth forests: function, fate and value - An Overview Christian Wirth, Gerd Gleixner, Martin Heimann 2 Old-growth forest definitions: a pragmatic view Christian Wirth, Christian Messier, Yves Bergeron, Dorothea Frank, Anja Fankhanel 3 Old trees and the meaning of 'old' Fritz Hans Schweingruber, Christian Wirth Part II Aboveground processes 4 Ecophysiological characteristics of mature trees and stands - consequences for old-growth forest productivity Werner L. Kutsch, Christian Wirth, Jens Kattge, Stefanie Nollert, Matthias Herbst, Ludger Kappen 5 The imprint of succession on old-growth forest carbon balances - insights from a trait-based model of forest dynamics Christian Wirth and Jeremy Lichstein 6 Functional relationships between old-growth forest canopies, understorey light and vegetation dynamics Christian Messier, Juan Posada, Isabelle Aubin and Marilou Beaudet 7 Biosphere-atmosphere exchange of old-growth forests: processes and pattern Alexander Knohl, Detlef Schulze, Christian Wirth 8 Woody detritus mass and its contribution to carbon dynamics of old-growth forests: The temporal context Mark E. Harmon Part III Belowground processes 9 Aboveground and belowground consequences of long-term forest retrogression in the timeframe of millennia and beyond David A. Wardle 10 Rooting patterns of old-growth forests. Is aboveground structural and functionaldiversity mirrored belowground? Jurgen Bauhus 11 Soil Carbon Accumulation in Old-Growth Forests Gerd Gleixner, Cindy Tefs, Albrecht Jordan, Mathias Hammer, Andreas Telz, Uwe E. Schmidt and Stephan Glatzel, Christian Wirth 12 Is there a theoretical limit for soil carbon storage in old-growth forests? A model analysis with contrasting approaches Markus Reichstein, Goran Agren, Sebastien Fontaine Part IV Biomes 13 Old-growth forests in the Canadian boreal: The exception rather than rule? Yves Bergeron, Karen A. Harper 14 Biomass chronosequences of U.S. forests: implications for carbon storage and forest management Jeremy W. Lichstein, Christian Wirth, Henry S. Horn, Stephen W. Pacala 15 Temperate and boreal old growth forests: how does their growth dynamics and biodiversity differ from young stands and managed forests? Ernst-Detlef Schulze, Dominik Hessenmoller, Alexander Knohl, Sebastiaan Luyssaert, Annett Boerner, John Grace 16 Old-growth temperate rainforests of South America: Conservation, plant-animal interactions, and baseline biogeochemical processes J. J. Armesto, C. Smith-Ramirez, M. Carmona, J. L. Celis-Diez , I. Diaz, A. Gaxiola, A. G. Gutierrez, M. Nunez-Avila , C. Perez, and R. Rozzi 17 Tropical rain forests as old-growth forests John Grace, Patrick Meir Part V Human dimensions 18 Detecting intact forests from space: Hot spots of loss, deforestation and the UNFCCC Frederic Achard , Hugh Eva, Danilo Mollicone , Peter Popatov , Hans-Jurgen Stibig , Svetlana Turubanova, Alexey Yaroshenko 19 Impacts of land use on