InhaltsangabePart I Introduction 1 Oldgrowth forests: function, fate and value An Overview Christian Wirth, Gerd Gleixner, Martin Heimann 2 Oldgrowth forest definitions: a pragmatic view Christian Wirth, Christian Messier, Yves Bergeron, Dorothea Frank, Anja Fankhänel 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 Nöllert, 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 Biosphereatmosphere exchange of oldgrowth 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? Jürgen 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, Göran Ågren, Sebastién Fontaine Part IV Biomes 13 Oldgrowth 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? ErnstDetlef Schulze, Dominik Hessenmöller, Alexander Knohl, Sebastiaan Luyssaert, Annett Boerner, John Grace 16 Oldgrowth temperate rainforests of South America: Conservation, plantanimal interactions, and baseline biogeochemical processes J. J. Armesto, C. Smith-Ramírez, M. Carmona, J. L. Celis-Diez, I. Díaz, A. Gaxiola, A. G. Gutiérrez, M. Núñez-Avila, C. Pérez, 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 Frédéric Achard, Hugh Eva, Danilo Mollicone, Peter Popatov, Hans-Jürgen Stibig, Svetlana Turubanova, Alexey Yaroshenko 19 Impacts of land use on