Old growth forest, sometimes called late seral forest, ancient forest, primary forest or ancient woodland is an area of forest that has attained great age and exhibits unique biological features. Old growth forests typically contain large live trees, large dead trees (sometimes called "snags"), and large logs. Old growth forests usually have multiple vertical layers of vegetation representing a variety of tree species and a variety of different age classes. Ancient Woodland is a term used in the United Kingdom to refer specifically to woodland dating back to at least 1600 in England and Wales, (or 1750 in Scotland). ... A forest is an area with a high density of trees (or, historically, a wooded function as carbon dioxide sinks, animal habitats, hydrologic flow modulators, and soil conservers, constituting one of the most important aspects of the Earths biosphere. ... Biology is a branch of science, dealing with the study of life. ... For other uses, see Tree (disambiguation). ... A log can be: a cut portion of a tree bole or large branch (see logging) a time-sequential data record (see data logging) a logarithm used in mathematical calculations a log (speed) to measure the speed of a ship a Ships log of important events in the management... Vegetation is a general term for the plant life of a region; it refers to the ground cover provided by plants, and is, by far, the most abundant biotic element of the biosphere. ... In biology, a species is the basic unit of biodiversity. ...

Concepts of old growth vary widely and are not always easily applied or reconcilable with one another. Ancient woodland is a term used in the United Kingdom to refer specifically to woodland dating back to at least 1600 in England and Wales, (or 1750 in Scotland). Before this, planting of new woodland was uncommon, so a wood present in 1600 was likely to have developed naturally. By contrast, in the U.S., old growth is often used to imply a forest has experienced little or no direct disruption by Euro-Americans and looks about as it would had not Europeans come to America. However, this criterion is difficult to apply, since it is often impossible to determine the history of human management (Euro-American or Native American). Further, since landscapes are naturally dynamic, there can be no certainty what forests would look like now had pre-Columbian regimes been uninterrupted. While it is generally agreed that old forests defined as old growth have not been subject to logging, the role of natural disturbances in defining old growth is more ambiguous. Some definitions, for example, exclude recently burned forests, even where fire has been part of the natural dynamics for millennia; in other cases, such natural disturbance is incorporated in the old growth concept. However, it is often difficult to distinguish between the ecological effects of natural disruption and human-caused disruption. Finally, even forests that have never experienced direct manipulation by Euro-Americans have been subjected to indirect effects in the form of invasive species, climate change, and regional modifications of ecological disturbance regimes (e.g., fire suppression). Ancient Woodland is a term used in the United Kingdom to refer specifically to woodland dating back to at least 1600 in England and Wales, (or 1750 in Scotland). ... Limber Pine woodland, Toiyabe Range, central Nevada Biologically, a woodland is differentiated from a forest. ... 1597 1598 1599 - 1600 - 1601 1602 1603 |- | align=center colspan=2 | Decades: 1570s 1580s 1590s - 1600s - 1610s 1620s 1630s |- | align=center | Centuries: 15th century - 16th century - 17th century |} // Events January January 1 - Scotland adopts January 1st as being New Years Day February February 17 - Giordano Bruno burned at the... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my [birth]right) Englands location (dark green) within the British Isles Languages English (de facto) Capital London de facto Largest city London Area – Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population – Total (mid-2004) – Total (2001 Census) – Density Ranked... For an explanation of often confusing terms such as Great Britain, Britain, United Kingdom and England, see British Isles (terminology). ... Events March 2 - Small earthquake in London, England April 4 - Small earthquake in Warrington, England August 23 - Small earthquake in Spalding, England September 30 - Small earthquake in Northampton, England November 16 – Westminster Bridge officially opened Jonas Hanway is the first Englishman to use an umbrella James Gray reveals her sex... Motto: Nemo me impune lacessit (English: No one provokes me with impunity) Scotlands location within Europe Scotlands location within the United Kingdom Languages English, Gaelic, Scots Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow First Minister Jack McConnell Area - Total - % water Ranked 2nd UK 78,782 km² 1. ... Loggers on break, c. ... Fire in San Bernardino, California Mountains (image taken from the International Space Station) A wildfire, also known as a forest fire, vegetation fire, grass fire, or bushfire (in Australasia), is an uncontrolled fire in wildland often caused by lightning; other common causes are human carelessness and arson. ... The term invasive species refers to a subset of those species defined as introduced species or non-indigenous species. ...

Forest regenerated after severe disruptions, such as clear-cut or fire is often referred to as second-growth or regeneration until a long enough period has passed that the effects of the disturbance are no longer evident. Depending on the forest, this may take anywhere from a century to several millennia. Hardwood forests of the eastern United States can develop old-growth characteristics in one or two generations of trees, or 150-500 years. Deforestation, in general is the sustained removal of trees. ... Fire in San Bernardino, California Mountains (image taken from the International Space Station) A wildfire, also known as a forest fire, vegetation fire, grass fire, or bushfire (in Australasia), is an uncontrolled fire in wildland often caused by lightning; other common causes are human carelessness and arson. ... Beech is a typical temperate zone hardwood The term hardwood designates wood from angiosperm trees. ...

Old growth forests may be home to rare species which are dependent on this now-rare habitat. For this reason they have great environmental importance. Biodiversity may be higher or lower in old growth forests than in second-growth forests depending on specific circumstances. Logging in old growth forests is a contentious issue in many parts of the world. An environment is a complex of external factors. ... Rainforests are the most biodiverse ecosystems on earth Biodiversity or biological diversity is the diversity of life. ...

Characteristics of old growth forest

Many botanists specifically define old growth in terms of meeting several criteria, under which system forests with sufficient age and minimal disturbance are considered old growth. Typical characteristics of old-growth forest include presence of older trees, minimal signs of human disturbance, mixed-age stands, presence of canopy openings due to tree falls, pit-and-mound topography, down wood in various stages of decay, standing snags (dead trees), multi-layered canopies, intact soils, a healthy fungal ecosystem, and relative stability of most slopes and streamways. A dense growth of softwoods (a forest) in the Sierra Nevada Range of Northern California A forest is an area with a high density of trees (or, historically, a wooded area set aside for hunting). ... Surface of the Earth Topography, a term in geography, has come to refer to the lay of the land, or the physiogeographic characteristics of land in terms of elevation, slope, and orientation. ... Decomposition is the reduction of bodies and other formerly living organisms into simpler forms of matter; and most particularly to the fate of the body, after death. ... Soil is material capable of supporting plant life. ... Divisions Chytridiomycota Deuteromycota Zygomycota Glomeromycota Ascomycota Basidiomycota Fungus growing on a tree in Borneo A fungus (plural fungi) is a eukaryotic organism that digests its food externally and absorbs the nutrient molecules into its cells. ... A running stream. ...

Mixed age

The mixed age of the forest is an important criterion in ensuring that the forest is a stable ecosystem in the long term. A climax forest that is a uniformly-aged stand becomes senescent and degrades within a relatively short time-period to result in a new cycle of forest succession. Thus, it is not a stable ecosystem, but one very much in flux. The term climax community is an ecological term for a community of plants and animals which is the result of succession, where a biological system, a community, or a soil has reached a steady state. ... Secondary succession: trees are colonizing uncultivated fields and meadows Ecological succession, a fundamental concept in ecology, is the process by which a natural community moves from a simpler level of organisation to a more complex community. ...

Canopy openings

Canopy openings are essential in creating and maintaining the mixed-age stands. In addition, some herbaceous plants only become established in canopy openings although they are able to persist thereafter in the darker understory. Canopy openings created by natural disturbance events such as wind, ice, and mixed-severity fire retain significant structural enrichment from dead trees, whereas canopy opening created by logging are structurally simplified and deprived of the legacy structures that normally occur in healthy old-growth forests. A herb (pronounced hurb in Commonwealth English and urb in American English) is a plant grown for culinary, medicinal, or in some cases even spiritual value. ...

Topography

Pit-and-mound topography is the characteristic lay of the land after trees that have fallen due to natural causes create pits where roots have pulled out and mounds where the root mass decays (with the soil clinging to the roots). These places provide, in the pit, fresh exposure of humus-poor, mineral-rich soil, often a place where moisture may collect and in which fallen leaves soon form a thick organic layer and so able to nurture certain types of organisms, while the mound provides a place free from leaf inundation and saturation where other types of organisms may thrive. Primary and secondary roots in a cotton plant In vascular plants, the root is that organ of a plant body that typically lies below the surface of the soil (compare with stem). ... For article about the oriental food, see Hummus. ... Minerals are natural compounds formed through geological processes. ... Organic material or organic matter is informally used to denote a material that originated as a living organism; most such materials contain carbon and are capable of decay. ...

Decaying ground layer

Down wood directly contributes carbon-rich organic material directly to the soil, in providing a substrate for mosses and fungi and for seedlings, and in creating microhabitats by creating relief on the forest floor. Down wood which is significant in some ecosystems, such as the temperate rain forest of the Pacific coast, for providing a seedling substrate is termed nurse logs. General Name, Symbol, Number carbon, C, 6 Chemical series nonmetals Group, Period, Block 14, 2, p Appearance black (graphite) colorless (diamond) Atomic mass 12. ... Subclasses Sphagnidae Andreaeidae Tetraphidae Polytrichidae Archidiidae Buxbaumiidae Bryidae Moss gametophyte generation plants with a single sporophyte. ... Sunflower seedlings, just three days after germination In a botanical sense, germination is the process of emergence of growth from a resting stage. ... A rainforest is a forested biome with high annual rainfall. ... The Pacific Coast is any coast fronting the Pacific Ocean. ...

Standing snags

Standing snags provide food sources and habitat for many types of organisms. Several species of woodpeckers, in particular, must have standing snags available for feeding. The spotted owl is well-known for needing standing snags for nesting habitat. Genera Jynx Picumnus Sasia Nesoctites Melanerpes Sphyrapicus Xiphidiopicus Campethera Geocolaptes Dendropicos Dendrocopos Picoides Veniliornis Piculus Colaptes Celeus Dryocopus Campephilus Picus Dinopium Chrysocolaptes Gecinulus Sapheopipo Blythipicus Reinwardtipicus Meiglyptes Hemicircus Mulleripicus Woodpeckers are near passerine birds of the order Piciformes. ... Binomial name Strix occidentalis Xantus de Vesey, 1860 The Spotted Owl, Strix occidentalis, is a species of owl. ...

Soil

Intact soils harbor many life-forms that rely on them. Intact soils generally have very well-defined horizons, or soil profiles. Different organisms may need certain well-defined soil horizons in order to live, while many trees need well-structured soils free of disturbance in order to thrive. Some herbaceous plants in northern hardwood forests must have thick duff layers (which are part of the soil profile). A soil profile is a cross section through the soil which reveals its horizons (layers). ...

Fungal ecosystems are essential for efficient in-situ recycling of nutrients back into the entire ecosystem.

Importance of old growth forests

Due to the lack of severe disturbance, old growth is often associated with rich communities of plants and animals that may be dependent upon the unique environmental conditions created by these forests. The age of the oldest trees indicates that disturbance events during the long period of development were of moderate intensity at most and did not kill all vegetation. This long period of pseudostability allows the old growth forest to become occupied over time by a wide variety of species, some of them rare. Divisions Land plants (embryophytes) Non-vascular plants (bryophytes) Marchantiophyta - liverworts Anthocerotophyta - hornworts Bryophyta - mosses Vascular plants (tracheophytes) Lycopodiophyta - clubmosses Equisetophyta - horsetails Pteridophyta - true ferns Psilotophyta - whisk ferns Ophioglossophyta - adderstongues Seed plants (spermatophytes) †Pteridospermatophyta - seed ferns Pinophyta - conifers Cycadophyta - cycads Ginkgophyta - ginkgo Gnetophyta - gnetae Magnoliophyta - flowering plants Adiantum pedatum (a fern... Binomial name Aptenodytes forsteri Gray, 1844 For other uses, see Animal (disambiguation). ...

Old growth forest serves as a reservoir for species which cannot thrive or easily regenerate in younger forest, and as such can be used a baseline for research.

Old growth forests also store large amounts of carbon, both above and below ground. These forests collectively represent a significant pool of climate gases. Continued liquidation of these forests may increase the risk of global climate change. General Name, Symbol, Number carbon, C, 6 Chemical series nonmetals Group, Period, Block 14, 2, p Appearance black (graphite) colorless (diamond) Atomic mass 12. ... Variations in CO2, temperature and dust from the Vostok ice core over the last 400 000 years Climate change refers to the variation in the Earths global climate or regional climates over time. ...

Logging in old growth forests

Despite the ecological importance of old growth forests they are logged in many parts of the world. The large trees in old growth forests are economically valuable, so these forests have been subjected to aggressive logging almost everywhere they occur.

It is a major issue in Tasmania and thanks to Greenpeace in other countries (such as Papua New Guinea). It is also a major issue in South America, where logging companies provide the local people with a pittance to log the trees that have stood for (in some cases) thousands of years. Motto: Ubertas et Fidelitas (Fertility and Faithfulness) Nickname: The Apple Isle Other Australian states and territories Capital Hobart Government Governor Premier Const. ... Greenpeace is an international environmental organization founded in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in 1971. ... South America South America is a continent crossed by the equator, with most of its area in the Southern Hemisphere. ...

External links

• Primal Nature: Preservation and restoration of old-growth forests in the eastern United States
• Old growth locations in the eastern U.S.
• Old growth definitions from the Pacific northwest
• Wildlife and Vegetation of Unmanaged Douglas-Fir Forests
• Profiles of special species that live in Old growth forests
• "Of Spotted Owls, Old Growth, and New Policies: A History" (PDF)
• Gifford Pinchot Task Force
• NW Old Growth Campaign
• http://www.umpqua-watersheds.org/protect_old_growth.html
• http://www.onrc.org/info/srvmng.html
• Forest Service
• Experimental forestry designed to convert tree plantations to old-growth
• Thinning To Enhance Biodiversity