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.

Introduction -- The Hawaiian Islands a s a model ecosystem -- Gradients in environmental factors, gradients in ecosystems -- Patterns and processes in long-term ecosystem development -- Experimental studies of nutrient limitation and the regulation of nutrient cycling -- Nutrient inputs to Hawaiian ecosystems: pathways, rates, and controls -- Nutrient outputs: pathways, controls, and input-output budgets -- Issues and opportunities.

This volume represents a uniquely comprehensive overview of our current knowledge on tropical montane cloud forests. 72 chapters cover a wide spectrum of topics including cloud forest distribution, climate, soils, biodiversity, hydrological processes, hydrochemistry and water quality, climate change impacts, and cloud forest conservation, management, and restoration. The final chapter presents a major synthesis by some of the world's leading cloud forest researchers, which summarizes our current knowledge and considers the sustainability of these forests in an ever-changing world. This book presents state-of-the-art knowledge concerning cloud forest occurrence and status, as well as the biological and hydrological value of these unique forests. The presentation is academic but with a firm practical emphasis. It will serve as a core reference for academic researchers and students of environmental science and ecology, as well as practitioners (natural resources management, forest conservation) and decision makers at local, national, and international levels.

In the past century, anthropogenic activities have increased N input drastically to terrestrial ecosystems and influenced the global N cycle. Especially temperate forest ecosystems are affected in their productivity, species composition, soil chemistry and water quality. N input to forest ecosystems is retained in trees and soil. Excessive N is leached out or released as gases. The retention of N input in soils is mainly influenced by the stability of soil organic matter (SOM). Many forests in central Europe and North America have been subjected to N saturation, i.e. excessive N appeared as nitrate in the leachate below the rooting zone. Reduction of atmospheric N emission and consequent atmospheric N deposition is proposed to be the only practical long-term solution to improve N-saturated forest ecosystems. However, responses of N-saturated forest ecosystems to reduced atmospheric N deposition have been seldom investigated. In the present study, atmospheric deposition was manipulated through roof constructions below the canopy of a mature Norway spruce forest on the Solling plateau in central Germany. A £^(5)N tracer field and a density fractionation laboratory experiment were conducted in the present study to investigate the influence of long-term reduced atmospheric N deposition on the partitioning of atmospheric N in different forest ecosystem compartments as well as on the partitioning of atmospheric N retained in the soil in different SOM pools.