Includes bibliographical references and index.

Definitions and history / Robert Leverett -- Extent and location / Mary Byrd Davis -- Using lichens to assess ecological continuity in northeastern forests / Steven B. Selva -- Biodiversity in the herbaceous layer and salamanders in Appalachian primary forests / Albert J. Meier, Susan Power Bratton, and David Cameron Duffy -- The importance of old growth in carnivores in Eastern deciduous forests / Michael R. Pelton -- Functional roles of Eastern old growth in promoting forest bird diversity / J. Christopher Haney and Charles P. Schaadt -- Old-growth spirituality / Michael Perlman -- Old-growth forests : a Native American perspective / Standing Woman and Steve Comer -- Black growth and fiddlebutts : the nature of old-growth red spruce / Charles V. Cogbill -- Old-growth forests of Southern New England, New York, and Pennsylvania / Peter Dunwiddie [and others] -- Old growth in the Great Lakes region / Lee E. Frelich and Peter B. Reich -- Central mesophytic forests / James R. Runkle -- Old-growth oak and oak-hickory forests / Peter S. White and Ricky D. White -- Old growth in Southeastern wetlands / J. Merrill Lynch -- Longleaf pine forest, going, going ... / D. Bruce Means --Identification and protection of old growth on state-owned land in Minnesota / Kurt A. Rusterholz -- National forests in the Eastern region : land allocation and planning for old growth / Lucy E. Tyrrell -- The nature conservancy's preservation of old growth / Kathy Seaton -- Cook Forest State Park : reflections of a preservationist / Anthony Eaton Cook -- Landscape heterogeneity of hemlock-hardwood forest in Northern Michigan / Margaret B. Davis, Timothy E. Parshall, and James B. Ferrari -- The restoration of old growth : why and how / Stephen C. Trombulak -- Tree rings and ancient forest history / David W. Stahle -- How much old growth is enough? / Robert Zahner.