Core samples of some of the hemlocks on Outer Island show them to be more than 300 years old. As you look through old growth forest you find many leaning and downed trees. They may take hundreds of years to fully die and decompose. Cedar, the tree of life, sometimes falls in such a way to allow its branches to grow into whole new trees. For cedar, immortality is a theoretical possibility.
Dead trees give birth to new life.
Insect homes, moss, lichens, fungus. Mycelium, the thread-like roots that give rise to mushrooms, run throughout the undisturbed duff and rotting wood. Over 200 species of mushrooms have been identified on Raspberry Island alone. Many creatures make their home in old growth forests. Chimney swifts, usually thought of as city birds, abound in the remotest parts of these forests.