While the exact dates are arguable, essentially all eastern old-growth was eradicated by the turn of the 20th century. While these tracts pale in comparison to western old-growth forests, they remain a vitally important resource. Environmentalists frequently refer to old forests as virgin, pristine, and primeval all adjectives which conjure up an image of an ecological entity not touched by the hand of man. Therefore, they often refer to old forests as decadent, overmature, or senescent in reference to the forest being past the point of economic maturity. Scientists generally refer to old forests as old-growth.
All terms are essentially synonymous in meaning and largely reflect the viewpoint of the user.
Because of the enormous diversity of eastern forests, differences in site quality and environment, and variability in disturbance regimes, a simple, all-encompassing definition of old growth is virtually impossible. However, there are many stands which have had nearly no disturbance and exhibit many of the traits that one would expect to find in an old-growth hardwood forest. Many of these characteristics are summarized below and compared schematically with a typical second-growth stand in Figure 1. Figure 1 . Note the many structural, compositional, and functional differences between them.