Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. Origin of the Evergreen Forests ; Conifers and the Ice Age ; The Advantages of Being Evergreen ; The Advantages of Long-Lived Leaves ; Enduring the Cold -- 2. Identifying the Conifers ; How Plants (Including Trees) Are Classified ; The Ten Genera ; The Thirty-Two Species ; Conifer Families -- 3. Reproduction of Conifers ; Pollen Cones and Pollen ; Pollination ; A Contrast between Seed Cones and Pollen Cones ; Vegetative Reproduction -- 4. The Life and Growth of a Conifer ; Wood ; Cut Stumps and Whole Trees ; Outside the Cambium ; Leaves ; Roots -- 5. Broadleafs Growing among the Conifers ; Broadleafs in a Harsh Climate ; Poplars ; Birches ; Alders -- 6. Two Kinds of Trees: Conifers and Broadleafs ; The Ancestry of "Trees" ; The Basic Difference between Conifers and Broadleafs ; Gymnosperms Are Woody ; The Speed of Living ; The Architecture of Trees ; Vegetative Reproduction ; The Aroma of Conifers -- 7. Life on the Forest Floor ; The Soil ; Forest Flowers ; The Floor of the Boreal Forest ; Valuable Dead Wood and Debris ; Open Water -- 8. Parasites on the Conifers ; The Value of Rot and Decay ; Decay Fungi ; Rusts ; Dwarf Mistletoe -- 9. Insects and Conifers ; Insects as Feeders ; Beetles ; Caterpillars and Pseudocaterpillars ; Sawflies ; Bugs ; Parasitoids ; Ants and Others -- 10. Some Mammals and Birds of the Forest ; Food and Shelter ; Seldom Seen Mammals ; Squirrels and Their Relatives ; A Rodent and a Lagomorph ; Big Herbivores ; Carnivores ; Big Omnivores ; Birds -- 11. Natural and Unnatural Interference ; Fire ; Forest Succession ; Snow and Wind ; Air Pollution and Acid Rain ; Logging -- 12. The Big Picture ; Forest Regions ; What Controls Which Species Grow Where -- 13. Global Warming and the Forests ; The Physics of Climate Change ; How Will Climate Change Affect the Forests ; Fire and the Forests ; Insects, Lightning, Wind, and Snow (Again) ; The Value (If Any) of Predictions.