Title: Dead Wood Dynamics and Relationships to Biophysical Factors, Forest History, Ownership, and Management Practices in the Coastal Province of Oregon,

Abstract approved: (-Th Signature redacted for privacy. Thomas ies Dead wood patterns and dynamics vary with biophysical factors, disturbance history, ownership, and management practices. Through field and modeling studies, I examined the current and potential future amounts of dead wood in two landscapes and region-wide in the Coastal Province of Oregon. The objectives of the first study were to (1) determine whether two landscapes with different recent disturbance histories differ in the amount and characteristics of dead wood; and (2) explore relationships between patterns of dead wood in each landscape to potentially related factors including topography. The objectives of the second study were to (1) describe current regional amounts of dead wood; (2) compare dead wood amounts across ownerships; (3) determine relationships between current dead wood amounts and ownership, current and past vegetation conditions, climate, topography, and soils; and (4) evaluate whether the factor