Thanks to all of you who sent me some references about the importance
of snags!

Now, perhaps someone out there can be of even more help. I am working
on my PhD dissertation, examining the invertebrate community of dead
tree bark - as compared to live tree bark. I collected my own data
for the invertebrates. However, I also have 15 years of timber
inventory data for the small research forest where I worked- data on
over 32,000 trees - DBH, species, condtion, etc. I need to do
*something* with these data that relates to the importance of snags
for wildlife. My own invertebrate work is basically just a preliminary
survey, and doesn't really point in a direction that would be of
interest. Obviously, reading the papers that folks have suggested will
help, but I was also hoping some of you might have some concrete
ideas. Should I look at the snag size distribution over time? The
number of available snags in different cover types? The rate of snag
falling? The percentage of trees dying over a given time period? My
database is very rich, and I could mine it forever. What I need are a
few concrete ideas to focus on - issues that snag people want to see
addressed in publications, particularly relating to snag importance
for wildife. And, of course, if you folks have such ideas, and know of
specific papers that touch on these particular ideas. . . well, so
much the better!

Thank you so very much. . .
--Dawn