DOI: 10.5061/dryad.j0zpc86pv
title: Data from: Seasonally changing interactions of species traits of termites and trees promote complementarity in coarse wood decomposition

description: Complementary resource use by functionally different species may
 accelerate ecosystem processes. However, how co-variation in plant traits
 and animal traits promotes complementarity through temporal plant-animal
 interactions is poorly understood, even less so in detrital systems,
 thereby hampering our fundamental understanding of decomposition and
 carbon turnover. We hypothesized that, in seasonal subtropical forests
 where termites are major deadwood decomposers, trait complementarity of
 both termite species and tree species should promote overall deadwood
 decomposition through different seasons and years. Findings from a
 four-year coarse wood decomposition experiment involving 27 tree and 5
 termite species support this hypothesis. Phenological and mandibular
 traits of the two most abundant termite species controlled wood
 decomposition of tree species differing in wood traits, through the
 seasons over four years, thereby promoting overall deadwood decomposition
 rates. Our findings indicate that complementarity in functional trait
 co-variation in plants and animals plays an important role in carbon
 cycling.
description: The article describes a detailed study conducted in two forest sites in
 Zhejiang Province, East China, focusing on the decomposition of logs from
 various tree species to understand environmental and biological factors
 influencing wood decay. The study utilized 81 healthy adult trees from 27
 species, creating 648 log samples for decomposition experiments. Data
 collection involved placing logs in designated plots and monitoring them
 over several years with the help of micro-weather stations to gather
 information on environmental conditions such as soil temperature,
 moisture, and wind. For data on wood decomposition, the study assessed
 volume loss by visually estimating log surface area reduction using a grid
 system, and depth measurements in termite tunnels to calculate volume
 loss. Termite species were identified and quantified to understand their
 role in decomposition, and their traits like body size and mandibular
 width were measured to assess their feeding capabilities. Wood traits were
 also meticulously recorded, including density, dry matter content, and
 chemical composition such as carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, lignin, and
 cellulose content. This comprehensive dataset from field measurements,
 laboratory analysis, and environmental monitoring provided a robust
 foundation for evaluating the interactions between wood traits, termite
 activity, and environmental conditions in wood decomposition processes.
description: # Data from: Seasonally changing interactions of species traits of
 termites and trees promote complementarity in coarse wood decomposition
 **A. File list**： wdter_F.csv termite_coexistence.csv mass
 loss_termites.csv cwm_termites_traits.csv wood traits.csv wood mass
 loss.csv **B. File descriptions**: **(1)** For 'wdter_F.csv':
 This document contains five key pieces of information. The first column is
 'site', which represents our experimental sampling points,
 including PT site and TT site. The second column is 'species',
 which details the species of 20cm diameter wood used in our decomposition
 experiments. The third column is 'WES', which stands for Wood
 Economic Spectrum; it represents the scores of each species obtained from
 a principal component analysis of wood traits. The fourth column is
 'Types', which contains information on termite species. There
 are five dominant termite species listed: DBY is Macrotermes barneyi, RBY
 is Coptotermes formosanus, SBY is Reticulitermes periflaviceps, TBY is
 Odontotermes formosanus, and JBXBY is Nasutitermes tiantongensis. Columns
 five to fifteen are labeled by year_season, representing the abundance of
 termites during those specific seasons.This termite abundance information
 is obtained through field monitoring conducted each season, where we count
 the termites found on decomposing wood. **(2)** For
 'termite_coexistence.csv': This file includes seven columns. The
 first column is 'site', which represents the experimental site
 information, including PT and TT sites. The second column is
 'WES', which stands for Wood Economic Spectrum, representing the
 position rankings of 27 wood species based on wood trait data obtained
 from the first principal component analysis (PCA) axis scores. The third
 column is 'Time', composed of year and month, marking the timing
 of 11 field monitoring surveys. The fourth column is 'Season',
 indicating the season of each field survey. The fifth column is
 'CumulativeVolumeloss', which represents the total volume loss
 of wood from the start to the survey time point, expressed as a
 percentage. The sixth column is 'PeriodVolumeloss', representing
 the volume loss between the survey time and the previous period, also
 expressed as a percentage. The seventh column is 'Termite
 species', detailing which termite species were found at the
 respective survey times and on the wood samples, including options such as
 S, L, S+L, and None, where 'S' corresponds to 'small'
 in the paper, referring to SBY (Reticulitermes periflaviceps),
 'L' corresponds to 'large', referring to TBY
 (Odontotermes formosanus), 'S+L' indicates both types of
 termites were present, and 'none' means no termites were
 detected. **(3)** For 'mass loss_termites.csv': This file
 includes 13 columns. The first column is 'site', which
 represents the experimental plot information, including PT and TT sites.
 The second column is 'Species', which details the species of
 20cm diameter wood used in our decomposition experiments. The third column
 is 'WES', which stands for Wood Economic Spectrum, representing
 the positional ranking of 27 wood species based on wood trait data,
 obtained from the scores of the first principal component analysis (PCA)
 axis. The fourth column is 'year', indicating the year of the
 field monitoring survey, including 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022. The
 fifth column is 'Season', representing the season of the field
 survey, including spring, summer, and late autumn. The sixth column is
 'Time', composed of year and season, marking the timing of 11
 field monitoring surveys. The seventh column is
 'CumulativeVolumeloss', which represents the total volume loss
 of wood from the start to the survey time point, expressed as a
 percentage. The eighth column is 'PeriodVolumeloss',
 representing the volume loss between the survey time and the previous
 period, also expressed as a percentage. Columns 9-13 are DBY, RBY, SBY,
 TBY, and JBXBY, respectively representing the abundance of termites at the
 respective survey times and on the wood samples. **JBXBY is represented as
 'NA' at PT sites where it does not occur. This means that we
 didn't find this termite species in the PT site.** DBY is Macrotermes
 barneyi, RBY is Coptotermes formosanus, SBY is Reticulitermes
 periflaviceps, TBY is Odontotermes formosanus, and JBXBY is Nasutitermes
 tiantongensis. **(4)** For 'cwm_termites_traits.csv': This file
 includes 7 columns. The first column is 'site', which represents
 the experimental plot information, including PT and TT sites. The second
 column is 'Species', detailing the wood species involved.
 Columns 3-7 contain termite trait data on the respective wood species,
 including body length, body width, abdominal volume, head size, and
 mandibular width, with all measurements in millimeters (mm). **(5)** For
 'wood traits.csv': This file includes 8 columns. The first
 column is 'Species', detailing the wood species involved.
 Columns 2-8 contain wood trait data on the respective wood species,
 including Wooddensity (Wood density, unit g/cm3 ), woodN (Wood nitrogen
 content, unit mg/g), Lignin (Wood Lignin cotent, unit %), Cellulose (Wood
 cellulose cotent, unit %), woodP (Wood phosphorus content, unit mg/g),
 woodDMC (Wood dry matter content, unit g/g), woodC (Wood carbon content,
 unit mg/g) **(6)** For 'wood mass loss.csv': This file includes
 10 columns. The first column is 'site', which represents the
 experimental plot information, including PT and TT sites. The second
 column is 'Species', which details the species of 20cm diameter
 wood used in our decomposition experiments. The third column is
 'WES', which stands for Wood Economic Spectrum, representing the
 positional ranking of 27 wood species based on wood trait data, obtained
 from the scores of the first principal component analysis (PCA) axis. The
 fourth column is 'Types', which contains information on termite
 species. There are five dominant termite species listed: DBY is
 Macrotermes barneyi, RBY is Coptotermes formosanus, SBY is Reticulitermes
 periflaviceps, TBY is Odontotermes formosanus, and JBXBY is Nasutitermes
 tiantongensis. The fifth column is the cumulative termite abundance for
 2019, which is the sum of termite abundances from the summer of 2018, the
 spring of 2019, and the summer of 2019. The sixth column is the cumulative
 termite abundance for 2020, which is the sum of termite abundances from
 the autumn of 2019, the spring of 2020, and the summer of 2020. The
 seventh column is the cumulative termite abundance for 2021, which is the
 sum of termite abundances from the autumn of 2020, the spring of 2021, and
 the summer of 2021. Columns 7-9 are labeled '2019_woodmassloss',
 '2020_woodmassloss', and '2021_woodmassloss',
 respectively representing the wood mass loss for the years 2019, 2020, and
 2021. These data are derived from field decomposition experiments where
 20cm diameter wood samples were decomposed and incubated, and samples were
 retrieved in the summers of 2019, 2020, and 2021, with the remaining dry
 matter mass calculated over those decomposition periods. Wood mass loss is
 calculated as the difference between the percentage of the initial dry
 matter content and the percentage of the remaining dry matter content. The
 initial dry matter content is 100%. Please note: If NA values appear in
 the dataset, they represent missing data.