DOI: 10.5061/dryad.np5hqc03f
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 ##
 Description of the data files A. File list： wdter_F.csv
 termite_coexistence.csv mass loss_termites.csv wood traits.csv wood mass
 loss.csv Code_Termites_paper_30thAug.R 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. And site ‘PT’
 refers to Putuo Island, which is situated in Zhoushan City, Zhejiang
 Province, China. Site ‘TT’ denotes Tiantongshan National Forest Park,
 located in Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province, China. 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. And site ‘PT’
 refers to Putuo Island, which is situated in Zhoushan City, Zhejiang
 Province, China. Site ‘TT’ denotes Tiantongshan National Forest Park,
 located in Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province, China. 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. And site ‘PT’
 refers to Putuo Island, which is situated in Zhoushan City, Zhejiang
 Province, China. Site ‘TT’ denotes Tiantongshan National Forest Park,
 located in Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province, China. 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 '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) (5)
 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. And site ‘PT’ refers to Putuo
 Island, which is situated in Zhoushan City, Zhejiang Province, China. Site
 ‘TT’ denotes Tiantongshan National Forest Park, located in Ningbo City,
 Zhejiang Province, China. 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.** (6) For
 'Code_Termites_paper_30thAug.R' This file is R code for data
 analysis. Includes calculations of the width and centre of termite
 ecological niches and the construction of wood economic spectrums using
 wood traits, as well as the relationship between termites and wood traits
 and wood volume loss.