Global survey of termite and microbial contributions to wood decay

In this study, wood blocks were deployed across 133 sites in 20 countries and all continents except Antarctica. The majority of sites were established in 2017, with 6 sites established in 2018 in Puerto Rico with the delay following Hurricane Maria. We determined termite discovery and decay following a two-step method. First, we filtered to those sites where site researchers recorded termite presence. Second, for those sites with termites, we recorded blocks as discovered when they were noted as having termites, mudding (i.e., imported soil), and/or damage (e.g., internal chambering, external surface scoring, or removal) in wood blocks (fig. S3). When wood blocks were found to be damaged but this damage was not attributable to termites (e.g., small holes, non-termite larvae, etc.), these blocks were recorded as undiscovered by termites; few blocks had macrofauna damage not attributable to termites (termite discovery was 2.7× higher than discovery by other macrofauna), supporting the importance of termites as the main macrofauna decaying wood. After termite discovery assessment, wood blocks were cleaned, separating out dead wood from other components (e.g., soil, fungi, insects) and dried for final mass. <br> Parameter descriptions can be found within the section worksheet of the excel file. Detailed methods can be found in the manuscript by Zanne et al. (https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-1242094/v1 ).

本研究中，研究人员在除南极洲外的各大陆共20个国家的133个样地布设了木材块样件。绝大多数样地于2017年建成，另有6个样地于2018年在波多黎各建立——因飓风玛丽亚过境导致布设延迟。
我们采用两步法开展白蚁发现与木材腐朽程度测定。第一步，筛选出样地研究人员记录存在白蚁活动的样地；第二步，针对存在白蚁的样地，当木材块被观测到存在白蚁活动、涂泥（即外来土壤附着）以及/或木材损伤（如内部空腔形成、外部表面刻蚀或材质缺损）时，将其记为已被白蚁发现（补充图S3）。若发现木材块存在损伤但无法归因于白蚁活动（如小型孔洞、非白蚁类幼虫蛀蚀等），则将该木块记为未被白蚁发现；因非白蚁类大型无脊椎动物(macrofauna)造成损伤的木块占比极低（白蚁发现率较其他大型无脊椎动物高2.7倍），这佐证了白蚁是导致木材腐朽的主要大型无脊椎动物类群。
完成白蚁发现评估后，对木材块进行清洗，将枯木与其他组分（如土壤、真菌、昆虫等）分离并烘干以测定最终干质量。
参数说明可参见Excel文件的工作表章节。详细研究方法可参阅Zanne等人发表的论文（https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-1242094/v1）。