Magellanic woodpeckers as indicators of wood-dwelling beetle diversity in trees with different levels of decay and under changing environmental conditions

Although woodpeckers are considered ecological indicators, their relationships with wood-dwelling beetle communities are scarcely known. Woodpeckers and wood-dwelling beetles respond to wood decay and forest disturbances; however, it is unclear how these effects propagate through saproxylic networks.
We investigated whether the trees used by Magellanic woodpeckers (Campephilus magellanicus) have a greater diversity of wood-dwelling beetles of different functional groups. We also examined the direct and indirect effects of environmental conditions and wood decay on beetles and woodpeckers.
We sampled beetles using emergence traps and characterized wood decay using tomography, comparing stem sections excavated by woodpeckers with those of control trees.
The abundance and taxonomic richness of beetles belonging to different guilds (predators, wood borers, and mycophages) were higher in sections where woodpeckers foraged. However, these factors were also influenced by remote sensing environ..., , # Data from: Magellanic woodpeckers as indicators of wood-dwelling beetle diversity in trees with different levels of decay and under changing environmental conditions

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.crjdfn3hj](10.5061/dryad.crjdfn3hj)

## Description of the data and file structure

Summary

Data concerning the abundance and taxonomic richness of wood-dwelling beetles were obtained from emergence traps installed on trees with woodpecker foraging holes (wood treatment) and trees used as control. The data were also correlated with environmental variables, encompassing remote sensing environment variables and internal wood decay in the tree sections where traps were installed. Subsequently, the beetle data were analysed using Poisson and zero-inflated Poisson (ZIP) models.

**Files and variables**

### 1) Data.Vergara.2025.csv

Description: This file contains remote sensing and environmental variable data estimated for each of the studied trees (control and treatment). The data format is simi...,