Condo or cuisine? The function of fine woody debris in driving decomposition, detritivores, and their predators

Community structure and ecosystem function may be driven by the size or the energy within a given habitat, but these metrics (space and energy) are difficult to separate, especially in systems where the habitat itself is also food such as detritus. Only a handful of studies have attempted isolate potential mechanisms experimentally, which has left a notable knowledge gap in understanding the drivers of community structure and function. Here we tested whether fine woody debris (FWD) affects leaf litter communities primarily as a source of space or energy. We used a crossed factor design to isolate the effects of fine woody debris as space and energy, with four treatments: (1) no fine woody debris, (2) only energy-providing fine woody debris (sawdust), (3) only space-providing synthetic wood debris, and (4) a combination of both space and energy. We hypothesized that the highest levels of diversity, carnivore-to-detritivore ratio, and decomposition rate would occur on plots supplied with ..., We measured site characteristics such as standing stocks of fine woody debris, leaf litter and litterfall. We then set up an experiment to test whether fine woody debris primarily serves as space or energy for leaf litter invertebrates and their function (decomposition rate). Litterbags were placed on plots, with standard substrates collected monthly for 7 months and natural substrates collected at the end of the experiment. Fine woody debris was either added as just space (synthetic fine woody debris) or just energy (ground fine woody debris). Leaf litter invertebrates were collected and identified at the end of the experiment. Chemistry measurements were analyzed for soils and initial chemistries of natural substrates. Data were collected from the field and laboratory components of the project., , # Condo or cuisine? The function of fine woody debris in driving decomposition, detritivores, and their predators

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.c866t1ggh](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.c866t1ggh)

## Description of the data and file structure

Here, we tested the relative importance of FWD as either a source of space or energy on BFW invertebrate community structure, relative abundance of low and high trophic levels (e.g., detritivores:carnivores), and decomposition of leaf litter. We separated the effects of FWD as a source of space and energy using a crossed factor design where FWD was either added to plots as (1) no FWD present (-Space, -Energy), (2) solely energy using FWD as sawdust (-Space, +Energy), (3) solely space using synthetic wood debris (+Space, -Energy), or (4) their combination (+Space,+Energy). Additionally, BFW community structure and function on experimental treatments were compared to natural plots that received no manipulation other than removal of new FWD inputs....