Data from: 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
environmental variables and their interactions with woodpeckers. Wood
borers positively influenced beetles of other guilds (predators and
mycophages). Climatic conditions, vegetation structure and biophysical
properties had direct effects on wood decay and indirect effects on
woodpeckers and wood-dwelling beetles via decay. Wood decay had positive
direct and indirect effects on predators, mycophages and woodpeckers, but
not on wood borers. These results suggest Magellanic woodpeckers can serve
as indicators of wood-dwelling beetle communities. Forest degradation and
climate change have the potential to exert bottom-up control over
interactions among woodpeckers and functional groups of wood-dwelling
beetles.