Wood trait-decay relationships vary with topography and rainfall seasonality in subtropical China

Plant traits affect wood decomposition. Far less acknowledged, wood trait-decay relationships may vary with environmental conditions that alter the spatiotemporal distribution of decomposer activities. Unfavorable environments can suppress decomposer activities and weaken the wood trait-decay relationships. We hypothesize that waterlogged soils in the valley during the rainy season may decrease termite activities and decomposition rates, especially of palatable deadwood. By comparison, wood trait-decay relationships could be less affected at the ridge and hilltop during the rainy season. We conducted wood decay experiments of 137 tree species in three sites (valley/ridge/hilltop) differing in microclimate in a 50-ha plot in a subtropical forest. Eight physical and chemical traits were measured to determine the most influential wood properties for termite feeding activities and wood decomposition rates. Samples were harvested after the rainy or after a whole year (rainy-plus-dry season)...., , , # Higher-order environmental effects on wood trait-decay relationships [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.jdfn2z3hq](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.jdfn2z3hq) ## Description of the data and file structure Eight wood traits, wood mass loss, the absence/presence of termite feeding (0/1), and proportional termite feeding per each tree species (n = 137) are given for each topographic site (valley/ridge/hilltop) and each season (rainy vs. dry). Three data files are related. 'decomp.period.csv' presents the period change of wood mass loss and proportional termite feeding across two seasons. 'decomp1.csv' presents the wood mass loss and the absence/presence of termite feeding after the first rainy season. 'decomp2.csv' presents the wood mass loss and the absence/presence of termite feeding after the rainy and subsequent dry seasons. Note that only 124 species are successfully retrieved after the dry season, and thus we only present the data for 124 species in 'decomp.period.csv' and 'decomp2.cs...