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. 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 ).