Decomposition of bark beetle-attacked trees after mortality varies across forests

Data are from a 2 year experiment examining differences in decomposition processes between bark beetle-attacked trees and trees not attacked by bark beetles in three sites spanning a broad geographic area. Specifically, in Honduras, and Mississippi and Arizona, USA, we felled one recently bark beetle-attacked and one apparently healthy conspecific tree at each site that was cut into 120 experimental logs. Logs of each tree (attacked or unattacked) were assigned one of three metal mesh covering treatments: 1) fully covered to exclude all macroinvertebrates, 2) covered from above to exclude secondary bark beetle colonization, 3) no cover to allow all detrital food web organisms. Half of all logs at each site was collected after 1 and 2 years and the density loss, insect visual damage rating, and abundance of termites, ants, and beetles was measured.