Data from: The cover uncovered: bark control over wood decomposition

1. Woody debris (WD) represents a globally significant carbon stock and its decomposition returns nutrients to the soil while providing habitat to microbes, plants and animals. Understanding what drives WD decomposition is therefore important. 2. WD decomposition rates differ greatly among species. However, the role of bark in the process remains poorly known. 3. We ask how, and how much, interspecific variation in bark functional traits related to growth and protection have afterlife effects on the decomposition of wood, partly mediated by animals. We examine the roles of bark cover and bark traits throughout the wood decomposition process. 4. Synthesis. We find that: (i) bark effects on WD decomposition are species- and wood size-specific, (ii) bark can enhance coarser WD decomposition but slows twig decomposition in some species, and (iii) bark acts as an environmental filter to faunal assemblages in the early stage of wood decomposition. We highlight the need to account for bark effects on WD decomposition and offer an important complementary contribution to including woody species identity effects in biogeochemical and climate-change models via species bark traits.

1. 木质残体（Woody debris, WD）是全球重要的碳库，其分解过程可将养分归还土壤，同时为微生物、植物与动物提供栖息生境。因此，探明驱动WD分解的关键因素具有重要意义。2. 不同树种的WD分解速率差异显著，但目前学界对树皮在该过程中的作用仍知之甚少。3. 本研究旨在明确与生长及防护功能相关的树皮功能性状的种间变异，如何、在多大程度上对木材分解产生枯死后效应，且该效应部分由动物介导。我们还探究了在整个木材分解过程中，树皮覆盖度与树皮性状所发挥的作用。4. 综合结论。本研究发现：(i) 树皮对WD分解的影响具有物种特异性与木材尺寸特异性；(ii) 树皮可促进较粗木质残体的分解，但在部分树种中会延缓细枝的分解；(iii) 在木材分解的早期阶段，树皮可作为环境过滤因子调控动物群落组成。本研究强调，在研究WD分解时需纳入树皮效应的考量，并通过树种树皮性状，为将木本物种属性效应纳入生物地球化学与气候变化模型提供了重要的补充性研究支撑。