Why are trees hollow? Termites, microbes and tree internal stem damage in a tropical savanna

作者：Abbey R. Yatsko, Baptiste Wijas, Jed Calvert, Alexander W. Cheesman, Keith E. Cook, Paul Eggleton, Indigo Gambold, Caleb Jones, Pedro Russell‐Smith, Amy E. Zanne · 发表于：Functional Ecology · 年份：2024 · DOI：10.1111/1365-2435.14727 · 被引用次数：8 · 研究领域：Forest Ecology and Biodiversity Studies、Plant and animal studies、Insect and Arachnid Ecology and Behavior

Abstract Wood plays a vital role in the terrestrial carbon cycle, both sequestering and subsequently releasing carbon to the atmosphere via decomposition. Decomposition has largely been studied in fallen and standing deadwood; much less is known about decomposition occurring inside live trees due to hollowing by wood‐feeding termites and microbial heart rot. Internal stem damage is difficult to measure, leaving many unresolved knowledge gaps. Little is known regarding the location and total amount of damage done by termites and microbes, as well as whether these decomposers act in concert or separately. Furthermore, tree species, wood density and stem size can influence fallen deadwood decomposition, but their role in living tree internal damage is largely unknown. We destructively harvested 63 trees, finding internal damage in 32. We intensively sampled the internal stem damage in these 32 to investigate the relative contributions of microbes and termites in a tropical savanna in Queensland, Australia. We tested if damage changed at different heights in the tree, quantified tree‐level termite and microbial damage and examined if termite and microbial damage co‐occurred. We also tested the influence of tree species, wood specific gravity and size on tree‐level internal stem damage across four species. Termite and microbial damage were present in 45% and 33% of all trees, respectively. On average, termite damage reduced total tree biomass by 3.3% (maximum 28%, SD = 4.7%) and m...