Termites are key drivers of short‐term deadwood decay in Neotropical Cerrado across vegetation types

Abstract

AbstractThe impact of deadwood in ecosystems is dependent on its longevity, as determined by decay rates controlled by decay agents. Despite the importance of macroclimate, significant variation of decay rates within a given macroclimatic envelope has been reported. Such variation may be driven by local‐scale microenvironmental conditions as regulated by the plant community structure as well as the presence of specific biotic and abiotic decay agents, decoupling the relation between macroclimate conditions and deadwood decay rates. In this study, we evaluated the relation between local‐scale variation in plant community structure with the decay rates of deadwood and the relative importance of biotic and abiotic decay agents in deadwood decay in Neotropical Cerrado. For this, we performed a wood mass loss experiment using Pinus taeda wood which was installed at three sites in three vegetation types differing in canopy cover—grasslands, savannas and woodlands; wood was divided into treatments according to deadwood exposure to decay agents—microorganism, termite and solar radiation. Across sites, we found termites and microbes decomposed wood twice as fast as microbes alone, while solar radiation was not a strong driver of deadwood decay in our sites. Additionally, local‐scale variation in plant community structure affected deadwood decay, as decay rates and frequency of wood blocks discovered by termites were lower in woodlands than in grasslands and savannas. Our study highlights the interactive effects of local‐scale variation in plant community structure and termites on deadwood turnover, mainly due to differences in termite foraging behaviour among vegetation types and highlights the key role of termites in deadwood decay throughout Neotropical savannas.