Termite sensitivity to temperature affects global wood decay rates

Amy E. Zanne, Habacuc Flores-Moreno, Jeff R. Powell, William K. Cornwell, James W. Dalling, Amy T. Austin, Aimee T. Classen, Paul Eggleton, Kei-ichi Okada, Catherine L. Parr, E. Carol Adair, Stephen Adu-Bredu, Md Azharul Alam, Carolina Alvarez-Garzón, Deborah Mattos Guimarães Apgaua, Roxana Aragón, Marcelo Ardón, Stefan Arndt, Louise A. Ashton, Nicholas A. BarberJacques Beauchêne, Matty P. Berg, Jason Beringer, Matthias Boer, José Antonio Bonet, Katherine Bunney, Tynan J. Burkhardt, Dulcinéia Carvalho, Dennis Castillo-Figueroa, Lucas A. Cernusak, Alexander W. Cheesman, Tainá M. Cirne-Silva, Jamie R. Cleverly, Johannes H.C. Cornelissen, Timothy J. Curran, André Mouro D’Angioli, Caroline Dallstream, Nico Eisenhauer, Fidele Evouna Ondo, Alex Fajardo, Romina D. Fernandez, Astrid Ferrer, Marco A. L. Fontes, Mark L. Galatowitsch, Grizelle González, Felix Gottschall, Peter R. Grace, Elena Granda, Hannah M. Griffiths, Mariana Guerra Lara, Motohiro Hasegawa, Mariet M. Hefting, Nina Hinko-Najera, Tim Lardner, Michael J. Liddell, Craig MacFarlane, Cate Macinnis-Ng, Ravi F. Mariano, M. Soledad Méndez, Wayne S. Meyer, Akira S. Mori, Aloysio S. Moura, Matthew Northwood, Romà Ogaya, Rafael Oliveira, Alberto Orgiazz, Juliana Pardo, Guille Peguero, Josep Peñuelas, Luis I. Perez, Juan M. Posada, Cecilia M. Prada, Tomáš Prívetivý, Suzanne Prober, Jonathan Prunier, Gabriel W. Quansah, Victor Resco de Dios, Ronny Richter, Mark P. Robertson, Lucas F. Rocha, Megan A. Rúa, Carolina Sarmiento, Richard Silberstein, Mateus Cardoso Silva, Flávia Freire Siqueira, Matthew Glenn Stillwagon, Jacqui Stol, Melanie K. Taylor, Francois Teste, David Yue Phin Tng, David Tucker, Manfred Türke, Michael D. Ulyshen, Oscar J. Valverde-Barrantes, Eduardo van den Berg, Richard S. P. van Logtestijn, G. F (Ciska) Veen, Jason G. Vogel, Timothy J. Wardlaw, Georg Wiehl, Christian Wirth, Michaela J. Woods, Paul Camilo Zalamea

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

22 Citations (Web of Science)

Abstract

Deadwood is a large global carbon store with its store size partially determined by biotic decay. Microbial wood decay rates are known to respond to changing temperature and precipitation. Termites are also important decomposers in the tropics but are less well studied. An understanding of their climate sensitivities is needed to estimate climate change effects on wood carbon pools. Using data from133 sites spanning six continents, we found that termite wood discovery and consumption were highly sensitive to temperature (with decay increasing >6.8 times per 10°C increase in temperature)—even more so than microbes. Termite decay effects were greatest in tropical seasonal forests, tropical savannas, and subtropical deserts. With tropicalization (i.e., warming shifts to tropical climates), termite wood decay will likely increase as termites access more of Earth’s surface.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1440–1444
Number of pages5
JournalScience
Volume377
Issue number6613
Early online date23 Sept 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 23 Sept 2022

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