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Data from: The influence of lightning on insect and fungal dynamics in a lowland tropical forest

Lawhorn, Kane1; Richards, Jeannine2; Gora, Evan3; Burchfield, Jeffrey4; Bitzer, Phillip4; Gutierrez, Cesar5; Yanoviak, Stephen1

Published Nov 27, 2024 on Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.37pvmcvv5

Data files

Nov 27, 2024 version files 815.96 KB

Abstract

Lightning strikes are a common source of disturbance in tropical forests, and a typical strike generates large quantities of dead wood.  Lightning-damaged trees are a consistent resource for tropical saproxylic organisms (i.e., dead wood dependent), but patterns of consumer colonization and succession following lightning strikes are not known.  Here, we explored temporal variation in the occurrence of four common consumer taxa that span multiple trophic levels—beetles, Azteca ants, termites, and fungi—in lightning strike sites and nearby undamaged control sites in a lowland forest of Panama.  Beetle abundance was 10 times higher in lightning strike sites than in paired control sites, and beetle assemblages were compositionally distinct.  Beetle assemblages were initially dominated by bark and ambrosia beetles (Curculionidae: Platypodinae, Scolytinae), and predators (including bark and ambrosia beetle specialist predators) increased in abundance relatively synchronously.  At the tree-level, beetle activity and fungal fruiting bodies respectively were 3.8 and 12.2 times more likely to be observed in lightning-damaged trees in lightning strike sites vs. undamaged trees in paired control sites, whereas the occurrence probabilities of Azteca ants and termites were similar between lightning-damaged trees in lightning strike sites and undamaged trees in control sites.  Tree size also was important; larger dead trees in strike sites were more likely to support beetles, termites, and fungal fruiting bodies, and larger trees—regardless of mortality status—were more likely to host Azteca.  Beetle presence was associated with higher rates of subsequent fungal presence, providing some evidence of beetle-associated priority effects on colonization patterns.  These results indicate that lightning plays a key role in supporting tropical insect and fungal consumers by providing localized patches of suitable habitat.  Any climate-driven changes in lightning frequency in tropical forests will likely affect a broad suite of consumer organisms, potentially altering community and ecosystem-level processes.