Standing dead trees are known to house diverse assemblages of vertebrates in temperate forests worldwide. In temperate austral forests of South America, however, the functional role of dead trees has been mostly focused on cavity provision, but other functions remain poorly understood. Thus, we conducted a preliminary study examining the effect of dead trees on the taxonomic diversity of vertebrates in South American temperate forests. Diversity metrics estimated from rarefaction curves and community data augmentation showed that taxonomic diversity of vertebrate species was equal between dead and living trees. Habitat variables equally affected species diversity of vertebrates in dead and living trees. Tree height and elevation had a positive effect while forest cover negatively affected species diversity. The similar diversity and composition of vertebrates found in living and dead trees suggests dead trees are equally valuable for conservation. In austral forests dominated by long-living tree species, the death of a tree is a long process involving the retention of several microhabitats once the tree dies and the enrichment of deadwood structures attracting saproxylic organisms. These findings highlight the need of establishing minimum stocks of dying and senescent trees for achieving ecosystem integrity.

众所周知，站立的枯树在全球温带森林中栖息着各种脊椎动物。然而，在南美洲的温带南方森林中，死树的功能作用主要集中在提供空洞上，但其他功能仍然知之甚少。因此，我们进行了一项初步研究，检查死树对南美温带森林脊椎动物分类多样性的影响。根据稀疏曲线和群落数据增强估计的多样性指标表明，脊椎动物物种的分类多样性在死树和活树之间是相等的。栖息地变量同样影响死树和活树中脊椎动物的物种多样性。树高和海拔产生积极影响，而森林覆盖对物种多样性产生负面影响。在活树和死树中发现的脊椎动物相似的多样性和组成表明，死树对保护同样有价值。在以长寿树种为主的南方森林中，一棵树的死亡是一个漫长的过程，涉及到树木死亡后几个微生境的保留以及吸引腐木生物的枯木结构的富集。这些发现强调需要建立最低限度的垂死和衰老树木库存，以实现生态系统完整性。