Description: This dataset consists of invertebrate abundance data and associated ecosystem measurements (Including leaf litter depth and mass, seedlings, soil moisture and nutrients, and rainfall) measured within an area of lowland, old growth dipterocarp rainforest in the Maliau Basin Conservation Area, Sabah, Malaysia between 2015 and 2016. Data were collected during a collaborative project which was included in the NERC Human-modified tropical forest (HMTF) programme. Project: This dataset was collected as part of the following SAFE research project: Biodiversity and land-use impacts on tropical ecosystem function (BALI): Experimental manipulations of biodiversity at SAFE Funding: These data were collected as part of research funded by: UK NERC-funded Biodiversity And Land-use Impacts on Tropical Ecosystem Function (BALI) consortium (Standard grant, NERC grant NE/L000016/1) This dataset is released under the CC-BY 4.0 licence, requiring that you cite the dataset in any outputs, but has the additional condition that you acknowledge the contribution of these funders in any outputs. Permits: These data were collected under permit from the following authorities: Sabah Biodiversity Centre (Research licence na) XML metadata: GEMINI compliant metadata for this dataset is available here Files: This consists of 1 file: Termite_monitoring_maliau.xlsx Termite_monitoring_maliau.xlsx This file contains dataset metadata and 11 data tables: Leaf_litter_depth (described in worksheet Leaf_litter_depth) Description: summary of leaf litter measurements collected on experimental plots. An in situ assay of ecosystem-level decomposition was carried out by measuring leaf litter depth during the drought (March 2016) and non-drought (October 2016) periods. Forty leaf litter depth measurements were taken in total per plot in March 2016, with 10 measurements spaced every 3 m across four 30 m transect lines, with each transect being separated by 10 m. In October 2016, a total of sixty measurements were taken per plot, similarly spaced ...