Acute resource pulses from periodical cicadas propagate to belowground food webs but do not affect tree performance.

ABSTRACT: Acute resource pulses can have dramatic legacies for organismal growth, but the legacy effects of resource pulses on broader aspects of community structure and ecosystem processes are less understood. Mass emergence of periodical cicadas (Magicicada spp.) provides an excellent opportunity to shed light on the influence of resource pulses on community and ecosystem dynamics: the adults emerge every 13 or 17 years in vast numbers over much of eastern North America, with a smaller but still significant number becoming incorporated into forest food webs. To study the potential effects of such arthropod resource pulse on primary production and belowground food webs, we added adult cicada bodies to the soil surface surrounding sycamore trees and assessed soil carbon and nitrogen concentrations,

SUBMITTER: Setala H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9786866 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature