Cicadas’ Cyclical Reign Helps Fuel Tree Growth
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
Even in death, 17-year cicadas make their mark. Their decaying carcasses give a super-size boost in nutrients to forest soil and stimulate seed and nitrogen production in a plant important to the forest ecosystem, researchers reported this week in the journal Science.
The findings might explain why tree growth increases for several years after a major cicada emergence, experts said.
