PARENT SESSION
Oral Session # 68: Soil Ecology I: Communities, Respiration, and Nutrient Cycling.
Presiding: C Rumbaitis-del Rio
Thursday, August 7. 8:00 AM to 11:30 AM, SITCC Meeting Room 106.

17-year periodical cicadas as a resource pulse: Effects on soil nitrogen availability.

Yang, Louie^*,1, ¹ University of California, Davis, Davis, CA

ABSTRACT- Many natural systems experience resource pulses: occasional, sudden and brief changes in resource availability over time. While resource pulses appear to be a common feature of many natural systems, the ecological importance of these rare events of exceptional magnitude remains largely unexplored, especially in a belowground context. Here, I present the results of a manipulative field experiment conducted to examine the effects of superabundant 17-year periodical cicadas (Magicicada spp.) as a resource pulse in eastern North American forests. In these experiments, supplementation of cicada carcasses substantially increased the availability of soluble soil nitrogen over the summer growing season. I examine potential indirect consequences of this resource pulse for both belowground and aboveground communities and consider some emerging generalities for the ecological consequences of resource pulses in belowground systems.

Key words: soil nitrogen, Magicicada, resource pulse, fertilization