Cicada emergence alters forest food webs

Martha Weiss; John Lill

doi:10.25250/thescbr.brk802

Authors

Martha Weiss Georgetown University https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7532-4921
John Lill George Washington University https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0507-6656

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25250/thescbr.brk802

Keywords:

Forests, Food Webs, Community Ecology, Resource Pulses, Trophic Cascades

Abstract

During a recent periodical cicada emergence, over 80 bird species altered their foraging behaviors to feed on the abundant insects. This diet shift reduced the rate of predation on forest caterpillars, doubling both their abundance and the amount of leaf tissue they consumed. Regional biomass pulses thus have the potential to disrupt the usual patterns of energy flow in forest ecosystems.

Author Biographies

Martha Weiss, Georgetown University

Professor

John Lill, George Washington University

Professor

Original article reference

Zoe L. Getman-Pickering et al., Periodical cicadas disrupt trophic dynamics through community-level shifts in avian foraging. Science 382, 320-324 (2023). DOI: 10.1126/science.adi742