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Science 26 November 2004:
Vol. 306. no. 5701, pp. 1488 - 1489
DOI: 10.1126/science.1106582
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Perspectives

Also see the archival list of Science's Compass: Enhanced Perspectives

ECOLOGY:
Enhanced: Oh the Locusts Sang, Then They Dropped Dead

Richard S. Ostfeld and Felicia Keesing

Seventeen-year cicadas of the species Magicicada spend most of their lives underground feeding on xylem from the roots of trees. But every 17 years they emerge in vast numbers, mate, lay eggs, and die. In their Perspective, Ostfeld and Keesing discuss a new study (Yang) demonstrating that the cicada carcasses provide a rich source of nitrogen, which is released by soil microbes and results in an increase in the nitrogen content and seed size of American bellflowers, an understory plant.

The authors are in the Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, NY 12545, USA. F. Keesing is also in the Biology Department, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY 12504, USA. E-mail: rostfeld{at}ecostudies.org

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)