Summary
Chronic defoliation by the fall cankerworm, Alsophila pometaria (Harris), accompanied substantial increases in the stream export of nitrate nitrogen (NO3−N) from three mixed hardwood forests in the southern Appalachians. These integrated results clearly demonstrate a measurable effect of insect consumers on ecosystem processes, and provide support for the regulatory importance of insects on a landscape scale.
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Swank, W.T., Waide, J.B., Crossley, D.A. et al. Insect defoliation enhances nitrate export from forest ecosystems. Oecologia 51, 297–299 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00540897
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00540897