Insect defoliation enhances nitrate export from forest ecosystems

Abstract

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.