This project has its own webpage at www.indiana.edu/~preserve/cicada.

Summary

In collaboration with James Speer (Indiana State University), we are investigating the effect of periodical cicadas on forest community dynamics. We studied Brood X, which emerged in Indiana in 2004.

The abstract for our NSF grant supporting this research can be found at: nsf.gov/.... Visit the IU Research and Teaching Preserve Web site for more information about periodical cicadas and the cicada research project.

Separate from our research project on cicadas, we developed Informal Science Education (ISE) materials with the support of the NSF Communicating Research to Public Audiences (CRPA) program. The abstract for this grant award can be found at: nsf.gov/.... The main goal of this project was to produce a one-hour documentary on periodical cicadas. This documentary Return of the Cicadas was taped and produced by Sam Orr with the assistance of WFYI, a PBS station in Indianapolis, Indiana, and broadcast in the Midwest (see wfyi.org). The Return of the Cicadas documentary is available on DVD.

As part of this project, an award-winning five-minute video on periodical cicadas was produced by Sam Orr and Roger Hangarter (see bio.indiana.edu/~hangarterlab). An interactive presentation on periodical cicadas can be found on the IU Cicada Project site at: www.indiana.edu/~preserve/cicada/.

Representative Publications on Periodical Cicadas & Forest Dynamics (Download PDF)

Representative Photos