Ted Derheimer
Cicada Brood X and their influence on soil infiltration.
BSES Senior Research 2006

The summer of 2004 here in Bloomington was accompanied by a mass emergence of the cicada brood X. This brood is the largest of all cicada broods, and temporarily altered our ecosystem. As the cicadas started their emergence from the ground they leave holes, or tunnels leading deep into the soil. These tunnels changed the rate of soil infiltration, and with that changed the water balance in the ecosystem. Brood X temporarily altered our ecosystem by changing infiltration capacities, ultimately changing the surface runoff and the change in soil water storage.