TRANSCRIPT:
Hello this is Dr. Tom Mullikin with SCDNR for Into the Wild.
One summer evening I stepped outside and the trees were humming. Cicadas. Some species spend years underground as nymphs, feeding on tree roots before emerging all at once.
Their adult lives only last a few weeks, but that short burst has impact. Birds, raccoons, even fish take advantage of the sudden food source. When cicadas die, their bodies return nitrogen to the soil - giving nearby plants a measurable nutrient boost the following season.
If you hear them this summer, take a moment and listen. You're hearing one small piece of a much bigger cycle.