Invasive insect herbivore alters ecosystem services delivered by cycads

A study published in the June 2024 issue of the journal Pedosphere looks at how a non-native armored scale insect alters the leaf litter decomposition dynamics of the novel host cycad species on newly invaded islands. The scale insect, known as cycad aulacaspis scale, or CAS, has been invading new territories around the globe for decades, killing the resident cultivated and natural cycad populations.