Herbivorous insects alter biogeochemical cycling within forests, but the magnitude of these impacts, their global variation, and drivers of this variation remain poorly understood. To address this knowledge gap and help improve biogeochemical models, we established a global network of 74 plots within 40 mature, undisturbed broadleaved forests. We analyzed freshly senesced and green leaves for carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and silica concentrations, foliar production and herbivory, and stand-level nutrient fluxes. We show more nutrient release by insect herbivores at non-outbreak levels in tropical forests than temperate and boreal forests, that these fluxes increase strongly with mean annual temperature, and that they exceed atmospheric deposition inputs in some localities. Thus, background levels of insect herbivory are sufficiently large to both alter ecosystem element cycling and influence terrestrial carbon cycling. Further, climate can affect interactions between natural populations of plants and herbivores with important consequences for global biogeochemical cycles across broadleaved forests.

Appalchian State University 572 Rivers Street Boone NC 28608 USA

Asociación Civil Sin Fines De Lucro Para La Biodiversidad Investigación Y Desarrollo Ambiental En Ecosistemas Tropicales Urbanización Ucchullo Grande Avenida Argentina F 9 Cusco Perú

CAS Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Management Institute of Applied Ecology Chinese Academy of Sciences Shenyang 110016 China

Centre for Horticultural Science Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation The University of Queensland 47 Mayers Road Nambour 4056 Australia

College of Science and Engineering and Centre for Tropical Environmental and Sustainability Science James Cook University Qld Australia

CongoPeat Project Ecole Nationale Supérieure d'Agronomie et de Foresterie Université Marien Ngouabi Brazzaville République du Congo

CONICET CENAC APN Universidad Nacional del Comahue Argentina

CSIR Forestry Research Institute of Ghana Kumasi Ashanti Ghana

Department of Ecology and Environmental Science Umeå University Linnaeus väg 6 Umeå Sweden

Department of Ecology Faculty of Biology University of Warsaw Żwirki i Wigury 101 02 086 Warsaw Poland

Department of Ecology University of Innsbruck Sterwartestraße 15 Innsbruck Austria

Department of Geography University College London London UK

Department of Natural Resources Management CSIR College of Science and Technology Kumasi Ghana

Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science Lund University Lund Sweden

Department of Physical Geography and Environmental Management Problems Institute of Geography Russian Science Academy Moscow Russia

Department of Plant Systematics University of Bayreuth Bayreuth Germany

Department of Science and Conservation National Tropical Botanical Garden 3530 Papalina Road Kalāheo HI 96741 USA

Ecole Nationale Supérieure d'Agronomie et de Foresterie Université Marien Ngouabi Brazzaville République du Congo

Environmental Change Institute School of Geography and the Environment University of Oxford Oxford OX1 3QY UK

Escuela de Ingeniería Forestal Tecnológico de Costa Rica Cartago Costa Rica

Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas Universidad Nacional de San Antonio Abad del Cusco Av de La Cultura 773 Cusco Cusco Province 08000 Peru

Faculty of Silviculture and Forest Engineering Transilvania University of Brașov Șirul Beethoven 1 500123 Brașov Romania

Forest Research Institute University of Quebec in Abitibi Témiscamingue QC Canada

Forest Research Institute University of the Sunshine Coast Sippy Downs Queensland Australia

Grupo de Ecología de Invasiones Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente CONICET Universidad Nacional del Comahue Bariloche Argentina

Institute of Ecology Ilia State University 3 5 Cholokashvili Ave 0169 Tbilisi Georgia

Institute of Geology and Nature Management Far Eastern Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences Relochny lane 1 Blagoveshchensk 675000 Russia

Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry Pacific Southwest Research Station USDA Forest Service Hilo HI USA

Institute of Zoology Ilia State University 3 5 Cholokashvili Ave 0169 Tbilisi Georgia

Instituto de Ciencias Ambientales y Evolutivas Universidad Austral de Chile Campus Isla Teja Valdivia Chile

Kevo Subarctic Research Institute Biodiversity Unit University of Turku 20014 Turku Finland

Laboratoire de Biodiversité de Gestion des Ecosystèmes et de l'Environnement Faculté des Sciences et techniques Université Marien Ngouabi Brazzaville République du Congo

Mammal Research Institute Polish Academy of Sciences Ul Stoczek 1 17‑230 Białowieża Poland

Pacific Southwest Research Station USDA Forest Service Hilo Hawai'i USA

Pitirim Sorokin Syktyvkar State University 455 Oktyabrsky prosp 167001 Syktyvkar Russia

Reforest Africa PO Box 5 Mang'ula Kilombero District Tanzania

Research Institute of Tropical Forestry Chinese Academy of Forestry Guangzhou 510520 China

Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources University of Vermont Burlington VT 05405 USA

School of Geography University of Leeds Leeds UK

Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre Frankfurt Germany

Siberian Institute of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry SB RAS 664033 Irkutsk Lermontova str 132 Russia

Swiss Federal Institute for Forest Snow and Landscape Research WSL Birmensdorf 8903 Switzerland

The Silva Tarouca Research Institute Květnové náměstí 391 Průhonice 252 43 Czech Republic

Ugyen Wangchuk Institute for Forest Research and Training Department of Forests and Park Services Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources Lamai Goempa Bumthang Bhutan

Yugra State University 628012 Chekhova street 16 Khanty Mansiysk Russia

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The impact of insect herbivory on biogeochemical cycling in broadleaved forests varies with temperature