Aquatic Vertebrate Carrion Decomposition

Relative Roles of Blow Flies (Diptera: Calliphoridae) and Invasive Fire Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Solenopsis spp.) in Carrion Decomposition

Journal of Medical Entomology ◽

10.1093/jme/tjab014 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Grant D De Jong ◽

Florencia Meyer ◽

Jerome Goddard

Keyword(s):

Southeastern United States ◽

Fire Ants ◽

Decomposition Rates ◽

Ecological Processes ◽

Blow Flies ◽

Complete Development ◽

Eggs And Larvae ◽

Entomological Data ◽

Carrion Decomposition

Abstract Fire ants (Solenopsis spp.) have increasingly been reported from carrion in the southeastern United States and are now a part of the normal succession community. There have been previous observations of these ants altering carrion and preying on other carrion-attendant fauna; however, the overall effects of these activities on carrion decomposition rates, community composition, and blow fly larval development are poorly understood. Alteration of these ecological processes by fire ants could affect the forensic interpretation of entomological data. We conducted a study in Mississippi and Florida whereby portions of the succession fauna were excluded from access to pig carrion to study the relative effects of fire ants and blow flies on carrion decomposition and succession: a control with all fauna having access, a second treatment where fire ants and other geophilic taxa were excluded, and a third treatment in which blow flies and other large organisms were excluded. Fire ants inflicted lesions in the carrion, buried portions that touched the ground, and preyed on some members of the succession fauna. Their exclusion did not affect carrion decomposition rates that were measured but slightly affected the overall carrion community, and strongly affected the oviposition and development of blow flies. Despite the presence of fire ants early in the control, blow flies were eventually able to overcome predation of eggs and larvae, continue colonization, and complete development; however, the delay in the colonization of blow flies on carrion could affect the determination of postmortem intervals when development rates of blow flies are considered in the calculation.

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Injuries by Aquatic Vertebrate Animals

10.1007/978-3-030-72250-0_3 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 91-300

Author(s):

Vidal Haddad Junior

Keyword(s):

Aquatic Vertebrate

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Carrion decomposition and assemblage of necrophagous dipterans associated with Terbufos (Organophosphate) intoxicated rat carcasses

Acta Tropica ◽

10.1016/j.actatropica.2020.105652 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 212 ◽

pp. 105652

Author(s):

Jéssica Teixeira Jales ◽

Taciano de Moura Barbosa ◽

Luana Carla dos Santos ◽

Vanessa de Paula Soares Rachetti ◽

Renata Antonaci Gama

Keyword(s):

Carrion Decomposition

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Spatial changes in soil stable isotopic composition in response to carrion decomposition

Biogeosciences ◽

10.5194/bg-16-3929-2019 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 16 (19) ◽

pp. 3929-3939 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Sarah W. Keenan ◽

Sean M. Schaeffer ◽

Jennifer M. DeBruyn

Keyword(s):

Soft Tissue ◽

Isotopic Composition ◽

Microbial Communities ◽

Soft Tissues ◽

Soil Microbial Communities ◽

Bulk Soil ◽

Soil Biogeochemistry ◽

Stable Isotopic Composition ◽

Stable Isotopic ◽

Carrion Decomposition

Abstract. Decomposition provides a critical mechanism for returning nutrients to the surrounding environment. In terrestrial systems, animal carcass, or carrion, decomposition results in a cascade of biogeochemical changes. Soil microbial communities are stimulated, resulting in transformations of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) sourced from the decaying carrion soft tissues, changes to soil pH, electrical conductivity, and oxygen availability as microbial communities release CO2 and mineralize organic N. While many of the rapid changes to soil biogeochemistry observed during carrion decomposition return to background or starting conditions shortly after soft tissues are degraded, some biogeochemical parameters, particularly bulk soil stable δ15N isotopic composition, have the potential to exhibit prolonged perturbations, extending for several years. The goal of this study was to evaluate the lateral and vertical changes to soil stable isotopic composition 1 year after carrion decomposition in a forest ecosystem. Lateral transects extending 140 cm from three decomposition “hotspots” were sampled at 20 cm intervals, and subsurface cores were collected beneath each hotspot to a depth of 50 cm. Bulk soil stable isotopic composition (δ15N and δ13C) indicated that 1 year after complete soft tissue removal and decay, soils were significantly 15N enriched by 7.5±1.0 ‰ compared to control soils up to 60 cm from the hotspot center, and enrichment extended to a depth of 10 cm. Hotspot soils also contained 10 % more N compared to control soils, indicating that decomposition perturbs N pools. Our results demonstrate that carrion decomposition has the potential to result in long-term changes to soil biogeochemistry, up to at least 1 year after soft tissue degradation, and to contribute to bulk soil stable isotopic composition.

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