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Preliminary Observations of Arthropods Associated with Buried Carrion on Oahu
Author(s) -
Rysavy Noel M.,
Goff M. Lee
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of forensic sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.715
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1556-4029
pISSN - 0022-1198
DOI - 10.1111/1556-4029.12643
Subject(s) - carrion , context (archaeology) , ecological succession , arthropod , ridge , loam , biomass (ecology) , forensic entomology , ecology , geology , biology , soil water , paleontology , larva
Several studies in Hawaii have focused on arthropod succession and decomposition patterns of surface remains, but the current research presents the first study to focus on shallow burials in this context. Three domestic pig carcasses ( Sus scrofa L.) were buried at the depths of 20–40 cm in silty clay loam soil on an exposed ridge on the leeward side of the volcanically formed Koolau Mountain Range. One carcass was exhumed after 3 weeks, another after 6 weeks, and the last carcass was exhumed after 9 weeks. An inventory of arthropod taxa present on the carrion and in the surrounding soil and observations pertaining to decomposition were recorded at each exhumation. The longer the carrion was buried, the greater the diversity of arthropod species that were recovered from the remains. Biomass loss was calculated to be 49% at the 3‐week interval, 56% at the 6‐week interval, and 59% at the 9‐week interval.