Niche Relationships of a Guild of Necrophagous Flies1,2

Denno, Robert F.; Cothran, Warren R.

doi:10.1093/aesa/68.4.741

Cited by 105 publications

(69 citation statements)

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“…Therefore, it shows that small pigs (weighing between 3 and 35 kg) decompose 2.82 times faster than large pigs (weighing between 60 and 90 kg). Denno and Cothram [19] indicated in their study that the size of the carcass can be directly related to the density of the fly population. During this study, blow-flies (Diptera) were observed within minutes after placing the piglets.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effect of body size on the rate of decomposition in a temperate region of South Africa

Sutherland

Myburgh

Steyn

et al. 2013

Forensic Science International

107

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Forensic anthropologists rely on the state of decomposition of a body to estimate the PostMortem-Interval (PMI) which provides information about the natural events and environmental forces that could have affected the remains after death. Various factors are known to influence the rate of decomposition, among them temperature, rainfall and exposure of the body. However, conflicting reports appear in the literature on the effect of body size on the rate of decay. The aim of this project was to compare decomposition rates of large pigs (Sus scrofa; 60 -90 kg), with that of small pigs (< 35 kg), to assess the influence of body size on decomposition rates. For the decomposition rates of small pigs, 15 piglets were assessed three times per week over a period of three months during spring and early summer. Data collection was conducted until complete skeletonization occurred. Stages of decomposition were scored according to separate categories for each anatomical region, and the point values for each region were added to determine the total body score (TBS), which represents the overall stage of decomposition for each pig. For the large pigs, data of 15 pigs were used. Scatter plots illustrating the relationships between TBS and PMI as well as TBS and Accumulated degree days (ADD) were used to assess the pattern of decomposition and to compare decomposition rates between small and large pigs. Results indicated that rapid decomposition occurs during the early stages of decomposition for both samples. Large pigs showed a plateau phase in the course of advanced stages of decomposition, during which decomposition was minimal. A similar, but much shorter plateau was reached by small pigs of >20 kg at a PMI of 20-25 days, after which decomposition commenced swiftly.This was in contrast to the small pigs of <20kg, which showed no plateau phase and their decomposition rates were swift throughout the duration of the study. Overall, small pigs decomposed 2.82 times faster than large pigs, indicating that body size does have an effect on the rate of decomposition.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effect of body size on the rate of decomposition in a temperate region of South Africa

Sutherland

Myburgh

Steyn

et al. 2013

Forensic Science International

107

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“…Ecologically similar species can coexist, however, if they utilize the carcass resource at different times (VanLaerhoven 2009). Denno and Cothran (1975) also concluded that the coexistence of carrion fly species could be explained if each specialized to a varying degree on different aspects of the available food resource and oviposition sites. Two schools of thought regarding the coexistence of competing species that use a patchily distributed resource have been advanced by Kneidel (1984), namely that: 1) specialization and competition is important in determining community structure; and 2) colonization (or adult visitation patterns in the present context) is largely independent of species differences.…”

Section: Adult Coexistencementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, adults of the latter species, which are predisposed to sunlit conditions, exhibited marked dominance in these warm sunlit settings. Denno and Cothran (1975) examined the possibility that carrion fly "guild members" differentially exploited carrion along seasonal, successional, and carcass size niches.…”

Section: Adult Visits and Carcass Decompositionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, L. coeruleivirids consistently makes up the "first arrivals" (within the first 24 h after death) on a variety of other carcass substrates from disparate geographic locales in the U.S.: rats, rabbits and sheep in California (Denno and Cothran 1975); rabbits, opossums and largemouth bass in Mississippi (Goddard and Lago 1985); chickens in Missouri (Hall and Doisy 1993); squirrels, rabbits, cat, opossum in Illinois (Johnson 1975); alligators in Alabama (Nelder et al 2009); and dogs in Tennessee (Reed 1958). We found that L. coeruleiviridis arrived at carcasses early, but their numbers diminished over time, being supplanted by P. regina adults.…”

Section: Adult Visits and Carcass Decompositionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Unlike L. coeruleiviridis, P. regina arrives later when carcasses are in the bloat or active decay stage of decomposition (Denno and Cothran 1975;Goddard and Lago 1985;Hall and Doisy 1993), bringing Anderson and VanLaerhoven (1996) to remark that P. regina is not a "pioneer species." These were precisely the adult visitation patterns, relative to the stage of carcass decomposition, we observed for L. coeruleiviridis and P. regina.…”

Section: Adult Visits and Carcass Decompositionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Behavioral Patterns of Adult Carrion Flies Phormiaregina and Luciliacoeruleiviridis (Diptera: Calliphoridae) at Pig Carcasses in West Virginia, USA.

Joy¹,

LeGrow²

2015

AIJB

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A study to determine adult arrival behaviors of two forensically important carrion flies (Diptera: Calliphoridae), Phormiaregina (Meigen) and Luciliacoeruleiviridis (Macquart), was conducted at a wildlife management area in southwestern West arrive at carcasses in warm experimental periods within minutes of carcass placement (i.e., at 0 h). At carcasses in cool periods, however, arrival is delayed by 24 h for L. coeruleiviridis at both sunlit and shaded carcasses and by 30 h to 48 h for P. Regina at sunlit and shaded carcasses, respectively. Phormiaregina adults are significantly predisposed to visiting sunlit carcasses, whereas L. coeruleiviridis adults are significantly more likely to visit shaded carcasses.

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Necrobiome framework for bridging decomposition ecology of autotrophically and heterotrophically derived organic matter

Benbow

Barton

Ulyshen

et al. 2018

Ecological Monographs

136

144

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Decomposition contributes to global ecosystem function by contributing to nutrient recycling, energy flow, and limiting biomass accumulation. The decomposer organisms influencing this process form diverse, complex, and highly dynamic communities that often specialize on different plant or animal resources. Despite performing the same net role, there is a need to conceptually synthesize information on the structure and function of decomposer communities across the spectrum of dead plant and animal resources. A lack of synthesis has limited cross‐disciplinary learning and research in important areas of ecosystem and community ecology. Here we expound on the “necrobiome” concept and develop a framework describing the decomposer communities and their interactions associated with plant and animal resource types within multiple ecosystems. We outline the biotic structure and ecological functions of the necrobiome, along with how the necrobiome fits into a broader landscape and ecosystem context. The expanded necrobiome model provides a set of perspectives on decomposer communities across resource types, and conceptually unifies plant and animal decomposer communities into the same framework, while acknowledging key differences in processes and mechanisms. This framework is intended to raise awareness among researchers, and advance the construction of explicit, mechanistic hypotheses that further our understanding of decomposer community contributions to biodiversity, the structure and function of ecosystems, global nutrient recycling and energy flow.

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Niche Relationships of a Guild of Necrophagous Flies1,2

Cited by 105 publications

References 0 publications

The effect of body size on the rate of decomposition in a temperate region of South Africa

The effect of body size on the rate of decomposition in a temperate region of South Africa

Behavioral Patterns of Adult Carrion Flies Phormiaregina and Luciliacoeruleiviridis (Diptera: Calliphoridae) at Pig Carcasses in West Virginia, USA.

Necrobiome framework for bridging decomposition ecology of autotrophically and heterotrophically derived organic matter

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