Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rdxmf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T10:34:32.889Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Successional patterns of diversity in insect fauna on carrion in sun and shade in the Boreal Forest Region of Canada, near Edmonton, Alberta

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 April 2012

Niki R. Hobischak ,
Sherah L. VanLaerhoven  and
Gail S. Anderson
Niki R. Hobischak
Affiliation:
Forensic Entomology Laboratory, School of Criminology, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada V5A 1S6
Sherah L. VanLaerhoven
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, University of Windsor, 401 Sunset Drive, Windsor, Ontario, Canada N9B 3P4
Gail S. Anderson*
Affiliation:
Forensic Entomology Laboratory, School of Criminology, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada V5A 1S6
*
1 Corresponding author (e-mail: [email protected]).
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

We examined the successional community of insect fauna on exposed carrion in shade and sun in the Boreal Forest Region of Canada, near Edmonton, Alberta, over a 3-year period. This paper focuses on results obtained in the final year of study. Recently killed pigs (Sus domesticus L.) were clothed and placed in direct sunlight or shade on 18 and 20 May 1999. There was no difference in start time or duration of decomposition stages between the two habitats. Species abundance differed between the sun and shade habitats for Protophormia terraenovae (Robineau-desvoidy) larvae (Diptera: Calliphoridae), Necrobia sp. adults (Coleoptera: Cleridae), Catops basilaris Say adults (Coleoptera: Leiodidae), Onthophagus nuchicornis (L.) adults (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae), Heterosilpha ramosa (Say) adults and larvae (Coleoptera: Silphidae), Creophilus maxillosus (L.) adults (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae), and Ontholestes cingulatus (Gravenhorst) adults and larvae (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae). The orders Diptera and Coleoptera were important components of all communities and had the greatest diversity at both the family and the species level throughout succession. Overall species abundance within families was greater in the sun habitat than in the shade. Similar species dominated the sun and shade carcasses during early succession, but dominance was not clearly evident later in succession.

Résumé

Nous avons examiné durant une période de 3 ans la succession des communautés d'insectes sur de la charogne exposée à l'ombre ou au soleil dans la région de la forêt boréale du Canada, près d'Edmonton, Alberta. Nous présentons principalement les résultats de la dernière année de l'étude. Le 18 et le 20 mai 1999, nous avons recouvert de vêtements des cochons domestiques (Sus domesticus L.) fraîchement tués et les avons placés soit en plein soleil, soit à l'ombre. Il n'y a pas de différence temporelle dans le début ni la durée des divers stades de décomposition dans les deux habitats. L'abondance des espèces diffère entre les habitats d'ensoleillement et d'ombre en ce qui regarde les larves de Protophormia terraenovae (Robineau-desvoidy) (Diptera : Calliphoridae), les adultes de Necrobia sp. (Coleoptera : Cleridae), les adultes de Catops basilaris Say (Coleoptera : Leiodidae), les adultes de Onthophagus nuchicornis (L.) (Coleoptera : Scarabaeidae), les adultes et les larves de Heterosilpha ramosa (Say) (Coleoptera : Silphidae), les adultes de Creophilus maxillosus (L.) (Coleoptera : Staphylinidae) et les adultes et les larves d'Ontholestescingulatus (Gravenhorst) (Coleoptera : Staphylinidae). Les diptères et les coléoptères sont des composantes importantes de toutes les communautés et possèdent la diversité la plus grande, tant au niveau des familles que des espèces tout au cours de la succession. Le nombre global d'espèces dans les familles est plus élevé dans l'habitat ensoleillé que dans l'habitat d'ombre. Des espèces semblables prédominent dans les carcasses à l'ombre et au soleil au début de la succession, mais la dominance est moins claire plus tard dans le processus.

[Traduit par la Rédaction]

Type
Articles
Information
The Canadian Entomologist , Volume 138 , Issue 3 , June 2006 , pp. 376 - 383
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 2006

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anderson, G.S., and VanLaerhoven, S.L. 1996. Initial studies on insect succession on carrion in southwestern British Columbia. Journal of Forensic Sciences, 41: 617–625.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anderson, G.S, Hobischak, N.R., Samborski, C., and Beattie, O. 2002. Insect succession on carrion in the Edmonton, Alberta region of Canada. Technical report TR-04-2002, Canadian Police Research Centre. Available from http://www.cprc.org/tr/tr-2002-04.pdf.Google Scholar
Connell, J.H., and Slatyer, R.O. 1977. Mechanisms of succession in natural communities and their role in community stability and organization. The American Naturalist, 3 (982): 1119–1141.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cummins, K.W. 1973. Trophic relations of aquatic insects. Annual Review of Entomology, 18: 183–206.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Denno, R.F., and Cothran, W.R. 1976. Competitive interaction and ecological strategies of sarcophagid and calliphorid flies inhibiting rabbit carrion. Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 69: 109–113.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dillon, L.C. 1997. Insect succession on carrion in three biogeoclimatic zones of British Columbia. M.Sc. thesis, Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia.Google Scholar
Dillon, L.C., and Anderson, G.S. 1995. Forensic entomology: the use of insects in death investigations to determine elapsed time since death. Technical Report TR-05-95, Canadian Police Research Centre.Google Scholar
Dillon, L.C., and Anderson, G.S. 1996. Forensic entomology: the use of insects in death investigations to determine elapsed time since death in interior and northern British Columbia regions. Technical report TR-03-96, Canadian Police Research Centre.Google Scholar
Elzinga, R.J. 2000. Fundamentals of entomology. 5th ed. Prentice-Hall Inc., Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.Google Scholar
Fisher, R.S. 1980. Time of death and changes after death. In Medicolegal investigation of death: guidelines for the application of pathology to crime investigations. 2nd ed. Edited by Spitz, W.U.Fisher, R.S.. Charles C. Thomas, Springfield, Illinois. pp. 11–31.Google Scholar
Goddard, J., and Lago, P.K. 1985. Notes on blowfly (Diptera: Calliphoridae) succession on carrion in northern Mississippi. Journal of Entomological Science, 20: 312–317.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hanski, I. 1987. Colonization of ephemeral habitats. In Colonization, succession and stability. Edited by Gray, A.J., Crawley, M.J., and Edwards, P.J.. British Ecological Society, Oxford. pp. 155–186.Google Scholar
Kanji, G.K. 1999. 100 statistical tests. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, California.Google Scholar
Komar, D., and Beattie, O. 1998. Effects of carcass size on decay rates of shade and sun exposed carrion. Canadian Society of Forensic Science Journal, 31(1): 35–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
LeBlanc, H.N. 1998. A study of carrion insects in urban and rural sites in the Halifax Nova Scotia region. B.Sc. (Hons.) thesis, Saint Mary's University, Halifax, Nova Scotia.Google Scholar
LeBlanc, H.N., and Strongman, D.B. 2002. Carrion insects associated with small pig carcasses during fall in Nova Scotia. Canadian Society of Forensic Science Journal, 35(3): 145–152.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mann, R.W., Bass, W.M., and Meadows, L. 1990. Time since death and decomposition of the human body: variables and observations in case and experimental field studies. Journal of Forensic Sciences, 35(1): 103–111.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mant, A.K. 1960. Forensic medicine: observation and interpretation. The Year Book Publishers Inc., Chicago.Google Scholar
Marchenko, M.R. 1993. Effect of climatic factors on duration of biological decomposition of dead bodies by necrobiotic insects in northwest European Russia. Entomological Review, 72(4): 56–69.Google Scholar
Payne, J.A. 1965. A summer carrion study of the baby pig Sus scrofa Linnaeus. Ecology, 46: 592–602.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pojar, J., and MacKinnon, A. 1994. Plants of coastal British Columbia including Washington, Oregon, and Alaska. Lone Pine Publishing, Vancouver, British Columbia.Google Scholar
Rowe, J.S. 1972. Forest regions of Canada. Canadian Forestry Series 1300. Information Canada, Ottawa, Ontario.Google Scholar
SAS Institute Inc. 2002. JMP. Version 5.0 [computer program]. SAS Institute Inc., Cary, North Carolina.Google Scholar
Shean, B.S., Messinger, L., and Papworth, M. 1993. Observations of differential decomposition on sun exposed vs. shaded pig carrion in coastal Washington State. Journal of Forensic Science, 38(4): 938–949.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Simpson, G., and Strongman, D.B. 2002. Carrion insects on pig carcasses at a rural and an urban site in Nova Scotia. Canadian Society of Forensic Science Journal, 35(3): 123–143.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, K.G.V. 1986. A manual of forensic entomology. British Museum (Natural History), London, and Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York.Google Scholar