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Invertebrate Scavenging Communities

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Carrion Ecology and Management

Part of the book series: Wildlife Research Monographs ((WIREMO,volume 2))

Abstract

Invertebrate scavengers of terrestrial and aquatic carrion include a broad and enormously diverse grouping of various arthropods, nematodes, and molluscs. By far the most functionally important in terrestrial ecosystems are insects, especially the flies, with crustaceans performing this role in marine ecosystems, although a multi-trophic foodweb of numerous invertebrate taxa can be found at most carcasses in most environments. The occurrence of different taxa, and the dynamics of their colonization and various competitive interactions varies across terrestrial and aquatic realms, and is greatly influenced by geographic region, climate, habitat, season, and other biotic factors. This sub-chapter focuses on the invertebrate use of carrion in both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, and highlights the role of different groups of invertebrates, and the biotic and abiotic factors that influence their occurrence and succession at decaying carcasses.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Criminology, Centre for Forensic Research, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada

    Gail S. Anderson

  2. Fenner School of Environment and Society, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia

    Philip S. Barton

  3. Department of Forensic Medicine, Monash University, Southbank, VIC, Australia

    Melanie Archer

  4. Department of Biology, Millersville University, Millersville, PA, USA

    John R. Wallace

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  1. Gail S. Anderson
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  3. Melanie Archer
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  4. John R. Wallace
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Correspondence to Gail S. Anderson .

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  1. Centro de Investigación en Biodiversidad y Cambio Global (CIBC-UAM), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Pedro P. Olea

  2. Centre for Functional Ecology (CFE), Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

    Patricia Mateo-Tomás

  3. Departamento de Biología Aplicada, Universidad Miguel Hernández, Elche, Spain

    José Antonio Sánchez-Zapata

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Anderson, G.S., Barton, P.S., Archer, M., Wallace, J.R. (2019). Invertebrate Scavenging Communities. In: Olea, P., Mateo-Tomás, P., Sánchez-Zapata, J. (eds) Carrion Ecology and Management. Wildlife Research Monographs, vol 2. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-16501-7_3

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