Does repeated burial of skeletal muscle tissue (Ovis aries) in soil affect subsequent decomposition?

Carter, David; Tibbett, Mark

doi:10.1016/j.apsoil.2008.08.004

Cited by 28 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…The cyclical but generally increasing trends in CO 2 respiration may well reflect the progress of the successional processes in microbial community adaptation to new substrates (e.g. Carter and Tibbett 2008).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Just Add Water and Salt: the Optimisation of Petrogenic Hydrocarbon Biodegradation in Soils from Semi-arid Barrow Island, Western Australia

Tibbett

George

Davie

et al. 2010

Water Air Soil Pollut

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We investigated the potential of soil moisture and nutrient amendments to enhance the biodegradation of oil in the soils from an ecologically unique semi-arid island. This was achieved using a series of controlled laboratory incubations where moisture or nutrient levels were experimentally manipulated. Respired CO 2 increased sharply with moisture amendment reflecting the severe moisture limitation of these porous and semi-arid soils. The greatest levels of CO 2 respiration were generally obtained with a soil pore water saturation of 50-70%. Biodegradation in these nutrient poor soils was also promoted by the moderate addition of a nitrogen fertiliser. Increased biodegradation was greater at the lowest amendment rate (100 mg N kg −1 soil) than the higher levels (500 or 1,000 mg N kg −1 soil), suggesting the higher application rates may introduce N toxicity. Addition of phosphorous alone had little effect, but a combined 500 mg N and 200 mg P kg −1 soil amendment led to a synergistic increase in CO 2 respiration (3.0×), suggesting P can limit the biodegradation of hydrocarbons following exogenous N amendment.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Just Add Water and Salt: the Optimisation of Petrogenic Hydrocarbon Biodegradation in Soils from Semi-arid Barrow Island, Western Australia

Tibbett

George

Davie

et al. 2010

Water Air Soil Pollut

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“…Several other investigations on the decomposition process of buried remains have been reported from Great Britain 12 – 17 Poland 18 , Australia 19 , Argentina 20 , United States of America 21 – 25 , Canada 26 , 27 , Germany 28 , and South Africa 29 . Most of them used human cadavers 17 , 20 – 23 , 26 , 27 and pig carcasses 13 , 14 , 18 , 24 , 25 , few used juvenile rat 19 and sheep carcasses 12 as experimental models, but lacked the combined bacterial and insect community analyses. Overall, these studies focused on different aspects of decomposition starting with preliminary observations of the decay process within different soil types 19 , necrophagous insect species colonization patterns 13 , 26 , 30 and, more recently, characterization of the decomposition necrobiome structure 31 , 32 for forensic application.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterizing forensically important insect and microbial community colonization patterns in buried remains

Iancu

Junkins

Necula-Petrareanu

et al. 2018

Sci Rep

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During violent criminal actions in which the perpetrator disposes of the victim’s remains by burial, the analysis of insects and bacterial colonization patterns could be necessary for postmortem interval (PMI) estimation. Our research aimed to assess the decomposition process of buried rat carcasses from shallow graves (40 cm), the diversity and dynamics of insects and bacteria throughout the decomposition stages, and the environmental parameters’ influence on these variations. The results provide further insight on decomposition in soil and contribute to a broader understanding of the factors involved in decomposition by qualitatively and quantitatively analysing the decomposer community (bacteria and insects). Additionally, two bacterial taxa, Enterococcus faecalis and Clostridium paraputrificum that were investigated for the first time as PMI indicators using quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) showed differential abundance over time, promising data for PMI estimation. The current study on the decomposition of buried rat carcasses in a natural environment will strengthen the current knowledge on decomposed remains from shallow graves and represents an effort to quantify insect and bacterial taxa as PMI estimators.

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“…These models are required due to the scarcity of available human cadavers and more importantly because of the ethical and cultural constraints that restrict their use. Decomposition trials use a range of different mammalian cadavers or their skeletal muscle tissue (SMT) as analogues for humans including pigs (3,6,7,(11)(12)(13)(14)(15), sheep (16)(17)(18)(19), dogs (2), rats (5,20), guinea pigs (1), deer (21), bison (21), and rabbits (8,22,23). Larger mammals are preferred for many surface decomposition studies, due to the accelerated rate of decay in smaller analogues and difficulties associated with identifying each stage of decomposition (3).…”

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confidence: 99%

Human Versus Animal: Contrasting Decomposition Dynamics of Mammalian Analogues in Experimental Taphonomy

Stokes

Forbes

Tibbett

2013

Journal of Forensic Sciences

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Taphonomic studies regularly employ animal analogues for human decomposition due to ethical restrictions relating to the use of human tissue. However, the validity of using animal analogues in soil decomposition studies is still questioned. This study compared the decomposition of skeletal muscle tissues (SMTs) from human (Homo sapiens), pork (Sus scrofa), beef (Bos taurus), and lamb (Ovis aries) interred in soil microcosms. Fixed interval samples were collected from the SMT for microbial activity and mass tissue loss determination; samples were also taken from the underlying soil for pH, electrical conductivity, and nutrient (potassium, phosphate, ammonium, and nitrate) analysis. The overall patterns of nutrient fluxes and chemical changes in nonhuman SMT and the underlying soil followed that of human SMT. Ovine tissue was the most similar to human tissue in many of the measured parameters. Although no single analogue was a precise predictor of human decomposition in soil, all models offered close approximations in decomposition dynamics.

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Does repeated burial of skeletal muscle tissue (Ovis aries) in soil affect subsequent decomposition?

Cited by 28 publications

References 29 publications

Just Add Water and Salt: the Optimisation of Petrogenic Hydrocarbon Biodegradation in Soils from Semi-arid Barrow Island, Western Australia

Just Add Water and Salt: the Optimisation of Petrogenic Hydrocarbon Biodegradation in Soils from Semi-arid Barrow Island, Western Australia

Characterizing forensically important insect and microbial community colonization patterns in buried remains

Human Versus Animal: Contrasting Decomposition Dynamics of Mammalian Analogues in Experimental Taphonomy

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