Carrion decomposition and nutrient cycling in a semiarid shrub-steppe ecosystem

Ecological Monographs

Volumn 79, Issue 4, 2009, Pages 637-661

  Parmenter, Robert R ^a   Macmahon, James A ^b  

^a Valles Caldera National Preserve   (United States)

^b UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

Arthropod succession; Ecosystem processes; Nicrophorus; Nitrogen cycle; Sagebrush steppe; USA; Wyoming

Indexed keywords

CORRELATION; DECOMPOSITION; ECOSYSTEM STRUCTURE; NUTRIENT CYCLING; NUTRIENT LOSS; QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS; SEASONAL VARIATION; SEMIARID REGION; SHRUB; SOIL NUTRIENT; SPECIES DIVERSITY; STEPPE; VERTEBRATE;

NORTH AMERICA; UNITED STATES; WYOMING;

AMPHISPIZA BELLI; ANIMALIA; ANURA; ARTEMISIA TRIDENTATA; ARTHROPODA; CANIS FAMILIARIS; CERVIDAE; FELIDAE; LEPUS TOWNSENDII; LITHOBATES; MAMMALIA; NICROPHORUS; ODOCOILEUS HEMIONUS; PEROMYSCUS; PEROMYSCUS MANICULATUS; PICA HUDSONIA; RANA PIPIENS; RATTUS; SCIURIDAE; SPERMOPHILUS ARMATUS; TAMIAS MINIMUS; THAMNOPHIS; THAMNOPHIS ELEGANS; VERTEBRATA;

EID: 70350244849     PISSN: 00129615     EISSN: 15577015     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1890/08-0972.1     Document Type: Article

References (93)

1. Berg, B., and R. Laskowski. 2006. Litter decomposition: a guide to carbon and nutrient turnover. Advances in ecological research. Volume 38. Elsevier Academic Press, San Diego, California, USA. (Pubitemid 43012566)
2. Berg, B., and C. McClaugherty. 2003. Plant litter: decomposi-tion, humus formation, carbon sequestration. Springer, New York, New York, USA.
3. Bornemissza, G. F. 1957. An analysis of arthropod succession in carrion and the effect of its decomposition on the soil fauna, Australian Journal of Zoology 5:1-12.
4. Bourel, B., L. Martin-Bouyer, V. Hedouin, J. C. Cailliez, D. Derout, and D. Gösset. 1999. Necrophilous insect succession on rabbit carrion in sand dune habitats in northern France. Journal of Medical Entomology 36:420-425. (Pubitemid 129547377)
5. Bullard, R. W. 1982. Wild canid associations with fermentation products. Industrial, and Engineering Chemistry Product Research and Development 21:646-655.
6. Byrd, J. H., and J. L. Castner. 2001. Forensic entomology: the utility of arthropods in legal investigations. CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida, USA.
7. Cadisch, G., and. K. E. Giller. 1.997. Driven by nature: plant litter quality and decomposition. CAB International, Oxford, UK.
8. Calder, W. A. 1984. Size, function and life history. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
9. Carter, D. O., D. Yellowlees, and M. Tibbett. 2007. Cadaver decomposition in terrestrial ecosystems. Naturwissenschaften 94:12-24.
10. Coe, M. 1978. The decomposition of elephant carcasses in the Tsavo (East) National. Park, Kenya. Journal of Arid Environments 1:71-86.
11. Collins, M. 1970. Studies on the decomposition of carrion and its relationship with its surrounding ecosystem. Dissertation. University of Reading, Reading, UK.
12. Cornaby, B. W. 1974. Carrion reduction by animals in contrasting tropical habitats. Biotropica 6:51-63.
13. Curry-Lindahl, K. 1961. Contribution à l'étude des vertébrés terrestres en Afrique tropicale. Exploration du Parc National Albert. Institut des Parcs Nationaux du Congo et Ruanda Urundi 1:1-331.
14. Danell, K., D. Berteaux, and K. A. Brathen. 2002. Effect of muskox carcasses on nitrogen concentration in tundra vegetation. Arctic 55:389-392. (Pubitemid 36189426)
15. Davis, J. B., and M. L. Goff. 2000. Decomposition patterns in terrestrial and intertidal habitats on Oahii Island and Coconut Island, Hawaii. Journal of Forensic Sciences 45: 836-842.
16. De Jong, G. D., and J. W. Chadwick. 1999. Decomposition and arthropod succession on exposed rabbit carrion during summer at high altitudes in Colorado, USA. Journal of Medical Entomology 36:833-845.
17. Degen, A. A. 1997. Ecophysiology of small desert mammals. Springer, New York, New York, USA.
18. DeVault, T. L., I. L. Brisbin, Jr., and O. E. Rhodes, Jr. 2004. Factors influencing the acquisition of rodent carrion by vertebrate scavengers and decomposers. Canadian Journal of Zoology 82:502-509.
19. DeVault, T. L., O. E. Rhodes, and J. A. Shivik. 2003. Scavenging by vertebrates: behavioral, ecological and evolutionary perspectives on an important energy transfer pathway in terrestrial ecosystems. Oikos 102:225-234.
20. Duellman, W. E., and L. Trueb. 1986. Biology of amphibians. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
21. Erickson, H. E., R. L. Edmonds, and C. E. Peterson. 1985. Decomposition of logging residues in Douglas-fir, western hemlock, Pacific silver fir, and ponderosa pine ecosystems. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 15:914-921.
22. Farrell, J., and. A. H. Rose. 1967. Temperature effects on microorganisms. Pages 147-218 in A, H. Rose, editor. Thermobiology. Academic Press, New York, New York, USA.
23. Foster, J. R., and G. E. Lang. 1982. Decomposition of red spruce and balsam fir boles in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 12:617626.
24. Frost, C. J., and M. D. Hunter. 2007. Recycling of nitrogen in herbivore feces: plant recovery, herbivore assimilation, soil retention, and leaching losses. Oecologia 151:42-53.
25. Fuller, M. E. 1934. The insect inhabitants of carrion: a study in animal ecology. Bulletin of the Commonwealth of Australia Council for Scientific and Industrial Research 82:1-62.
26. Galloway, A., W. H. Birkby, A. M. Jones, T. E. Henry, and B. O. Parks. 1989. Decay rates of human remains in an arid environment. Journal of Forensic Sciences 34:607-616. (Pubitemid 19137382)
27. Gennard, D. 2007. Forensic entomology, an introduction. John Wiley and Sons, West Sussex, UK.
28. Goin, C. J., and O. B. Goin. 1971. Introduction to herpetology. W. H. Freeman, San Francisco, California, USA.
29. Graham, R. L., and K. Cromack, Jr. 1982. Mass, nutrient content, and decay rate of dead boles in rain forests of Olympic National Park. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 12:511-521.
30. Grassberger, M., and C. Frank. 2004. Initial study of arthropod succession on pig carrion in a central European urban habitat. Journal of Medical Entomology 41:511-523. (Pubitemid 38693203)
31. Gulland, F. M. D. 1995. The impact of infectious diseases on wild animal populations-a review. Pages 20-51 in B. T. Grenfell and A, P. Dobson, editors. Ecology of infectious diseases in natural populations. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
32. Harmon, M. E., O. N. Krankina, M. Yatskov, and E. Matthews. 2001. Predicting broad-scale carbon stores of woody detritus from, plot-level data. Pages 533-552 in R. Lal, J. M. Kimble, R. F. Follett, and. B. A. Stewart, editors. Assessment methods for soil carbon. Lewis Publishers, New York, New York, USA.
33. Heinrich, B. 1988. Winter foraging at carcasses by three sympatric corvids, with emphasis on recruitment by the raven, Corvus corax. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 23:141-156.
34. Hewadikaram, K. A., and M. L. Goff. 1991. Effect of carcass size on rate of decomposition and arthropod succession patterns. American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology 12:235-240.
35. Kirkland, G. L., Jr., R. R. Parmenter, and R. E. Skoog. 1997. A five-species assemblage of shrews from the sagebrush-steppe of Wyoming. Journal of Mammalogy 78:83-89.
36. Kitchell, J. F., J. F. Koonce, and P. S. Tennis. 1975. Phosphorous .flux through fishes. Proceedings of the International Association of Theoretical and Applied Limnology 19:2478-2484.
37. Knott, C. 1998. Orangutans in the wild. National Geographic 194:30-57.
38. Kočárek, P. 2003. Decomposition and Coleoptera succession on exposed carrion of small mammal in Opava, the Czech Republic. European Journal of Soil Biology 39:31-45. (Pubitemid 36499789)
39. Komar, D. A. 1998. Decay rates in a cold climate region: a review of cases involving advanced decomposition from the Medical Examiner's Office in Edmonton, Alberta. Journal of Forensic Sciences 43:57-61.
40. LaI, R., J. M. Kimble, R. F. Follett, and B. A. Stewart. 1998. Soil, processes and the carbon cycle. CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida, USA.
41. Meeh, K. 1879. Oberflächenmessungen des menschlichen Körpers. Zeitschrift für Biologie 15:425-458.
42. Mégnin, P. 1894. La faune des cadavres, application de l'entomologie a la médecine légale. Number 101B. Encyclopédie Scientifique des Aide-Mémoire, Paris, France.
43. Metis, C. N. Selva, I. Teurlings, C. Skarpe, J. D. C. Linnell, and R. Andersen. 2007. Soil and vegetation nutrient response to bison carcasses in Bialowieža Primeval Forest, Poland, Ecological Research 22:807-813.
44. Micozzi, M. S. 1986. Experimental study of post-mortem change under field conditions: effects of freezing, thawing, and mechanical injury. Journal of Forensic Sciences 31:953961.
45. Minshall, G. W., E. Hitchcock, and J. R. Barnes. 1991. Decomposition of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) carcasses in a forest stream, ecosystem, inhabited only by nonanadromous fish, populations. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 48:191-195.
46. Motter, M. G. 1898. A contribution to the study of the fauna of the grave. A study of one hundred and fifty disinterments, with some additional experimental observations. Journal of the New York Entomological Society 6:201-231.
47. Nabaglo, L. 1973. Participation of invertebrates in decomposition of rodent carcasses in forest ecosystems. Ekologia Polska 21:252-269.
48. Naiman, R. J., R. E. Bilby, D. E. Schindler, and J. M. Helfield. 2002. Pacific salmon, nutrients, and the dynamics of freshwater and riparian ecosystems. Ecosystems 5:399-417.
49. Parmenter, R. R. 2005. Patterns of decomposition and nutrient cycling across a volcanic disturbance gradient: a case study using rodent carcasses. Pages 233-242 in V. H. Dale, F. Swanson, and C M. Crisafulli, editors. Ecological recovery of Mount St. Helens after the 1980 eruption. Springer, New York, New York, USA.
50. Parmenter, R. R., and V. A. Lamarra. 1991. Nutrient cycling in a freshwater marsh: the decomposition offish and waterfowl carrion. Limnology and Oceanography 36:976-987.
51. Parmenter, R. R., and J. A. MacMahon. 1983. Factors determining the abundance and distribution of rodents in a shrub-steppe ecosystem: the role of shrubs. Oecologia 59: 145-156.
52. Parmenter, R. R., J. A. MacMahon, and S. B. Vander Wall, 1984. The measurement of granivory by desert rodents, birds and ants: a comparison of an energetics approach, and a seeddish technique. Journal of Arid Environments 7:75-92.
53. Parmenter, R. R., J. A. MacMahon, M. E. Waaland, M. M. Stuebe, P. Landres, and C. M. Crisafulli. 1985. Reclamation of surface coal mines in western Wyoming for wildlife habitat: a preliminary analysis. Reclamation and Revegetation Research 4:93-115.
54. Parmenter, R. R., M. R. Mesch, and J. A, MacMahon. 1987. Shrub litter production in a sagebrush-steppe ecosystem: rodent population cycles as a regulating factor. Journal of Range Management 40:50-54.
55. Payne, J. A. 1965. A summer carrion study of the baby pig Sus ser of a Linnaeus. Ecology 46:592-602.
56. Peters, R. H. 1983. The ecological implications of body size. Cambridge University Press, New York, New York, USA.
57. Péwé, T. L., N. R. Rivard, and G. A. Llano. 1959. Mummified seal carcasses in the McMurdo Sound region, Antarctica. Science 130:716.
58. Putman, R. J. 1978a. The role of carrion-frequenting arthropods in the decay process. Ecological Entomology 3:133139.
59. Putman, R. J. 1978ft. Flow of energy and organic matter from a carcase during decomposition. Decomposition of small mammal carrion in temperate systems 2. Oikos 31:58-68.
60. Putman, R. J. 1978c. Patterns of carbon dioxide evolution from decaying carrion. Decomposition of small mammal carrion in temperate systems 1. Oikos 31:47-57.
61. Reed, H. B., Jr. 1958. A study of dog carcass communities in Tennessee, with special reference to the insects. American Midland Naturalist 59:213-245.
62. Regester, K. J., and M. R. Whiles. 2006. Decomposition rates of salamander (Ambystoma maculatum) life stages and associated energy and nutrient fluxes in ponds and adjacent forest in southern Illinois. Copeia 2006:640-649.
63. Richards, E. N., and M. L. Goff. 1997. Arthropod succession on exposed carrion in three contrasting tropical habitats on Hawaii. Island, Hawaii. Journal of Medical Entomology 34: 328-339.
64. Robbins, C. T., A. N. Moen, and J. T. Reid. 1974. Body composition of white-tailed deer. Journal of Animal Science 38:871-876.
65. Rogowitz, G. L., and M. L. Wolfe. 1991. Intraspecific variation in life-history traits of the white-tailed jackrabbit (Lepus townsendii). Journal of Mammalogy 72:796-806.
66. Schoenly, K., and W. Reid. 1987. Dynamics of heterotrophic succession in carrion arthropod assemblages: discrete seres or a continuum of change? Oecologia 73:192-202.
67. Scrivner, J. H. 1985. The rate of weight loss and decomposition of coyote carcasses. Southwestern Naturalist 30:461463.
68. Shahid, S. A., K. Schoenly, N. H. Haskell, R. D. Hall, and W. Zhang. 2003. Carcass enrichment does not alter decay rates or arthropod community structure: a test of the arthropod saturation hypothesis at the Anthropology Research Facility in Knoxville, Tennessee. Journal of Medical Entomology 40: 559-569.
69. Sharanowski, B. J., E. G. Walker, and. G. S. Anderson. 2008. Insect succession and decomposition patterns on shaded and sunlit carrion in Saskatchewan in three different seasons. Forensic Science International 179:219-240.
70. Shean, B. S., L. Miessinger, and M. Papworth. 1993. Observations of differential decomposition on sun exposed v. shaded pig carrion in coastal Washington State. Journal of Forensic Sciences 38:938-949.
71. Sheng, H.-P., and R. A, Huggins. 1971. Growth of the beagle: changes in chemical composition. Growth 35:369-376.
72. Simonetti, J. A., J. L. Yañez, and E. R. Fuentes. 1984. Efficiency of rodent scavengers in central Chile. Mammalia 48:608-609.
73. Smith, K. G. V. 1986. A manual, of forensic entomology. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, USA.
74. Sollins, P. 1982. Input and decay of coarse woody debris in coniferous stands in western Oregon and Washington. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 12:18-28.
75. Spray, C. M., and E. M. Widdowson. 1950. The effect of growth and development on the composition of mammals. British Journal, of Nutrition 4:332-353.
76. Stevenson, C., and D. L. Childers. 2004. Hydroperiod and seasonal effects on fish decomposition in an oligotrophic Everglades marsh. Wetlands 24:529-537. (Pubitemid 41353670)
77. Stevenson, F. J., and M. A. Cole. 1999. Cycles of soils: carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, micronutrients. John Wiley and Sons, New York, New York, USA.
78. Stoddart, L. C. 1970. A telemetric method for detecting jackrabbit mortality. Journal of Wildlife Management 34: 501-507.
79. Swift, M. J., O. W. Heal, and J. M. Anderson. 1979. Decomposition in terrestrial ecosystems. Studies in ecology. Volume 5. University of California Press, Berkeley, California, USA.
80. Tabor, K. L., C. C. Brewster, and R. D. Fell. 2004. Analysis of the successional patterns of insects on carrion in southwest Virginia. Journal of Medical Entomology 41:785-795.
81. Tantawi, T. I. E. M. El-Kady, B. Greenberg, and H. A. ElGhaffar. 1996. Arthropod succession on exposed rabbit carrion in Alexandria, Egypt. Journal of Medical Entomology 33:566-580.
82. Towne, E. G. 2000. Prairie vegetation and soil nutrient responses to ungulate carcasses. Oecologia 122:232-239.
83. Vass, A. A., S.-A. Barshick, G. Sega, J. Caton, J. T. Skeen, J. C. Love, and J. A. Synstelien. 2002. Decomposition chemistry of human remains: a new methodology for determining the postmortem interval. Journal of Forensic Sciences 47:542553.
84. Vass, A. A., W. M. Bass, J. D. WoIt, J. E. Foss, and J. T. Animons. 1992. Time since death determinations of human cadavers using soil solution. Journal of Forensic Sciences 37: 1236-1253.
85. Walker, T. J., Jr. 1.957. Ecological studies of the arthropods associated with certain decaying materials in four habitats. Ecology 38:262-276.
86. Watson, E. J., and C. E. Carlton. 2003. Spring succession of necrophilous insects on wildlife carcasses in Louisiana. Journal of Medical Entomology 40:338-347.
87. Watson, E. J., and C. E. Carlton. 2005. Insect succession and decomposition of wildlife carcasses during fall and winter in Louisiana. Journal of Medical Entomology 42:193-203.
88. West, N. E. 1983. Western intermountain sagebrush steppe. Pages 351-374 in N. E. West, editor. Ecosystems of the world. Volume 5. Temperate deserts and semideserts. Elsevier, New York, New York, USA.
89. Wieder, R. K., and G. E. Lang. 1982. A critique of the analytical methods used in examining decomposition data obtained from litter bags. Ecology 63:1.636-1642.
90. Wiener, J. G., I. L. Brisbin, Jr., and M. H. Smith. 1975. Chemical composition of white-tailed deer: whole-body concentrations of macro- and micronutrients. Pages 536- 541 in F. G. Howell, J. B. Gentry, and M. H. Smith, editors. Mineral cycling in southeastern ecosystems. United States Energy Research and Development Agency, Technical Information Center, Springfield, Virginia, USA.
91. Wilson, A. S., R. C. Janaway, A. D. Holland, H. I. Dodson, E. Baran, A. M. Pollard, and D. J. Tobin. 2007. Modelling the buried human body environment in upland climes using three contrasting field sites. Forensic Science International 169:618.
92. Wipfli, M. S., J. Hudson, and J. Caouette. 1998. Influence of salmon carcasses on stream productivity: response of biofllm and benthic macroinvertebrates in southeastern Alaska. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 55: 1.503-1511.
93. Young, T. P. 1994. Natural die-offs of large mammals: implications for conservation. Conservation Biology 8:410-418.