Insect abundance patterns on vertebrate remains reveal carrion resource quality variation.

Dawson, BM; Wallman, JF; Evans, MJ; Barton, PS

Insect abundance patterns on vertebrate remains reveal carrion resource quality variation.

Dawson, BM Wallman, JF Evans, MJ Barton, PS

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Publisher:: SPRINGER
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Oecologia, 2022, 198, (4), pp. 1043-1056
Issue Date:: 2022-04

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Dawson, BM
dc.contributor.author	Wallman, JF
dc.contributor.author	Evans, MJ
dc.contributor.author	Barton, PS
dc.date.accessioned	2023-02-08T01:00:18Z
dc.date.available	2022-02-23
dc.date.available	2023-02-08T01:00:18Z
dc.date.issued	2022-04
dc.identifier.citation	Oecologia, 2022, 198, (4), pp. 1043-1056
dc.identifier.issn	0029-8549
dc.identifier.issn	1432-1939
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/165989
dc.description.abstract	Resource quality is a key driver of species abundance and community structure. Carrion is unique among resources due to its high nutritional quality, rapidly changing nature, and the diverse community of organisms it supports. Yet the role resource quality plays in driving variation in abundance patterns of carrion-associated species remains poorly studied. Here we investigate how species abundances change with a measure of resource change, and interpret these findings to determine how species differ in their association with carrion that changes in quality over time. We conducted field succession experiments using pigs and humans over two winters and one summer. We quantified the effect of total body score, an objective measure of resource change, on adult insect abundance using generalised additive models. For each species, phases of increasing abundance likely indicated attraction to a high-quality resource, and length of abundance maxima indicated optimal oviposition and feeding time. Some species such as the beetle Necrobia rufipes had a rapid spike in abundance, suggesting a narrow window of opportunity for carrion resource exploitation, while species like the wasp Nasonia vitripennis had a gradual change in abundance, indicating a wide window of resource exploitation. Different abundance patterns were also observed between species occurring on pigs and humans, suggesting cadaver type is an important aspect of resource quality. Our findings show that species abundances, unlike species occurrences, can reveal additional detail about species exploitation of carrion and provide information about how resource quality may drive competition and variation in insect community succession.
dc.format	Print-Electronic
dc.language	eng
dc.publisher	SPRINGER
dc.relation	http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/LE150100015
dc.relation.ispartof	Oecologia
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1007/s00442-022-05145-4
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.subject	0602 Ecology
dc.subject.classification	Ecology
dc.subject.mesh	Animals
dc.subject.mesh	Cadaver
dc.subject.mesh	Coleoptera
dc.subject.mesh	Female
dc.subject.mesh	Insecta
dc.subject.mesh	Seasons
dc.subject.mesh	Swine
dc.subject.mesh	Vertebrates
dc.subject.mesh	Animals
dc.subject.mesh	Vertebrates
dc.subject.mesh	Swine
dc.subject.mesh	Cadaver
dc.subject.mesh	Seasons
dc.subject.mesh	Female
dc.subject.mesh	Coleoptera
dc.subject.mesh	Insecta
dc.subject.mesh	Animals
dc.subject.mesh	Cadaver
dc.subject.mesh	Coleoptera
dc.subject.mesh	Female
dc.subject.mesh	Insecta
dc.subject.mesh	Seasons
dc.subject.mesh	Swine
dc.subject.mesh	Vertebrates
dc.title	Insect abundance patterns on vertebrate remains reveal carrion resource quality variation.
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	198
utslib.location.activity	Germany
utslib.for	0602 Ecology
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Science
utslib.copyright.status	open_access	*
dc.date.updated	2023-02-08T01:00:02Z
pubs.issue	4
pubs.publication-status	Published
pubs.volume	198
utslib.citation.issue	4

Abstract:

Resource quality is a key driver of species abundance and community structure. Carrion is unique among resources due to its high nutritional quality, rapidly changing nature, and the diverse community of organisms it supports. Yet the role resource quality plays in driving variation in abundance patterns of carrion-associated species remains poorly studied. Here we investigate how species abundances change with a measure of resource change, and interpret these findings to determine how species differ in their association with carrion that changes in quality over time. We conducted field succession experiments using pigs and humans over two winters and one summer. We quantified the effect of total body score, an objective measure of resource change, on adult insect abundance using generalised additive models. For each species, phases of increasing abundance likely indicated attraction to a high-quality resource, and length of abundance maxima indicated optimal oviposition and feeding time. Some species such as the beetle Necrobia rufipes had a rapid spike in abundance, suggesting a narrow window of opportunity for carrion resource exploitation, while species like the wasp Nasonia vitripennis had a gradual change in abundance, indicating a wide window of resource exploitation. Different abundance patterns were also observed between species occurring on pigs and humans, suggesting cadaver type is an important aspect of resource quality. Our findings show that species abundances, unlike species occurrences, can reveal additional detail about species exploitation of carrion and provide information about how resource quality may drive competition and variation in insect community succession.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/165989