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Quantifying how much carrion is produced temporally and spatially in ecosystems is considered one of the most important aspects of carrion ecology. Marine-derived inputs transferred from the ocean to terrestrial ecosystems are the principal source of energy and biomass for many coastal ecosystems. Here, we provide a comprehensive quantification of the carrion biomass of marine tetrapods across space and time at the ocean−land interface on the Brazilian coastline. Based on 3 large datasets, we estimated carrion biomass of 57 274 marine tetrapods beached along 1980 km of coastline over a 3 yr period (2016−2019). A total of 1 744 986 kg of carrion biomass was estimated from 76 species, ranging from a total of 30 g to 14 082 kg for each species. The 10 most abundant species accounted for 91.78% of total records but only 21.28% of total estimated biomass. We highlight the importance of both migratory and resident marine tetrapods as a predictable resource for the Brazilian coastline, especially in the winter and spring. Although baleen whales contributed higher values of carrion biomass, their true availability as a food source is affected by management procedures adopted after stranding events. A significant amount of carrion biomass is removed every year from the Brazilian coastal system. It is therefore imperative to assess the impacts of management procedures on the ecology of scavengers and the entire coastal system.

During death investigations insects are used mostly to estimate the post-mortem interval (PMI). These estimates are only as good as they are close to the true PMI. Therefore, the major challenge for forensic entomology is to reduce the estimation inaccuracy. Here, I review literature in this field to identify research areas that may contribute to the increase in the accuracy of PMI estimation. I conclude that research on the development and succession of carrion insects, thermogenesis in aggregations of their larvae and error rates of the PMI estimation protocols should be prioritized. Challenges of educational and promotional nature are discussed as well, particularly in relation to the collection of insect evidence.

Carrion decomposition has a significant impact on soil chemical profiles. However, soil nutrient research associated with animal carcasses in Antarctica has been relatively scarce, and the effect of penguin carrion decomposition on soil chemical composition is largely unknown. We aimed to determine Antarctica’s soil chemistry profiles associated with penguin carrion. Soil samples were collected from a penguin rookery near King Sejong Station, Barton Peninsula, King George Island, Antarctica. Dry combustion methods were used to identify soil nitrogen and sulfur, while ammonia, nitrate, and phosphate were determined colorimetrically using a spectrophotometer. In addition, total carbon, pH, electrical conductivity, soil moisture, and soil porosity were also determined. Overall, soil chemical properties were not significantly different between the stages of decomposition and the sampling locations. These findings suggest that nutrients from penguin carrion disperse and leach in limited quantities into the soil, probably due to the active scavenging activities by vertebrate scavengers and the slower decomposition rate resulting from cold temperatures in the Antarctic region.

Integrating environmental concerns into sectoral policies is a priority for sustainable development. Despite environmental policy integration being established in Europe in 1998, major weaknesses still limit its effectiveness, such as poor coordination at national and subnational levels. We use the integration of scavenger conservation into sanitary European regulations to illustrate how the adoption of different criteria when implementing the same legislation affects the effectiveness of the environmental policy integration process. We focus on the implementation across Spanish autonomous regions of Regulation EU 142/2011 allowing dead livestock to be left in situ for feeding scavengers. Using Asturias (NW Spain) as a case study, we provide spatially explicit estimates of two key factors guiding the implementation of the legislation, the estimates of scavenger feeding requirements, and the area designated as scavenger feeding zones, based on different criteria used across Spanish regions. We detected a remarkable variation in both scavenger feeding requirements (up to 452%; ranging from 108 to 596 t/year) and scavenger feeding zones (up to 72% in size) depending on the implementation criteria used. The concentration of scavenger feeding requirements per km2 within scavenger feeding zones (i.e., carrion demand) varied up to 167%. Similarly, the concentration of carrion supply from livestock within scavenger feeding zones (i.e., carrion availability) changed up to 33%. Policy implications. Our results support the need for systematic evaluations to choose the best criteria for implementing sanitary regulations concerning scavenger conservation. Interregional coordination in implementing the agreed criteria emerges as a relevant issue to improve the effectiveness of environmental policy integration for transboundary conservation of European scavengers. Foreign Language La integración de la protección del medio ambiente y la conservación de la biodiversidad en políticas sectoriales se entiende como fundamental para el desarrollo sostenible. A pesar de que la integración ambiental en política se considera una necesidad en la Unión Europea desde 1998, este proceso presenta importantes carencias que comprometen su efectividad, como la escasa coordinación tanto entre países como entre regiones de un mismo país. Tomando como ejemplo la integración de la conservación de especies carroñeras en las políticas sanitarias europeas, demostramos cómo la adopción de distintos criterios para implementar una misma política compromete los resultados esperados. Analizamos la implementación en las 17 comunidades autónomas españolas de la regulación europea 142/2011 que permite dejar carroñas de ganado in situ en el campo para la alimentación de especies carroñeras. Seleccionamos la comunidad autónoma de Asturias (NO España) como caso de estudio, para aplicar los distintos criterios seguidos en cada comunidad autónoma y calcular estimas espacialmente explícitas de los dos factores recomendados para implementar la citada normativa: los requerimientos tróficos de las especies carroñeras y la superficie designada como zonas de alimentación para estas especies. Dependiendo del criterio, detectamos una variación considerable tanto en las estimas de los requerimientos tróficos de las especies carroñeras (hasta del 452%; desde 108 hasta 596 t/año), como en la superficie designada para su alimentación (hasta del 72%). La concentración de los requerimientos tróficos de las especies carroñeras por km2 en las áreas designadas para su alimentación (demanda de carroña) varió hasta un 167% según los criterios usados. De igual modo, la concentración de la carroña de ganado disponible en las áreas de alimentación designadas (carroña disponible) varió hasta un 33%. Implicaciones de gestión: Nuestros resultados muestran la necesidad de realizar evaluaciones sistemáticas para seleccionar los mejores criterios a la hora de implementar políticas sanitarias que afectan a la conservación de las especies carroñeras. La coordinación transfronteriza en esta materia resulta clave para mejorar la efectividad de este proceso de integración ambiental destinado a la conservación de las especies carroñeras europeas.

Post-mortem interval (PMI) is the period since death of human or animal remains upon discovery. Studying the soil chemical properties could provide a taphonomic approach of carrion decay. The present study aimed to examine the relationships between soil chemical properties and decomposition timeline of remains at both dry and wet seasons in a Southern Nigerian (Port Harcourt) ecosystem. Using an observational, analytical design during the dry (December 2022 to February 2023) and wet season (3rd to the 18th of April 2023), healthy pigs (Sus scrofa domesticus) weighing between 40 – 60 kg were used. Upon euthanization, pigs were buried at different cadaver decomposition islands (CDIs) within the site and at weekly intervals. Pig carrion decomposition was scored quantitatively using the Keough et al. total body score (TBS) method based on the observed morphological appearance of selected body regions. Soil samples were collected, air-dried, sieved, and analyzed for chemical properties using standard analytical procedures. Statistical differences in soil chemical characteristics between post-mortem intervals were performed using both one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Post Hoc tests. From the results, pH levels of dry and wet season gravesoil samples differed significantly at various PMIs (p < 0.05) in comparison with control soil samples. Calcium and magnesium levels were increased on days 7 (mean TBS of 16.3) and 14 (mean TBS of 21.3) while potassium concentrations elevated significantly at both days 14 in both seasons. There were significant increases in sodium concentration on day 7 (at a mean TBS of 19.3) for the wet season. Exchangeable acidity (EA) and effective cation exchange capacity (ECEC) values increased significantly in both study periods. The study showed significant associations between the post-mortem intervals of study pig carcasses and variations in chemistry of the gravesoil samples.

Silphinae (Staphylinidae; carrion beetles) are important contributors to the efficient decomposition and recycling of carrion necromass. Their community composition is important for the provision of this ecosystem function and can be affected by abiotic and biotic factors. However, investigations are lacking on the effects of carrion characteristics on Silphinae diversity. Carrion body mass may affect Silphinae diversity following the more individuals hypothesis (MIH). The MIH predicts a higher number of species at larger carrion because higher numbers of individuals can be supported on the resource patch. Additionally, biotic factors like carrion species identity or decomposition stage, and the abiotic factors elevation, season and temperature could affect Silphinae diversity. To test the hypotheses, we collected Silphinae throughout the decomposition of 100 carcasses representing 10 mammal species ranging from 0.04 to 124 kg. Experimental carcasses were exposed in a mountain forest landscape in Germany during spring and summer of 2021. We analysed Silphinae diversity using recently developed transformation models that considered the difficult data distribution we obtained. We found no consistent effect of carrion body mass on Silphinae species richness and, therefore, rejected the MIH. Carrion decomposition stage, in contrast, strongly influenced Silphinae diversity. Abundance and species richness increased with the decomposition process. Silphinae abundance increased with temperature and decreased with elevation. Furthermore, Silphinae abundance was lower in summer compared to spring, likely due to increased co‐occurrence and competition with dipteran larvae in summer. Neither carrion species identity nor any abiotic factor affected Silphinae species richness following a pattern consistent throughout the seasons. Our approach combining a broad study design with an improved method for data analysis, transformation models, revealed new insights into mechanisms driving carrion beetle diversity during carrion decomposition. Overall, our study illustrates the complexity and multifactorial nature of biotic and abiotic factors affecting diversity. To investigate the drivers of Silphinae (carrion beetle) diversity, we experimentally exposed 100 carcasses of 10 mammal species ranging from 0.4 to 124 kg. We tested the influence of the biotic factors carrion body mass (with the more individuals hypothesis (MIH) as underlying mechanism), carrion species identity and decomposition stage, and the abiotic factors temperature, season and elevation on Silphinae diversity. While the carrion body mass did not affect the Silphinae species richness (leading to rejection of the MIH), the carrion decomposition process proved to be the most important driver of Silphinae diversity; thus, our study contributes to the understanding of carrion beetle diversity.

Pumas (Puma concolor) and black bears (Ursus americanus) are large carnivores that may influence scavenger population dynamics. We used motion-triggered video cameras deployed at deer carcasses to determine how pumas and black bears affected three aspects of carrion acquisition by scavengers: presence, total feeding time, and mean feeding-bout duration. We found that pumas were unable to limit acquisition of carrion by large carnivores but did limit aspects of carrion acquisition by both birds and mesocarnivores. Through their suppression of mesocarnivores and birds, pumas apparently initiated a cascading pattern and increased carrion acquisition by small carnivores. In contrast, black bears monopolized carrion resources and generally had larger limiting effects on carrion acquisition by all scavengers. Black bears also limited puma feeding behaviors at puma kills, which may require pumas to compensate for energetic losses through increasing their kill rates of ungulates. Our results suggest that pumas provide carrion and selectively influence species acquiring carrion, while black bears limit carrion availability to all other scavengers. These results suggest that the effects of large carnivores on scavengers depend on attributes of both carnivores and scavengers (including size) and that competition for carcasses may result in intraguild predation as well as mesocarnivore release.

Carrion production is one of the most crucial yet neglected and understudied processes in food webs and ecosystems. In this study, we performed a large-scale estimation of the maximum potential production and spatial distribution of ungulate carrion biomass from five major sources in peninsular Spain, both anthropogenic (livestock, big game hunting, roadkills) and natural (predation, natural mortality). Using standardized ungulate carrion biomass (kg/year/100km2) estimates, we evaluated the relationship between ungulate carrion production and two ecosystem-level factors: global human modification (GHM) and primary productivity (NDVI). We found that anthropogenic carrion sources supplied about 60 times more ungulate carrion biomass than natural sources (mean = 90,172 vs. 1533 kg/year/100km2, respectively). Within anthropogenic carrion sources, livestock was by far the major carrion provider (91.1% of the annual production), followed by big game hunting (7.86%) and roadkills (0.05%). Within natural carrion sources, predation of ungulates provided more carrion (0.81%) than natural mortality (0.13%). Likewise, we found that the spatial distribution of carrion differed among carrion sources, with anthropogenic carrion being more aggregated in space than natural carrion. Our models showed that GHM was positively related to carrion production from livestock and roadkills, and that wild ungulate carrion supplied by natural sources and big game hunting was more frequently generated in more productive areas (higher NDVI). These findings indicate a disconnection between the main ungulate carrion source (livestock) and primary productivity. Ongoing socio-economic changes in developed countries (for example increase of intensive livestock husbandry and rewilding processes) could lead to additional alteration of carrion production processes, with potential negative impacts at the community and ecosystem levels. Overall, we highlight that carrion biomass quantification should be considered a crucial tool in evaluating ecosystem health and delineating efficient ecosystem management guidelines in the Anthropocene.

M. Yécora‐Molina, M. Valverde, I. Baños‐González, R. Pascual‐Rico, E. Arrondo, J.L. González del Barrio, M. González, J. García‐Fernández, A. Trujillano helped during the fieldwork. We are grateful to the farmers, for generously sharing their knowledge and time. The study was supported by MINECO and ERDF (project CGL2015‐66966‐C2‐1‐R). Z.M.R. was supported by a pre‐doctoral grant (FPU12/00823) and a mobility grant (EST15/00741) from the MECD, M.M. by a Severo Ochoa Program for Centres of Excellence in R+D+I (SEV‐2012‐0262) and by a research contract Ramón y Cajal from the MINECO (RYC‐2015‐19231), P.M.T. by a Portuguese FCT grant (SFRH/BPD/112437/2015), and A.M. by a research contract Ramón y Cajal from the MINECO (RYC‐2012‐11867).