TY - JOUR
T1 - Functional differences in scavenger communities and the speed of carcass decomposition
AU - Wenting, Elke
AU - Rinzema, Salomé C.Y.
AU - van Langevelde, Frank
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
PY - 2022/2
Y1 - 2022/2
N2 - Carcass decomposition largely depends on vertebrate scavengers. However, how behavioral differences between vertebrate scavenger species, the dominance of certain species, and the diversity of the vertebrate scavenger community affect the speed of carcass decomposition is poorly understood. As scavenging is an overlooked trophic interaction, studying the different functional roles of vertebrate species in the scavenging process increases our understanding about the effect of the vertebrate scavenger community on carcass decomposition. We used motion-triggered infrared camera trap footages to profile the behavior and activity of vertebrate scavengers visiting carcasses in Dutch nature areas. We grouped vertebrate scavengers with similar functional roles. We found a clear distinction between occasional scavengers and more specialized scavengers, and we found wild boar (Sus scrofa) to be the dominant scavenger species in our study system. We showed that these groups are functionally different within the scavenger community. We found that overall vertebrate scavenger diversity was positively correlated with carcass decomposition speed. With these findings, our study contributes to the understanding about the different functional roles scavengers can have in ecological communities.
AB - Carcass decomposition largely depends on vertebrate scavengers. However, how behavioral differences between vertebrate scavenger species, the dominance of certain species, and the diversity of the vertebrate scavenger community affect the speed of carcass decomposition is poorly understood. As scavenging is an overlooked trophic interaction, studying the different functional roles of vertebrate species in the scavenging process increases our understanding about the effect of the vertebrate scavenger community on carcass decomposition. We used motion-triggered infrared camera trap footages to profile the behavior and activity of vertebrate scavengers visiting carcasses in Dutch nature areas. We grouped vertebrate scavengers with similar functional roles. We found a clear distinction between occasional scavengers and more specialized scavengers, and we found wild boar (Sus scrofa) to be the dominant scavenger species in our study system. We showed that these groups are functionally different within the scavenger community. We found that overall vertebrate scavenger diversity was positively correlated with carcass decomposition speed. With these findings, our study contributes to the understanding about the different functional roles scavengers can have in ecological communities.
KW - carcass decomposition
KW - scavenger community
KW - vertebrate scavengers
U2 - 10.1002/ece3.8576
DO - 10.1002/ece3.8576
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85125150968
VL - 12
JO - Ecology and Evolution
JF - Ecology and Evolution
SN - 2045-7758
IS - 2
M1 - e8576
ER -