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Insect succession and changes in the soil pH and electrical conductivity associated with decomposing pig carcasses on the Table Mountain National Park of the Western Cape Province of South Africa
The establishment of region-specific baseline data on carrion-associated entomofauna and changes in the chemistry of carrion-impacted soil is crucial in the application of forensic entomology and soil chemistry in post-mortem interval estimations. However, within the Western Cape Province of South A...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | Eng |
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Department of Pathology
2024
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| _version_ | 1867613225146646529 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Adetimehin, Adeyemi |
| author2 | Mole, Calvin |
| author_browse | Adetimehin, Adeyemi Mole, Calvin |
| author_facet | Mole, Calvin Adetimehin, Adeyemi |
| author_sort | Adetimehin, Adeyemi |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | The establishment of region-specific baseline data on carrion-associated entomofauna and changes in the chemistry of carrion-impacted soil is crucial in the application of forensic entomology and soil chemistry in post-mortem interval estimations. However, within the Western Cape Province of South Africa, and specifically, the Table Mountain region, no studies on carrion-associated entomofauna have been published. Also, no studies in South Africa have investigated how the changes in carrion-impacted soil chemistry can be used in post-mortem interval estimations. Therefore, to establish baseline carrion entomofauna data, this study investigated the insect assemblages associated with decomposing neonate pig carcasses, alongside the impact of carcass decomposition on soil, carcass skin, and larval mass(es) chemistry, on a monthly temporal scale across the spring, summer, autumn and winter seasons. Secondly, in line with the quest for forensic relevance as evidenced by the observations from local forensic cases within the Province, this study examined the similarity in the collected carrion entomofauna, soil, carcass skin and larval mass(es) chemistry data generated from the neonate pig studies, with those generated from singly deployed adult pig carcasses across the winter and summer seasons. Thirdly, to further establish the forensic relevance of the entomofauna data generated from experimental studies, this study examined the insect species documented in forensic entomological reports of actual forensic cases within the Western Cape Province and compared the data therein with those generated from field studies using neonate and adult pig carcasses. A total of twenty-four neonate pig carcasses (two for each monthly trial) were used to generate baseline data on carrion-associated entomofauna and changes in soil pH and electrical conductivity, carcass skin and larval mass(es) in each month across the spring, summer, autumn, and winter seasons, between August 2020 to September 2021. Similar data were collected over the winter and summer seasons respectively using two adult pig carcasses (one for each seasonal trial) between June 2022 to January 2023. The neonate pig carcasses decomposed twice as fast in the summer season when compared to the spring and autumn seasons, and four times faster than those deployed in the winter season. The adult pig carcass deployed in the summer season decomposed approximately eight times faster than that deployed in the winter season. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/39215 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | Eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:32:45.765Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| publishDateRange | 2024 |
| publishDateSort | 2024 |
| publisher | Department of Pathology |
| publisherStr | Department of Pathology |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/39215 Insect succession and changes in the soil pH and electrical conductivity associated with decomposing pig carcasses on the Table Mountain National Park of the Western Cape Province of South Africa Adetimehin, Adeyemi Mole, Calvin Forensic Entomology The establishment of region-specific baseline data on carrion-associated entomofauna and changes in the chemistry of carrion-impacted soil is crucial in the application of forensic entomology and soil chemistry in post-mortem interval estimations. However, within the Western Cape Province of South Africa, and specifically, the Table Mountain region, no studies on carrion-associated entomofauna have been published. Also, no studies in South Africa have investigated how the changes in carrion-impacted soil chemistry can be used in post-mortem interval estimations. Therefore, to establish baseline carrion entomofauna data, this study investigated the insect assemblages associated with decomposing neonate pig carcasses, alongside the impact of carcass decomposition on soil, carcass skin, and larval mass(es) chemistry, on a monthly temporal scale across the spring, summer, autumn and winter seasons. Secondly, in line with the quest for forensic relevance as evidenced by the observations from local forensic cases within the Province, this study examined the similarity in the collected carrion entomofauna, soil, carcass skin and larval mass(es) chemistry data generated from the neonate pig studies, with those generated from singly deployed adult pig carcasses across the winter and summer seasons. Thirdly, to further establish the forensic relevance of the entomofauna data generated from experimental studies, this study examined the insect species documented in forensic entomological reports of actual forensic cases within the Western Cape Province and compared the data therein with those generated from field studies using neonate and adult pig carcasses. A total of twenty-four neonate pig carcasses (two for each monthly trial) were used to generate baseline data on carrion-associated entomofauna and changes in soil pH and electrical conductivity, carcass skin and larval mass(es) in each month across the spring, summer, autumn, and winter seasons, between August 2020 to September 2021. Similar data were collected over the winter and summer seasons respectively using two adult pig carcasses (one for each seasonal trial) between June 2022 to January 2023. The neonate pig carcasses decomposed twice as fast in the summer season when compared to the spring and autumn seasons, and four times faster than those deployed in the winter season. The adult pig carcass deployed in the summer season decomposed approximately eight times faster than that deployed in the winter season. 2024-03-08T08:14:13Z 2024-03-08T08:14:13Z 2023 2024-02-27T12:29:51Z Thesis / Dissertation Doctoral PhD http://hdl.handle.net/11427/39215 Eng application/pdf Department of Pathology Faculty of Health Sciences |
| spellingShingle | Forensic Entomology Adetimehin, Adeyemi Insect succession and changes in the soil pH and electrical conductivity associated with decomposing pig carcasses on the Table Mountain National Park of the Western Cape Province of South Africa |
| thesis_degree_str | Doctoral |
| title | Insect succession and changes in the soil pH and electrical conductivity associated with decomposing pig carcasses on the Table Mountain National Park of the Western Cape Province of South Africa |
| title_full | Insect succession and changes in the soil pH and electrical conductivity associated with decomposing pig carcasses on the Table Mountain National Park of the Western Cape Province of South Africa |
| title_fullStr | Insect succession and changes in the soil pH and electrical conductivity associated with decomposing pig carcasses on the Table Mountain National Park of the Western Cape Province of South Africa |
| title_full_unstemmed | Insect succession and changes in the soil pH and electrical conductivity associated with decomposing pig carcasses on the Table Mountain National Park of the Western Cape Province of South Africa |
| title_short | Insect succession and changes in the soil pH and electrical conductivity associated with decomposing pig carcasses on the Table Mountain National Park of the Western Cape Province of South Africa |
| title_sort | insect succession and changes in the soil ph and electrical conductivity associated with decomposing pig carcasses on the table mountain national park of the western cape province of south africa |
| topic | Forensic Entomology |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/39215 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT adetimehinadeyemi insectsuccessionandchangesinthesoilphandelectricalconductivityassociatedwithdecomposingpigcarcassesonthetablemountainnationalparkofthewesterncapeprovinceofsouthafrica |