Invertebrates in terrestrial decomposition

The use of the soil succession in PMI estimation will require development of successional databases for locations where it is to be applied. This will involve consideration of all invertebrate groups associated with carrion and selection of groups that are truly predictable in their arrival at a corpse in relation to decompositional stage. Numerous studies have identified groups both beneath the body and associated with burials that may be useful in PMI estimation, but the successional data required to apply such observations are still lacking. Invertebrates play an important role in terrestrial decomposition, and further study will provide a new method for estimation of PMI and open new frontiers in forensic entomology. 

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