Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Postmortem Interval Estimation Based On Eukaryotic Community Associated With Soil Under Decomposing Porcine Remains, Amanda M. Haase

Master of Science in Forensic Science Directed Research Projects

Recent studies have shown that bacteria associated with soils under a carcass change significantly both temporally and spatially. These studies were done in both laboratory and field conditions, but with limited replications. In addition, limited information exists on temporal and spatial changes in eukaryotic community structure associated with soil under decomposing remains. This study was designed to fill in these gaps and expand on previous studies to improve postmortem interval (PMI) estimation techniques as well as to identify cadaver decomposition islands (CDI) based on eukaryotic community structure associated with soil under vertebrate remains. To accomplish this goal, soil samples were …