Local ecosystem and abiotic variable impact on carrion fly communities

For forensic entomologists to use carrion flies as an accurate indicator of how long a decedent has been dead, they must have a comprehensive understanding of the local carrion fly community and how local ecosystem conditions affect fly behavior and distribution. Given that plants are significant indicators of the conditions and resources available in an ecosystem, I identified five different local ecosystems, as defined by their plant group classification, and examined the carrion flies present in each ecosystem by setting out baited traps at the beginning, middle, and end of summer. I ran a Multiple Analysis of Variance and found no significant relationship between the plant group ecosystem and the flies captured in that ecosystem. Then, I used Poisson regressions to model the effects of abiotic variables I measured at each trap site on different families of carrion flies. Calliphoridae, Muscidae, and Fanniidae demonstrated a statistically significant relationship with humidity and the distance from water. Calliphoridae also exhibited a relationship with the ambient temperature, and Fanniidae had a significant relationship with wind speed. Future studies should focus on the impact of local abiotic variables on carrion fly communities so entomologists can make accurate contributions to forensic investigations