Non-native earthworms have invaded ecosystems around the world but have recently received increased attention as they invaded previously earthworm-free habitats in northern North America. Earthworms can affect plants by ingesting seeds and burying them in the soil. These effects can be negative or positive but are expected to become increasingly negative with decreasing seed size. Orchids have ...

Post mortem changes are important in estimating post mortem interval (PMI). This project's aim was to study the effect of burial and type of clothing on rate of decomposition, which can contribute to estimating PMI for victims. 12 rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) carcasses were separated into 3 groups: no clothing, light clothing and heavy clothing. Control subjects were placed on the ground sur...

Radioactive waste containing a few grams of plutonium (Pu) was disposed between 1960 and 1968 in trenches at the Little Forest Burial Ground (LFBG), near Sydney, Australia. A water sampling point installed in a former trench has enabled the radionuclide content of trench water and the response of the water level to rainfall to be studied. The trench water contains readily measurable Pu activity...

Forensic Taphonomy aims to provide information relevant to the courts in cases where cadavers have been allowed to decompose. Here I consider the cadaver’s effects on the burial environment when decomposition occurs on the soil surface or belowground. Significant advances have been made in recent years that have allowed a better understanding of cadaver decomposition, its effect on the burial e...

Colluvial soils are enriched in soil organic carbon (SOC) in comparison to the soils of upslope areas due to the deposition and progressive burial of SOC. This burial of SOC has important implications for the global carbon cycle, but the long-term dynamics of buried SOC remain poorly constrained. We addressed this issue by determining the SOC burial efficiency (i.e. the fraction of originally d...

background: toxocariasis is an important disease caused by the larvae of parasitic worms such as toxocara canis and t. cati . public parks can be the source of toxocariasis for small children. this survey was conducted to de-termine the prevalence of toxocara spp. ova in parks of mashhad and khaf northeastern iran. methods: in this descriptive cross-sectional study, performed in november 2011 t...