Amendt Jens
Institute of Legal Medicine, University Hospital Frankfurt, Goethe-University, Kennedyallee 104, D-60596 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Insects. 2021 Apr 6;12(4):324. doi: 10.3390/insects12040324.
Recent reports have shown a dramatic loss in insect species and biomass. Since forensic entomology relies on the presence of insects, the question is whether this decline effects the discipline. The present review confirms that numerous studies document insect population declines or even extinction, despite the fact that the rates of decline and the methods used to demonstrate it are still much debated. However, with regard to a decline in necrophagous insects, there is little or only anecdotal data available. A hypothetical decrease in species diversity and population density in necrophagous insects could lead to a delayed colonization of dead bodies and a modified succession pattern due to the disappearance or new occurrence of species or their altered seasonality. Climate change as one of the drivers of insect decline will probably also have an impact on necrophagous insects and forensic entomology, leading to reduced flight and oviposition activity, modified growth rates and, therefore, an over- or underestimation of a minimum postmortem interval. Global warming with increased temperature and extreme weather requires a better understanding about necrophagous insect responses to environmental variations. Here, transgeneration effects in particular should be analysed in greater depth as this will help to understand rapid adaptation and plasticity in insects of forensic importance.
最近的报告显示昆虫物种和生物量急剧减少。由于法医昆虫学依赖于昆虫的存在，问题在于这种减少是否会影响该学科。本综述证实，尽管下降速率以及用于证明这一点的方法仍存在诸多争议，但大量研究记录了昆虫种群的减少甚至灭绝。然而，关于食尸性昆虫的减少，几乎没有或仅有轶事性数据。食尸性昆虫物种多样性和种群密度的假设性下降可能导致尸体定殖延迟以及演替模式改变，这是由于物种的消失或新出现，或其季节性变化所致。气候变化作为昆虫减少的驱动因素之一，可能也会对食尸性昆虫和法医昆虫学产生影响，导致飞行和产卵活动减少、生长速率改变，进而导致对最短死后间隔的高估或低估。气温升高和极端天气的全球变暖需要我们更好地了解食尸性昆虫对环境变化的反应。在此，尤其应更深入地分析跨代效应，因为这将有助于理解具有法医重要性的昆虫的快速适应和可塑性。
