Interactions among forest fragmentation, carrion beetle communities, and patterns of carrion decomposition in Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America

Urbanization has converted many previously continuous forests into remnant patches within a network of human-dominated land use. What the consequences of this pervasive land use change are for biological diversity and ecological function is poorly understood, particularly for invertebrates. I therefore determined how forest fragmentation might affect community structure and the ecological function provided by a guild of insects, the carrion beetles. Forest fragmentation was correlated with reduced carrion beetle diversity and abundance, far more so than was urbanization. The likelihood that experimental baits were interred was, in turn, a positive function of carrion beetle diversity. Carrion beetles would appear to be useful indicators of ecosystem function in forest fragments. Management for the preservation of biodiversity within urban forest patches should focus on preserving such ecological functionality in addition to conserving overall diversity at the species level.