Scavenging beetles control the temporal response of soil communities to carrion decomposition
Carrion is a frequent but overlooked source of nutrients to the soil. The decomposition of carrion is accelerated by invertebrate scavengers, but the impact of the scavengers on below-ground biota and its functions is scarcely known. We conducted a laboratory experiment to investigate the effects of the burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides on the soil community of a temperate broadleaved forest