ArticlemSphere2022
Body Mass Index (BMI) Impacts Soil Chemical and Microbial Response to Human Decomposition.
Article in mSphere, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 23 citations in OpenAlex.
- Characterisation of microbial succession for the estimation of PMI and PMSI in terrestrial and aquatic environments.Forensic science, medicine, and pathology · 2026Article
- Soil microbial gene expression over one year of human decomposition.FEMS microbiology ecology · 2026Article
- The impact of age and insects factors on cadaver microbial communities and application to postmortem interval Estimation.International journal of legal medicine · 2026Article
- Advancing time-since-interval estimation for clandestine graves: a forensic ecogenomics perspective into burial and translocation timelines using massively parallel sequencing.Frontiers in microbiology · 2025Review
- The Functional and Structural Succession of Mesic-Grassland Soil Microbiomes Beneath Decomposing Large Herbivore Carcasses.Environmental microbiology · 2025Article
- Transient hypoxia drives soil microbial community dynamics and biogeochemistry during human decomposition.FEMS microbiology ecology · 2024Article
- A conserved interdomain microbial network underpins cadaver decomposition despite environmental variables.Nature microbiology · 2024Article
- The mouse gingiva and HIF-1α, a key gene of hypoxic environment, as tools for post-mortem time estimation.PloS one · 2024Article
- Environmental predictors impact microbial-based postmortem interval (PMI) estimation models within human decomposition soils.PloS one · 2024Article
- Estimating the time of human decomposition based on skeletal muscle biopsy samples utilizing an untargeted LC-MS/MS-based proteomics approach.Analytical and bioanalytical chemistry · 2023Article
- Toward Oral Thanatomicrobiology-An Overview of the Forensic Implications of Oral Microflora.Academic forensic pathology · 2023Review
- A synthesis of carcass decomposition studies conducted at a tropical (Aw) taphonomy facility: 2013-2022.Forensic science international. Synergy · 2023Article
- Soil elemental changes during human decomposition.PloS one · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Microorganisms are key decomposers of vertebrate mortalities, breaking down body tissues and impacting decomposition progress. During human decomposition, both extrinsic environmental factors and intrinsic cadaver-related factors have the potential to impact microbial decomposers either directly or indirectly via altered physical or chemical conditions. While extrinsic factors (e.g., temperature, humidity) explain some variation in microbial response during human decomposition in terrestrial settings, recent work has noted that even under the same environmental conditions, individuals can have different decomposition patterns, highlighting the potential for intrinsic factors to impact microbial decomposers. The goal of this study was to investigate the effects of several intrinsic factors (age, sex, diseases at time of death, and body mass index [BMI]) on chemical and microbial changes in decomposition-impacted soils. In a field study conducted at the University of Tennessee Anthropology Research Facility, soils were collected from the decomposition-impacted area surrounding 19 deceased human individuals through the end of active decomposition. Soil physicochemical parameters were measured, and microbial (bacterial and fungal) communities were assessed via amplicon sequencing. BMI was shown to explain some variation in soil pH and microbial response to human decomposition. Hierarchical linear mixed (HLM) effects models revealed that BMI category significantly explained variation in pH response within decomposition-impacted soils over time (HLM
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.