Proposition for the use of Coleoptera as bioindicators in environmental damage expertise

Resumo

Forensic Entomology is the science that applies the knowledge, especially of biology and ecology, of insects to solve legal questions. The nature of the investigations can be economic or criminal: to estimate the time of death, to point out the cause of death, to attribute responsibility for cases of food contamination, to infer negligence or mistreatment, among others. Identifying changes or crimes against the environment or assessing mitigation processes can be very complex. Some organisms, classified as bioindicators, are considered key elements in the ecosystem because they participate in diverse ecological interactions. For this reason they are used as instruments in the monitoring of degraded areas. The objective of this study is to propose, through ecological analysis, the use of Coleoptera as indicators in environmental damage expertise.