This is because chemical changes in the ecosystems surrounding human remains, known by researchers as the “cadaver decay islands”, alter the soil and the roots and leaves of surrounding plants.
In return, they said, “there may be leafy structural changes in the plant that can be detected remotely.”
A team of university botanists, ethnographers and geologists will begin experimenting with the so-called Cadre Islands to better understand how plants can help reduce the time spent in “walking” businesses and aerial exploration.
The research will be conducted at the university’s anthropology research facility, known as the “Body Farm”, where scientists investigate how the human body’s decomposition process affects plants in different conditions and nearby.
The authors warned that while the research was at an early stage, any potential use of the plant as a recovery tool for the body is still “many years away”.
However, they said the initial findings were “exciting” and they hoped to increase the size of future technologies that would scan plants for specific fluorescence or reflection signals that show human remains.
“In small, patrolling open landscapes feet can be effective for finding someone missing, but in more wild or treacherous parts of the world like the Amazon, it’s not at all possible,” said Professor Neil Stuart Jr., a senior author. Plant Science at the University of Tennessee, in a statement. “This allows us to find plants as indicators of human decomposition, which can lead to a faster and more likely recovery of a safe body.”
“The most obvious consequence of the islands would be the large release of nitrogen into the soil, especially during the summer when decomposition is happening so fast,” Stewart added.
But the team faces challenging hurdles, with scanners distinguishing the human body from other large mammals, such as deer.
To do that, they must first understand the metabolism – small molecules – specifically for the breakdown of human remains that can affect the appearance of plants.
“Once the diagnostic spectra is compiled, researchers can start thinking about scaling up to drones and other technologies that can analyze a large area of land in a short time.”
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