Research on decomposer communities has traditionally focused on plant litter or deadwood. Even though carrion forms highly nutrient-rich necromass that enhance ecosystem heterogeneity, the factors influencing saprophytic communities remain largely unknown. For deadwood, experiments have shown that different drivers determine beetles (i.e., decay stage, microclimate, and space), fungi (i.e., decay stage and tree species) and bacteria (decay stage only) assemblages. To test the hypothesis that similar factors also structure carrion communities, we sampled 29 carcasses exposed for 30 days that included Cervus elaphus (N = 6), Capreolus capreolus (N = 18), and Vulpes vulpes (N = 5) in a mountain forest throughout decomposition. Beetles were collected with pitfall traps, while microbial communities were characterized using amplicon sequencing. Assemblages were determined with a focus from rare to dominant species using Hill numbers. With increasing focus on dominant species, the relative importance of carcass identity on beetles and space on bacteria increased, while only succession and microclimate remained relevant for fungi. For beetle and bacteria with focus on dominant species, host identity was more important than microclimate, which is in marked contrast to deadwood. We conclude that factors influencing carrion saprophytic assemblages show some consistency, but also differences from those of deadwood assemblages, suggesting that short-lived carrion and long-lasting deadwood both provide a resource pulse with different adaptions in insects and microbes. As with deadwood, a high diversity of carcass species under multiple decay stages and different microclimates support a diverse decomposer community.

Bavarian Forest National Park Freyunger Str 2 94481 Grafenau Germany

Chair of Wildlife Ecology and Wildlife Management University of Freiburg 79106 Freiburg Germany

Department of Conservation and Research Bavarian Forest National Park Freyunger Str 2 94481 Grafenau Germany

Department of Ecology Faculty of Environmental Sciences Czech University of Life Sciences Prague Kamycka 1176 16521 Praha Czech Republic

Department of Entomology Department of Osteopathic Specialties AgBioResearch and Ecology Evolution and Behavior Program Michigan State University East Lansing MI 48824 USA

Department of Visitor Management and National Park Monitoring Bavarian Forest National Park 94481 Grafenau Germany

Department of Zoology Faculty of Science Charles University Vinicna 7 12844 Prague Czech Republic

Faculty of Biological Sciences Institute for Ecology Evolution and Diversity Conservation Biology Goethe University Frankfurt 60438 Frankfurt am Main Germany

Field Station Fabrikschleichach Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology University of Würzburg 96181 Rauhenebrach Germany

Institute for Forest and Wildlife Management Inland Norway University of Applied Science 2480 Koppang Norway

Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics University of Ulm Albert Einstein Allee 11 89069 Ulm Germany

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