‘Botany, palynology, and mycology: powerful weapons in the forensic armoury’

Ecology is a critical forensic tool in investigation of murder, rape, abduction, and grand theft; to link people, objects, and places; locate hidden remains; and estimate times of body deposition and death

In Britain over the last fifteen years, ecology has proved to be a critical forensic tool in investigation of murder, rape, abduction, and grand theft. In particular, the use of botany and palynology (the study of pollen, plant and fungal spores, and other microscopic remains) have been particularly useful in (a) linking people, objects, and places, (b) search and location of hidden remains, and © estimating times of body deposition and death. She has used these disciplines in more than 200 criminal cases.

Almost any place has a unique biological profile, traces of which can be picked up by anything that comes directly into contact with it. These traces are proxy indicators of that place and, if they are identified and quantified accurately, the experienced forensic ecologist/palynologist can envisage the place in question.

When estimating the time that a body (or other object) has lain in situ on the surface of the ground, the changes in local flora and fauna, particularly below the body, can provide useful temporal information. From such changes, it is also possible to track the routes taken by offenders to and from the deposition sites. The identification of such offender pathways is of critical importance to investigators since they are able to minimise their search efforts. Fungal growths on cadavers are also being used to estimate time since death.

Palynomorphs (pollen, plant and fungal spores) can be picked up from any palyniferous surface by any object, and they can remain for long periods of time. In vehicles, and on clothing and footwear, there will be multiple depositions of palynomorphs over time; there will also be a loss of palynomorphs over time. Thus, the palynological profile on any object can be mixed. However, with careful evaluation of all sites pertinent to a case, a skilled palynologist can determine the palynomorph assemblages that reflect the crime scene. It is necessary to carry out detailed vegetation surveys of all relevant places and obtain comparator samples of soils and vegetation from them. After comparison of the various palynological profiles from places and objects, locations may be implicated or eliminated.

Case histories showing the power of the technique in linking people and objects with places, and in the location of deposition or burial sites of victims, are presented. The limits to the use of palynological information in forensic cases are the abundance and variety of palynomorphs present, the high level of scientific experience necessary to distinguish and identify rare or unusual pollen and spores, and the familiarity of the forensic palynologist with plant communities and plant distributions. Consequently, a scientist wishing to use these techniques to their fullest potential must have a strong background in plant ecology and palynology, and have good identification skills.

Patricia Wiltshire is an ecologist, botanist, and palynologist. She started her research and teaching career at King’s College London. She later worked in environmental reconstruction in archaeology at University College London. Her experience of the difficulty of archaeological palynology meant that she was pre-adapted to work in the forensic context.

In the last 15 years, she has developed the disciplines of ecological (environmental) profiling and forensic palynology. She has worked very closely with crime scene managers, senior investigating officers, forensic advisors, and other forensic scientists, and has established many of the standard crime scene protocols for obtaining environmental evidence. She has worked on over 200 cases, many of which have been very high profile. She has worked with every police force in England, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, and Wales. She has also worked with four of the Scottish Police forces. She is an experienced expert witness.

She set up an M.Sc. in Forensic Archaeological Science at University College London and was responsible for much of the teaching in this course for 5 years. She has taught at police training colleges in Britain, and runs specialised courses for individual police forces. She has contributed to, and continues to participate in, M.Sc. courses in a number of universities including those at Strathclyde, King’s College London, Dundee, Bournemouth, Cranfield, and the Jill Dando Institute. She is a Research Fellow at the University of Aberdeen and University of Gloucestershire. She has published extensively in ecology, botany, palynology, and archaeology - and in the forensic aspects of these disciplines. She was Secretary of The British Association for Human Identification between 2005 and 2007. She has professional status as a forensic scientist, and is a Fellow of the Linnean Society.

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