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Collection Zone

Definition

A recorded location kept distinct for interpretation and traceability. A collection zone identifies where material was found and keeps potentially different associations traceable. It may describe a body region, clothing area, bag or surrounding substrate.

Context
Evidence collection

For example, samples from clothing and adjacent soil can be kept distinct so a later examiner can assess their different associations.

Pooling zones before examination can conceal different species or histories. A location label should record an observation rather than an assumed route of entry.

Related terms

Accumulated Degree Hours/days (ADH/ADD)
Temperature-time accumulation above a defined model threshold, with degree-hours and degree-days requiring correct conversion. In a fictional linear model with a base...
Handling History
Recorded events between collection and examination that may affect the specimens. These records help distinguish collection-time evidence from later changes. Refrigeration does...
Killing Sample
Material preserved to document the collection-time condition under a suitable protocol. Preserved material records aspects of the sample before additional rearing or...
Live Rearing Sample
Material maintained alive for development and potential identification. Live material can be maintained under documented conditions to obtain further developmental observations or...
Maggot Mass
An aggregation of fly larvae that can produce local heat and contain more than one cohort or species. Aggregated larvae can experience...
Post-Mortem Interval (PMI)
Elapsed time between death and a specified later reference event. State that endpoint explicitly when comparing methods. Insect age, time since discovery...
Preserved Baseline
Material retained under a documented treatment to support later examination of the collection state. Preserved material records aspects of the sample before...
Rearing Sample
Live material retained for documented further development or identification. Preserve collection-time information separately. Adult emergence is not mandatory for every species identification....
Succession Wave
A descriptive grouping of community change, not a universal ordered arrival schedule. Succession describes changes in organisms associated with a resource. Temperature,...
Voucher Material
Documented material retained to support identification, analytical traceability and possible independent re-examination. Link it to the case, observations, analytical sampling and storage...

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