The endangered American burying beetle (Nicrophorus americanus, Family Silphidae) buries carrion and constructs brood chambers to nourish developing offspring. Seventeen years of N. americanus population monitoring data at 57 survey sites, in conjunction with detailed soil and vegetation GIS data, were used to identify preferred habitat components at Fort Chaffee, Arkansas. Vegetation and soil samples included half-mile (805 meters) buffers encompassing 203 hectares (502 acres) around each baited pitfall trap to reflect the effective sampling range. Correlations between habitat components and trap success for all sample sites were calculated.
Results/Conclusions
Results indicate that N. americanus abundance was not limited by soil depth but was positively correlated with well drained sandy loams with at least moderate permeability. Nicrophorus americanus abundance was positively correlated to woodland communities and negatively correlated to forested communities contradicting previous literature. Post oak woodland, little bluestem mixed grass prairie, post/blackjack oak woodland, mixed disturbed grassland, and chess mixed grassland were the vegetation communities that were positively correlated with N. americanus abundance. These vegetation communities were historically maintained in an early successional state by wildfire, herbivory, and ground disturbance from grazing ungulates. At Fort Chaffee, successional vegetation communities are being perpetuated by fire disturbance and ground disturbance associated with military training. Reported habitat preferences for this species have historically been a source of ambiguity in defining conservation goals. Results of this study suggest that conservation efforts that unconditionally prohibit habitat disturbance may lead to habitat degradation due to forest encroachment.
