American burying beetle population decline and recovery management

Biology

Endangered American Burying Beetle

This is a paper about the Endangered American Burying Beetle. There are four references used for this paper.

There are a number of species that are facing extinction throughout the world. It is important to look at the Endangered American Burying Beetle and determine its ecological significance, its population and geographic distribution, the known anthropogenic threats, and a realistic management plan for recovery.

Ecological Significance

The American Burying Beetle plays a significant role in ecology. The beetles "bury carcasses found on the ground, thus playing an important role in the recycling of nutrients. Through the act of burying, they also remove prey from competing flies and ants, and in this way may serve to limit those species, which sometimes reach pest proportions (http://endangered.fws.gov/wildlife.html#Species)."

Anthropogenic Threats

There is no clear cause in the decline of the American burying beetle, however it has been suggested that the "decline has the characteristics of the rapid spread of a pathogen, while there is no evidence which supports this explanation. Fragmentation or loss of the beetle's habitat, as well as competition with raccoons and other scavengers that tend to follow humans into new environments may also have contributed to the beetle's decline (Chenot)." The use of chemicals such as DDT in the beetle's natural habitat may have also posed a severe threat to the species' population.

Some biologists suggest the decline may be due to a "decreasing availability of suitable carrion and increasing competition for carcasses by other species (Prospero)." In order for the beetle to reproduce, it must have the carcass of a vertebrate animal approximately the size of a dove.

Recovery Efforts

There have been a number of proposed plans for recovery management of the beetle, as well as implementations. In 2001, there was a largest "American burying beetle reintroduction effort in the 12-year history of the species' recovery program on Nantucket Island off the Massachusetts (Clough)." Over 300 beetles were raised for this release in Providence, Rhode Island at the Roger Williams Park Zoo. In June 2001, "320 American burying beetles (160 pairs) were given dead quail for food and released at the Massachusetts Audubon Society's Sesachacha Wildlife Sanctuary. With each pair of beetles capable of raising 10-20 larvae, there is hope the release will result in thousands of beetles on the island (Clough)."

The "interim objective of recovery requires reducing the threat of extinction through maintenance and protection of the extant populations in Rhode Island and Oklahoma, and re-establishing at least two additional self-sustaining wild populations of at least 500 animals each, one in the eastern and one in the western part of the species historical range limits (http://endangered.fws.gov/wildlife.html#Species)."

Conclusion

The American Burying Beetle is a species which is on the brink of extinction. It is hoped that through successful recovery efforts, this important contributor to the ecosystem will once again flourish in North America.