U S Fish and Wildlife Service Arkansas Field
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U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service Arkansas Field Office American Burying Beetle Status in Arkansas Chris Davidson chris_davidson@fws. gov
American Burying Beetle Occurrences in AR
American Burying Beetle Occurrences in AR
Threats n Federal projects n n n Non-federal projects n n n ~100 projects annually in the 5 county area Road construction, natural gas activities, forest management, and development Undefined number of projects and acres impacted (e. g. natural gas development) Utility expansion, urban & suburban development, and conversion of forest land to pastureland or row crop Section 7 Biological Opinions Cover: n n n Federal Highway Administration/Arkansas HTD Ouachita NF and Ozark-St. Francis NF Bureau of Land Management Ft. Chaffee Maneuver Training Center Weyerhaeuser HCP Department of Commerce
OUACHITA NATIONAL FOREST American Burying Beetle Area (ABBA) § ABBA 637, 971 acres (35% of ONF) § 5 mi distant from outlying occurrences § Preferred habitat type is relatively open areas with native grasses § ABBs most abundant around Booneville § 1992 -2005 69 ABBs Trapped
Habitat Conservation Plan for the ABB Arkansas Data n HCP covers 40, 000 ac in OK/AR n Little River County, AR (13, 000 ac) n 12 Transects in AR surveyed annually n ABB captured at 10, 33, 69 n 6 of 382 ABBs captured in AR (1997 – 2005)
Department of the Army Ft. Chaffee Maneuver Training Center n Approximately 63 transects/yr n ABBs Captured n Range: 108 (2001) to 849 (2005) n Grassland or open woodland habitats > density of ABBs n Developing ABB Conservation Plan
Miscellaneous Surveys n Cherokee Prairie Natural Area n n Warriner (2003) surveys for ABB on AGFC Management Areas n n n 566 acre tallgrass prairie managed by ANHC 1997 – 244 ABBs captured; Avg. trapping success = 0. 569 (Le. Doux and Riley 1999) H. E. Flanagan Prairie Natural Area (266 ac) nearby has potential habitat Grandview WMA (Hempstead Co), Blue Mountain WMA, Mt. Magazine WMA, and Cherokee WMA (Logan Co) Mt. Magazine WMA – 2 females; trap success 0. 02 Upper Petit Jean River near Elm Park, Scott County n 2002 – 1 ABB captured; Trap success = 0. 01
