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Soil Preferences Of Nicrophorus Beetles And The Effects Of Compaction On Burying Behavior, Kelly A. Willemssens
Soil Preferences Of Nicrophorus Beetles And The Effects Of Compaction On Burying Behavior, Kelly A. Willemssens
School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research
The American burying beetle, Nicrophorus americanus Olivier was declared federally endangered in 1989 and many efforts to prevent this species from going extinct are ongoing. The Nicrophorus beetles bury small carcasses for reproductive purposes. They also reside in the soil during times of daily and seasonal inactivity. To better understand why N. americanus is in decline, the importance of soil texture, moisture, vegetation, gravel, the burial depth, and the effect of compaction on their burying behavior was examined.
All tested species preferred moist soils with N. orbicollis having a significant preference for wet (pN. marginatus had a significant preference for …