Nebraskaland

40 NEBRASKAland • AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2015 conservation measures will be required for any projects that cross through American burying beetle range. "Every site in the state that had a five-gallon bucket with a rat for at least five days was used to generate that model," Hoback said. Researchers then looked at the characteristics of the habitat in areas where beetles had been captured, including soil type, soil moisture, and the amount of agricultural activity, and then placed more traps in areas with similar habitat that hadn't yet been surveyed. "Through time, we ended up with more than 1,000 different spots that we had sampled for American burying beetles," Hoback said. Any area with a 1 percent chance of catching a beetle is now included in the range where conservation measures must be considered. Estimating the population of an insect that spends most of its time underground and is only active above ground at night is difficult. However, Hoback said they have estimated the population to be as high as 200 beetles within the 500 acres covered by some traps. The highest densities are found in Cherry, Brown, Rock, Holt, Loup and Garfield counties, where he estimates there are tens of thousands of beetles. Other research has looked at the effects of soil compaction on beetles to determine if those that have burrowed into a roadside for the day or a pasture for the winter could be harmed by mowers, vehicles or construction equipment. Only 1 to 4 percent died in the study. To address similar concerns, Hoback's students also looked at the depths at which American burying beetles and surrogate species spent the winter and found them to remain near the frost line. "The closer they can be to 32 F, the less energy resources and reserves they'll use," said Hoback. "If they get too cold, they'll freeze and they'll die." About 30 to 40 percent of the beetles don't survive winter, a percentage typical in insects." Pipelines and Power For projects such as pipelines that require a federal permit and could affect threatened or endangered species, companies must consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which will issue a biological opinion that says whether or not the project will put the species in jeopardy of extinction. The U.S. Department of State and TransCanada did just that for the Keystone XL pipeline, not only for the American burying beetle, but also for 11 other listed species along the route and two other species that are nearing the point they could make the list, said Bob Harms, a biologist in the Service's Grand Island office who has worked on the pipeline project and others. For the pipeline's initial route, the Service determined in 2011 that the project would not jeopardize the species, even though it crossed a portion of the eastern Sandhills where beetle numbers were among the highest in the state. That finding was challenged by environmental groups, but before it became a major issue, opposition arose to the pipeline's route through the eastern Sandhills, where it would be in direct contact with the Ogallala Aquifer. The outcry led to a new route being selected that avoided the Sandhills, and the Service withdrew its opinion at the request of the State Department and restarted its review process. The Service's biological opinion for the new Keystone XL route, issued in 2013, produced the same result. In both cases, Harms said, population surveys had estimated the number of beetles present to be low enough that they could withstand such a disturbance, especially considering the ability to trap and relocate beetles. "After that disturbance ends, they could move back into those areas disturbed by the pipeline," Harms said. "The beetles would be impacted because they would be handled by surveyors, but they wouldn't be injured or killed." After the Service's first biological opinion was issued, the parties anticipated the State Department would approve the project, and TransCanada started the process to trap and relocate beetles from the route in the fall of 2011, hiring Hoback and others to do the work. It would be the last chance to do so until the following June, when the project was to start. It also gave Hoback a chance to further his trap and relocate research and account for most of the 2,500 beetles he has monitored. The company also mowed some areas along the pipeline route to discourage beetles from returning. The work drew the ire of environmental groups opposed to the pipeline and led to a lawsuit from the Center for Biological Diversity and others. That suit led to a change in the Service's approval process, where trap and relocation and mowing, avoidance and minimization measures that were a part of the pipeline project could only be authorized by a biological opinion. Whether such work will ever be needed is not yet known, as legislation passed by Congress to move the Keystone XL project forward was vetoed in February by President Barack Obama. The fate of the project remains with the State Department. When impacts to the beetle or other threatened and endangered species are unavoidable, the Service may ask companies to compensate for temporary and permanent loss of habitat for the species. TransCanada agreed to create a conservation fund to Phoretic mites hitch a ride on the underside of American burying beetles and eat fly eggs found on carrion the beetles stop to eat. BOB HARMS

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