Conservation Status
Historical records show that this beetle once lived in 35 states of the United States, the District of Columbia, and three Canadian provinces: Ontario, Quebec, and Nova Scotia. Now, natural populations are known to occur in only five states: on Block Island in Rhode Island, Oklahoma, Arkansas, South Dakota and Nebraska. They have also been reintroduced to Ohio. N. americanus was listed as an endangered species in 1989; the IUCN lists the species as critically endangered. Biologists have not shown why N. americanus has disappeared from so many areas. Widespread use of pesticides may have caused local populations to disappear. The dramatic disappearance of this insect from many areas, however, took place before widespread use of DDT. Lack of small carcasses to bury would prevent the species from reproducing, and changes in land use has reduced the quantity of small- to medium-sized birds and mammals preferred by N. americanus. Even the extinction of the once ubiquitous passenger pigeon may have had a ripple effect on carrion feeders like this beetle.
The immediate goal of conservation efforts is to reduce the threat of extinction by creating captive and wild populations. Biologists have attempted to establish a beetle population releasing laboratory-raised American burying beetles on Penikese Island in Massachusetts. Biologists return each year to Penikese Island to study the survival and growth of the beetle population.
Read more about this topic: Nicrophorus Americanus
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