Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 55.56
Liaison Katie Beitz
Submission Date Aug. 25, 2021

STARS v2.2

Oklahoma State University
OP-10: Biodiversity

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.50 / 1.00 Kristeena Blaser
Sustainability Coordinator
Energy Services
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution own or manage land that includes or is adjacent to legally protected areas, internationally recognized areas, priority sites for biodiversity, or regions of conservation importance?:
No

A brief description of the legally protected areas, internationally recognized areas, priority sites for biodiversity, and/or regions of conservation importance:
---

Endangered and vulnerable species

Has the institution conducted an assessment to identify endangered and vulnerable species (including migratory species) with habitats on land owned or managed by the institution?:
Yes

A list of endangered and vulnerable species with habitats on land owned or managed by the institution, by level of extinction risk:
- American Burying Beetle

Areas of biodiversity importance

Has the institution conducted an assessment to identify areas of biodiversity importance on land owned or managed by the institution?:
No

A brief description of areas of biodiversity importance on land owned or managed by the institution:
Sampling occurs at the OSU Cross Timbers, Cimarron Valley, Idabel, and Haskell Research Stations according to US Fish and Wildlife Service protocols. We detected no American burying beetles on OSU research properties.

Methodologies

If yes to either of the above, provide the following:

The methodologies used to identify endangered and vulnerable species and/or areas of biodiversity importance and any ongoing assessment and monitoring mechanisms:
Presence/ absence surveys for Nicrophorus americanus, the federally endangered American burying beetle, are conducted according to US Fish and Wildlife Service protocols. A five gallon bucket is suspended from a tree or fence post approximately 2 feet off the ground. The bucket contains about 3 inches of moist peat moss and is baited with a previously frozen, rotted laboratory rat. Traps are checked each morning by 10:00 AM and all beetles are identified prior to release. Any captured American burying beetles are measured, the sex is identified, and the beetles are marked with a brand made by a cauterizer prior to their release

A brief description of the scope of the assessment(s):
The scope of the assessment covers OSU Research Stations across the state.

A brief description of the plans or programs in place to protect or positively affect identified species, habitats, and/or ecosystems:
Station managers were made aware of our field results. If American burying beetles are detected, land use should return to a similar state as what it had been used for the previous year.

Optional Fields

Estimated percentage of areas of biodiversity importance that are also protected areas :
---

Website URL where information about the institution’s biodiversity initiatives is available:
http://entoplp.okstate.edu/abb

Additional documentation to support the submission:
---

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
OSU may own or manage land that includes or is adjacent to legally protected areas, internationally recognized areas, priority sites for biodiversity, and/or regions of conservation importance but not within the boundaries we identified as our reporting parameters for the OSU Stillwater campus.

Data Sources:
John Lee, Assistant Manager, Landscape Install Services

The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.