Month: December 2020

THINGS GET BETTER WHEN BEAVERS ARE AROUND

heidi08 Beaver ecological impact, Beavers and climate change, Beavers and Frogs December 11, 2020

Damming Loss

Sam Illington is a senior lecturer in science communication at the university of Western Australia and writes a poem every week about some new research reported. Of course today’s is about the dymanic impact beavers have on amphibians. But you guessed that already. Thank you Sam for lending your pen to our favorite hero for a while.

This poem is inspired by recent research, which has found that beavers may help amphibians threatened by climate change.

In this new study, researchers identified 49 sites within the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, located in the southern Washington Cascade Range of the northwest United States. By looking at study sites that did and did not contain beaver dams, the researchers found that sites with beaver dams contained almost three times more variety of species than the undammed sites. They also found that certain types of amphibians, particularly those that develop more slowly, such as red-legged frogs and northwestern salamanders, were found almost exclusively in the dammed sites. The results of this study indicate that beavers could play a pivotal role in ecosystem restoration, management, and climate adaption, especially in those regions that are expected to undergo significant drying episodes brought about by climate change.

Well we knew beavers were something to sing about, but it’s nice to see other folks catch on. Time for some further appreciation of all things beavers, this time from North Star in Colorado where they just installed a trail cam to catch a glimpse of our heroes.

Pitkin County aims to learn more about eager beavers of North Star

While beavers reside on the nature preserve east of Aspen year-round, they have to wait until late fall to build dams. At least two dams spanning the width of the river were constructed in November.

All that effort goes down the drain, so to speak, when spring runoff swells the Roaring Fork and destroys the engineering marvels.

It is a cycle that has been repeated for hundreds, if not thousands of years. Now, Pitkin County Open Space and Trails is launching a research project to learn more about the most industrious residents of North Star.

“We’re here to try to set up a camera and see what happens over the course of the winter,” Liza Mitchell said while hiking through the closed preserve one recent sunny afternoon.

Will someone please explain to me why people like to write about beavers as if their dastardly plot has been “Curses foiled again” every time a dam washes out in the spring? Beavers don’t WANT the dam. They WANT the water. And when the spring comes they don’t need it for a while. Their work of keeping the pond deep enough not to freeze solid is done. Their work of making cover for their house so they have a safe space to bring new lives into the world is done. They did everything they set out to do, correctly.

Sheesh,

The study said the population at North Star appears to have increased in recent years, paralleling the improved health of the riparian ecosystem.

“The current density of beavers appears to be sustainable and beavers are likely improving ecological conditions at North Star,” the study said. “Beaver cutting stimulates vigorous sprouting in willow and beaver and willow can persist indefinitely in a stable equilibrium.”

What a coincidence! I mean you’re creek gets healthy just around the same time that beavers move in and get established. What are the odds! That’s like a pretty big coincidence. Do you think they have some kind of radar that tells them when places get better so they can move in right away? Hey you don’t think maybe they’re CAUSING that improvement do you? I mean backing up water. increasing invertebrates, stimulating plant growth, making homes for frogs and turtles, bringing dinner to all those birds, otters, and mink.

The dams haven’t survived spring since the explosion of stand-up paddle boarding, so there hasn’t been a conflict with river runners encountering an obstacle. The 2020 management plan prohibits removal of beaver dams or lodges. If obstacles survive into summer, the open space program will consider the surrounding terrain and provide information on how to negotiate them.

Meanwhile, the open space program hopes the motion cameras reveal some winter- and spring-time secrets of their flat-tailed friends.

I like the 2o2o plan. Let’s stick to it. Probably there were no paddle boarders last year because the whole place was shut down with Covid, so I’m hoping you’re lucky streak holds for 2021.

I can imagine paddle boarders would greatly resent having to portage;

THE BBC CATCHES ON – FIRE

heidi08 Beavers and Fire Prevention December 10, 2020

Oh ho hoooo…the BBC Discover wildlife is finally catching the beaver train. This is a perfect headline for where we’re headed. Maybe even the perfect keynote address for a certain upcoming beaver summit in California?

Beavers’ activities can create oases and limit spread of US wildfires

Climate change, arson and forest mismanagement have all been implicated in the devastating wildfires that have swept through swathes of North American wilderness in recent summers.

But whatever the cause, a certain charismatic rodent may be at least part of the cure. New research demonstrates that, by damming watercourses, North American beavers create oases of wet forest that are spared from the flames.

Oooh ooh I can guess which one, call on me!!!

Emily Fairfax of California State University was studying the impact of beavers on drought prevention when she stumbled upon a photograph of a wildfire in Idaho. “There was char all over the landscape, except around the beaver ponds, which were bright green,” she says. “That felt like enough of a nugget of evidence to study this more formally.”

To do that, Fairfax used satellite images to map the vegetation around beaver territories before, during and after a wildfire. This confirmed her suspicions that trees growing in the wetlands created by beavers when they dam a watercourse are often spared when an engulfing fire sweeps through the area. “If nothing else, the beavers are providing patches that other animals can hunker down in and stand a better chance of survival,” she says.

That’s a lot already. but wait, there’s more:

But in some circumstances, beaver activity might even be capable of stopping a fire in its tracks. “I think it’s possible where there are higher populations of beaver,” says Fairfax. “I looked at five large wildfires and only once did I see what I would consider to be a fire-break. That was an absolutely huge, kilometre-wide dam complex, and there wasn’t enough wind to kick the flames over to the other side.”

Obviously we need more beavers. A lot more.

Fairfax says that beavers may be especially important now that so many wetlands have been drained and developed. “Historically, I don’t think these fires were scorching millions of acres without hitting a wet patch to slow them down, just because there was so much more wetland,” she says. “But today, beavers are one of the only things out there actively working to create and maintain these habitats.”

Oh yes, such dam promising research we should throw a conference in California to promote it! Whoohoohoo!

THIS JUST IN: WATER IS WET, WHO KNEW?

heidi08 Beaver ecological impact, Beavers and Frogs December 9, 2020

There’s a whole host of beaver appreciation on this mornings docket, but we have to start with the most impressive. Even though its certainly not the most surprising. This from our friends at Phys.org.

Beavers may help amphibians threatened by climate change

The recovery of beavers may have beneficial consequences for amphibians because beaver dams can create the unique habitats that amphibians need.

That finding was reported by four WSU Vancouver scientists in a paper published in the journal Freshwater Biology. The research took place in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest of the Cascade Range, where the researchers identified 49 study sites either with or without beaver dams. The researchers found the beaver-dammed sites were 2.7 times higher in amphibian species richness than the undammed sites.

Certain types of amphibians, particularly those that develop more slowly, such as red-legged frogs and northwestern salamanders, were detected almost exclusively in dammed sites.

Get the hell out. You mean to tell me that beaver dams are great places for amphibians to grow up? I mean with all that slow water, all those invertebrates and a tangle of plant cover? It’s almost like all those herons and kingfishers come there on purpose. Consider my mind complete not blown.

Red-legged frogs and northwestern salamanders are also the species most threatened by climate change, which is projected to bring drier summer conditions to streams and wetlands in the Cascade Range. By expanding existing ponds and increasing the time before they dry up, beaver dams are allowing such species more time to reproduce and develop.

“Beavers may be a key component of ecological resilience to climate change in these ecosystems,” Piovia-Scott said.

I uploaded the paper to our library a couple days ago. Go here to read it for yourself. Then make sure you tell all your froggy friends who’s the man.

Then it’s time for some Canadian style beaver appreciation from the CBC.

Busy beavers dam Bow River side channel near Calgary Zoo

The Bow River is known for being pretty wide, but that hasn’t stopped a family of beavers from constructing a dam right across the river in the heart of Calgary.

Naturalist Brian Keating spotted the unlikely dam while out walking along the river. Keating told The Homestrech this is only possible because of the low water.

“At this time of the year, there’s only a small flow of water that goes down that side of the island, but the dam has been successful in creating an area of flat water, which is now frozen as a pond on the upside of the stream,” Keating said, adding that the construction is solid.

The dam is constructed of large and small logs and branches, held together with stones and mud.

“It appears to even have some good-sized, cantaloupe sized stones sitting on top of some of it,” Keating said.

“You can just imagine the beaver walking by repeatedly holding that rock, and bringing up the rock and mud and all kinds of debris, lots of branches, even some big logs.”

Beaver building dam with two rocks: Rusty Cohn

Here at beaver central we don’t need to imagine what that looks like. Because Rusty Cohn of Napa took the very best photo of it happening in person.

Keating said beavers are one of the only animals that will build themselves a home and alter the landscape.

“They can change water courses, they can flood forests, they create new wetlands. And it makes for a wonderfully diverse bunch of habitats,” Keating said.

“A beaver will go into a forest environment, for instance, that’s essentially a monoculture. And they’ll create edge habitat, which is biologically very rich. Of course, for us, they sometimes cause issues. It’s that age-old problem of us versus beasts.”

One of the animals that build a home and dramatically change the ecosystem? What are the others? I think he’s kind of mixing up the Keystone species concept with the “Ecosystem Engineer” catagory. They’re pretty different. Beavers are amazing, you know.

Keating said this dam shouldn’t cause a problem during the winter, and will not hold up in the rising waters of the spring runoff.

“It’s going to fail next spring when the snow runoff begins,” he said. “There’s no way that a beaver dam will work, that dam will become history virtually overnight when the water starts to rise. But … amazingly, it appears to be working now to a degree.”

Oh ye of little faith. Let’s just wait and see if beavers are up to the task, shall we? Oh since we all know beavers are special. let’s toast them, shall we?

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DENVER BEAVER MAVEN

heidi08 Attitudes towards beavers, Who's saving beavers now? December 8, 2020

I told you Sherri Tippie saved the Denver beavers. Didn’t I tell you? This was published a couple days ago and pretty much proves my point.

Don’t Fear The Beaver

Concerned about global warming? Out of control wildfires? Soil erosion? Water quality? Loss of species? One part of the solution may be that busy nocturnal rodent of legend—the North American beaver, castor canadensis. Once trapped to near extinction, the species today is thriving in Denver’s urban waterways.

According to Denver beaver advocate Sherri Tippie, by harvesting trees, building its dams and digging canals, these 50 to 80-pound animals with paddle-shaped tails can transform otherwise barren landscapes into flourishing wetlands. In doing so they create environments for dozens of species of fish, reptiles, birds and larger mammals.

Hi Sherri! Nice to see you’re still preaching the gospel and fighting the good fights!

National Geographic’s September 2020 issue contained an extensive article titled, “How beavers became North America’s best firefighter,” explaining that the animal “creates fireproof refuges for many species, suggesting wildlife managers should protect beaver habitat as the U.S. West burns.”

Tippie, an expert in humane beaver relocation and author of the pamphlet Working with Beaver for Better Habitat Naturally, says that most all of Denver’s area waterways have beavers, including the South Platte, Bear Creek, Cherry Creek, Sand Creek, and Tollgate Creek in Aurora.

Somethings just get better an better. What a great article to read before Christmas.

The City of Denver supports co-existence with beavers. Vicki Vargas-Madrid, wildlife program administrator for Denver Parks and Recreation, says the city’s beaver management objectives include minimizing potential conflicts related to beaver activity, and supporting the animals’ role in the urban environment.

Educating Denver city-dwellers about the importance of beavers to the ecosystem, she says, is most important. People sometimes get upset when they see a fallen tree, says Vargas-Madrid, “but we have lots of trees … and beavers take only what they need.” Vargas-Madrid described a conflict last winter when bicycle path users were upset a beaver dam had flooded part of the Cherry Creek trail, which then iced over. “We started to get complaints. Riders did not want to take another path,” she said.

Well now, thats a sentence you don’t read every day from the parks department. That’s impressive persuasion powers at work for you. Imagine reading that sentence in Martinez? Maybe in another two decades.

At some beaver-dammed waterways, Denver installs water flow control devices to prevent excess flooding. One successful trademarked flow device is called the “Beaver Deceiver,” the website of which advocates against trapping or killing nuisance beavers. “Because wetlands are so important,” notes the website, “beavers might create more value for other wildlife and society than any other animal on Earth.” Vargas-Madrid agreed that trapping and re-location of beavers is not a preferred option. Beavers are territorial, and removal of one beaver means another will just come along to replace it.

Sniff. You have done such excellent work, Sherri. We can only aspire to be like you some day.

Beavers can be surprisingly large, between 50 and 80 pounds fully grown. But, according to Tippie, they are not dangerous. A beaver will slap its paddle-like tail loudly in the water as a warning if startled, but will generally flee from people.

So, stay up late, or get up very early. and visit a local Denver creek. You might be rewarded with the sight of North America’s largest and most industrious rodent.

You know my very first state of the beaver conference Sherri was there. I was still in a state of panic about our beavers and felt burdened with the pressure of saving them. I listened to all these smart, hardworking impressive speakers and felt so dazzled by their brilliance. But when I listened to Sherri I just started crying. I felt totally at peace, Protected. Safe. And just sat there beaming with tears of joy streaming down my face.

I felt the way you feel as a child, when you know you can fall asleep safe in the backseat and your parents will find the way home.

A SECOND BEAVER DECEIVER IN COLORADO

heidi08 Beavers December 7, 2020

Longmont Colorado is just north of Denver and certainly influenced by its decades long proximity to legendary Sherri Tippie. You can see evidence of her handiwork across the state, but this is especially wonderful,

Johnnie St. Vrain: Longmont will leave it to beaver deceiver

A reader writes: About two months ago, I noticed the pond developing and called our water department, thinking it might be a problem with the irrigation system, a rep said they would look into it.

The pond continued to grow in area and in the last week or so, I noticed some interesting pond developments — a couple tree stumps on the west area of the pond that appeared to have chew marks resembling those of a beaver. A tree trunk the size of one stump was nearby, but the rest of the tree was gone. At the east end of the pond, I noticed what appears to be a dam intended to hold back the water and increase the pond’s depth, also possible evidence of a beaver’s work. Might you tap your resources and let us know if we have a furry visitor in that area?

Again, we appreciate your insightful contributions to the local culture and thanks to the Times-Call for continuing your budget. — Dave Z.

Gee that’s mysterious! A pond, a dam and some missing trees. Now what could be to blame? I’m wracking my head. Honest I am.

Hello Dave Z.: I took a look for myself early last week and saw what you saw, clear evidence of a busy beaver living behind Harvest Junction. I saw several downed trees, including one about a foot in diameter that looked like a sharpened pencil; and a dam that was holding back a pond that by my estimation was about 500 feet long.

I figured that even if you hadn’t called the city, there’s no way city officials wouldn’t have noticed this.

I am aware that city policy is to discourage beavers from taking down certain trees but otherwise to leave them alone. But what if the beaver’s work presents a flood risk? I turned to the city with that question, among others, and heard back from Land Program Administrator Dan Wolford

“In fact we do have beaver in the drainage, and they have constructed a second dam backing water behind Michael’s,” Wolford said in an email. “We are currently working with Smith Environmental to install a beaver deceiver in the middle of the dam to allow water to continue to flow downstream and still keep the beaver present.”

Wolford noted that the city recently received a Great Outdoors Colorado grant to work with Wildland Restoration Volunteers, with one of the funded projects being continued tree protection from damage from beavers.

Oh … a beaver deceiver?

That’s a culvert in the middle of the beaver dam — 12 inches in diameter, 20 feet long, and made of corrugated plastic. It is the city’s second deceiver in this reach of Left Hand Creek, Wolford said.

There is a trademarked product called Beaver Deceivers, which I discovered while writing this column. I’m not sure if what the city is using is this particular product.

Thanks for reading, Dave. It’s my pleasure to help readers know their community better. I will have to get to your second question at another time.

Not only is the city putting in a beaver deceiver, it’s putting in their SECOND BEAVER DECEIVER. Which either means they were very impressed with how it worked or the first one wasn’t installed correctly. Still, either way, that’s pretty dam good news. Somebody’s doing some fine advocacy in the area.

And if you’re still looking for proof that a beaver deceiver can actually work, here’s what you need to know from Martinez where we tried our best to tell our part of the story.

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