Become a dam detective by searching satellite imagery for signs of beavers on the landscape!
Beavers from Space launched April 4th on the Zooniverse. The citizens science project uses satellite imagery to uncover beaver habitat in Canada. Read on below to learn more about how you can help out.
Become a dam detective by searching satellite imagery for signs of beavers on the landscape!
Despite the cultural and ecological importance of ksisskstaki (beaver) little is known about their presence in Alberta’s streams and rivers. By searching through satellite imagery for beaver dams and lodges in the waterways of the Kainai Nation (Blood Tribe) in southern Alberta, Beavers from Space seeks to determine where beavers are present on the landscape and where they are not. Volunteers will search through imagery of over 7,000 kilometres (4,300 miles) of streams within the study area, a task that would be overwhelming and expensive to undertake with field work alone. This information, in combination with field work data, will inform riparian (river ecosystem) restoration locations, which may include the installation of beaver dam analogues. Beaver dam analogues are a proven riparian restoration technique that improves watershed health and function by mimicking the work of beavers.
The project team includes the Miistakis Institute, Blood Tribe Land Management, and Cows and Fish – Alberta Riparian Habitat Management Society.
Become a dam detective today – visit: www.zooniverse.org/projects/ab-beavers/beavers-from-space
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Our study area is focused on the 3 watersheds (outlined in black below) that the Kainai Nation (Blood Tribe) reservation and timber limit are located in (outlined in red below). Generally, this area stretches west from Lethbridge, Alberta, to the British Columbia border, and includes Waterton Lakes National Park. The study area is just north of the Canadian-American border in the State of Montana.
By reviewing satellite imagery for beaver dams, you can help us understand where beavers are present in our watershed or where beaver-mediated restoration could occur where beavers are absent. We anticipate a relatively low density of beavers on this landscape, which is why we need your help to search every stream in the study area.
Dam neat project if you ask me! Click this link for a lot more information.
There was a bit of news from The First Annual SLO County Beaver Festival. It went well with around a thousand attendees over the day. A good time was had by all and especially the kids who got to build dams out of mud and sticks! There is also a fun video of Cooper Lienhart joining The Loving Mosh to sing Go Little Beaver Go at the Festival on April 1st, 2023.
Oh! One more thing. The Cambridge Filmworks people got rid of the darn nutria photo that I told them about! They found an image of a handsome European cousin to head the article like I hoped they would. Yeah!
