Category: Beaver ecological impact

ECOLOGICAL HALOS AND GOOD DEEDS

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beaver ecological impact November 16, 2023

I may be prejudice but I don’t appreciate calling predators ecosystem engineers because they decide where restoration is OVER. That’s like saying your father always made the family meals because he decided when it was time to fast.

Maybe I’m old fashioned but I just think ecosystem engineers should you know, engineer ecosystems. You know?

Beavers Are Ecosystem Engineers, But Hungry Wolves Limit How Far They Influence

The relationships between animals and the environments that they live in are incredibly varied and complex. While the predator-prey interactions are probably the most well-known, each species also has an influence on the other flora and fauna and even the soil in the surrounding areas. Foremost among these influential species are beavers: they are known as “ecosystem engineers” as they reshape the forest around them by felling trees and creating wetlands. One predator of the beaver (Castor canadensis), the gray wolf (Canis lupus), has now been found to influence the foraging habits of the beavers and thereby affect the forest structure.

Foraging and finding food is an important part of every animal’s life. Beavers typically leave their dams on the water and forage on obvious feeding trails that they have created by moving trees and branches through the forest, before returning to the same area. This is known in ecological terms as central place foraging, as the beavers always forage outwards into the forest and then return to a central place.

Previous studies have shown that beavers are limited in how far they will travel from the safety of the water because of an increase in predation risk as they move further away. However, there has been no evidence that the wolves hunt or kill beavers that venture further away from the waterside – until now.

Wolves are known for hunting a wide range of species, from moose (Alces alces) and caribou (Rangifer tarandus) to fishing and even predating on seals and sea otters. Where the ranges of beavers and wolves overlap, wolves are the primary predators of beavers. While wolves are usually known for their ability and stamina to run long distances chasing large prey, wolves are also effective ambush predators when it comes to beavers.

Yayaya, everybody likes to talk about wolves ambushing beavers. It’ll probably be a Christmas special soon.

The study found that wolves are more likely to predate the beavers that travel further away from the water on the longer feeding trails. Because of this, the wolves are directly affecting the forest structure by limiting how far the beavers travel away from the water to fell trees and forage.

Thomas Gable, lead author of the study and project lead of the Voyageurs Wolf Project told IFLScience that “based on the distance that wolves killed beaver from water, that beavers would forage an additional 9-18 m [29.5-59 feet] from water on average if wolves were not around. Of course, this is a coarse estimate and we were simply trying to get a rough assessment of the extent to which wolves might be constraining beaver foraging behavior toward water.

“In this study, we estimated that wolves could be influencing the structure and composition of 23-47 square kilometers [8.9-18 square miles] of forest, which translates to 1.4-2.9 percent of the forest in our study area. But this was a rough estimate and just an attempt to estimate the general magnitude of wolves ecological impact.”

The beavers have been known to create what is called an ecological “halo” around the area where they typically forage because they forage around a central place. The beavers alter the forest by felling trees around the central place; they then create gaps in the canopy which allow different tree species to grow.

Beavers also have a preference for felling deciduous trees rather than coniferous trees, which can create a halo of evergreen trees around the water as seen in this image below. The team says the area would be larger if the wolves were not present in the ecosystem

Ecological Halo!!! How much do I like that phrase! Beavers are like angels spreading their good deeds all around the perimeter of their pond. Only those little devil predators can stop them.

Overall, the team found direct evidence that the wolves limit how far from the water the beavers will forage and, in doing so, limit the effects of the beavers’ ecosystem engineering on the habitat they both share – and that the same process could be happening across the world.

“We think the patterns and trends we found likely do occur in many other areas where wolves and beaver co-occur across North America, Europe, and Asia. There are others in the scientific literature that have noted some of the same patterns regarding how far from water beavers will forage in areas with and without predators so we suspect the pattern we identified is not unique to Voyageurs. Hopefully this work will inspire others to go out and study wolf-beaver interactions to see if we are correct about that,” finished Gable.

Hopefully more places will come to tolerate beavers so that they can sprinkle those halos around in more places.

BEAVERS CHANGE THINGS

heidi08 BDA's, Beaver ecological impact November 9, 2023

This was nice to come across. Enjoy!

Between the removal of the dams downriver that will force colonies of bats to be relocated to allow the salmon to return upstream or the creation of fake beaver dams to inspire the little engineers to help improve water quality and fight forest fires, water is a hot topic in the Klamath Basin. Beavers in particular will change the way our water system works and on Monday we have an interview we shot with Gus Wathen who is in charge of the team on the Sun River building man-made beaver dams to help inspire beavers to return the the region and help restore our rivers. Here is that interview!

BEAVERS CURE COVID?

heidi08 Beaver ecological impact November 8, 2023

Beavers have been called willow-farmers because by increasing the saturation of ponds and spreading the mud and water outwards they actually increase the amount of willow that can grow there and the mud-luscious conditions it loves to sprout in. Then after the new shoots get to sprout out they get to eat it and make more dams that spread the water farther and plant more willow. Pretty smart huh. So beavers make more willow.

And willow cures covid?

Study shows willow bark extract has broad-spectrum antiviral effect

Scientists in Finland have now shown that an extract of willow bark—a plant that has already provided several medicines, including the precursor to modern aspirin—has a broad-spectrum antiviral effect in cell sample experiments.

The extract worked both on enveloped coronaviruses, which cause colds as well as COVID-19, and non-enveloped enteroviruses, which cause infections such as flu and meningitis. There are no clinically approved drugs that work against enteroviruses directly, so this extract could be a future game-changer.

“We need broadly acting and efficient tools to combat the virus load in our everyday life,” said Prof Varpu Marjomäki of the University of Jyväskylä, senior author of the study in Frontiers in Microbiology. “Vaccinations are important, but they cannot deal with many of the newly emerging serotypes early enough to be effective on their own.”

I knew willow bark is what was used to make aspirin but this is pretty amazing. Beavers make willow and willow cures covid? Of course. That makes sense. Do they cure dementia too? Because they;re still a pest…

To make the extract, they harvested commercially grown willow branches. The bark was cut into pieces, frozen, ground, and then extracted using hot water. This produced the extract samples that the scientists tested against enteroviruses—strains of Coxsackievirus A and B—and coronaviruses—a seasonal coronavirus and COVID-19.

The scientists used a cytopathic effect inhibition assay to see how long the extract took to act on infected cells, and how well it inhibited viral activity. The extract did not harm the cells themselves and efficiently protected cells from infection. A binding assay carried out on the COVID-19 samples further showed that although this virus could enter cells even if treated with the extract, it couldn’t reproduce once it was inside.

Catching viruses out

The authors had previously found that the extract was effective against enteroviruses, which meant it could act against two differently-structured types of virus, enveloped and non-enveloped. However, the mechanism of action appeared to be very different, because treated enteroviruses couldn’t enter cells.

The scientists then experimented with the timing of addition of the extract to see if the extract attacked particular stages of the virus life cycle. They found that the extract seemed to act on the surface of the virus, rather than any given stage of its replication cycle.

They also examined the treated virus under the microscope to understand the effects of the extract better. Both viruses clustered together instead of spreading out, but the enveloped coronaviruses appeared to have been broken down, while the non-enveloped enteroviruses appeared to have been locked down, prevented from releasing their genome and reproducing.

“The extracts acted through distinct mechanisms against different viruses,” said Marjomäki. “But the extracts were equally effective in inhibiting the enveloped as well as non-enveloped viruses.”

You know I have been joking for a decade now that when science finds out beavers cure cancer they are still going to be officials saying that they should be trapped because they might cause flooding. This article just piles more fuel on the fire.

The authors also tested existing medical compounds derived from willow bark, as well as commercially prepared salixin extract and salixin powder. Of these, only the salixin extract showed antiviral activity, suggesting that the success of the scientists’ willow bark extract could result from the interactions of different bioactive compounds.

The scientists fractionated their extract to understand its chemical composition, but didn’t get clear answers as to which of the many effective compounds might be primarily responsible for the antiviral effect. Further research will be needed to understand the bioactive compounds involved, their chemical structure, and how they work, potentially leading to revolutionary new antiviral treatments.

More beavers are needed to fully understand the benefits they provide.

YES, YES, ANNETTE! (A NEW BEAVER MUSICAL)

heidi08 Attitudes towards beavers, Beaver ecological impact, Beavers, Beavers and climate change October 26, 2023

I think we found a new best beaver friend, in Golden BC,about 4 hours north of Spokane. Her name is Annette Lutterman and she’s a self employed PhD and Ecologist who happens to agree with us.

Beavers: our unsung climate heroes

Every year in the Kootenays we witness more extreme wildfires, floods and drought. It turns out that a brilliant little animal that we nearly hunted to extinction could play an important role in protecting our homes and the environment from these extreme weather events.

That’s right — not only are beavers brilliant ecosystem engineers that create habitat for countless other species, they also play a key role in the fight against climate change.

Well sure. we had a whole festival about that. It’s nice that we think alike.

Beavers’ rich wetlands are like sponges; they store water during drought and make ecosystems less vulnerable to extreme weather changes. They also keep surrounding areas wet throughout so they don’t readily burn, and instead act as firebreaks.

Not only do beaver ponds resist wildfire, they also mitigate flooding by controlling and releasing water more gradually. “They slow the water as it comes down the mountainsides,” says ecologist Annette Lutterman, who has spent years researching beavers, particularly around her hometown of Golden.

These dams often work in conjunction with one another. Near Kicking Horse Mountain Resort, one beaver complex has seventeen dams in a row along one stream! Together, they allow raging spring snowmelt to be absorbed into the soil and surroundings rather than causing flooding.

Communities that have suffered extreme flood events over the past few years are concerned about logging in upper parts of the watershed because it also increases flash flooding. Beaver infrastructure helps.

Sponges and superheroes. That’s it exactly. Slow the water down and manage it safely over the long term. That’s their motto.

With only their bare paws (and incisors!), beavers shape freshwater habitat — building wetlands and marshes that are incredibly rich in biodiversity. These beaver-built ecosystems create invaluable habitat for other species including fish, mammals, waterfowl, songbirds, amphibians and insects.

Beavers have incredible foresight, ensuring their ponds have sufficient depth so as not to freeze to the bottom in winter so they can forage underwater for food all winter long. This depth also helps to regulate water temperatures during summer, which benefits other aquatic species, such as salmon, that could overheat in shallower waters.

They are also big on excavating. “They’ll dig canals going out from their pond so that when they forage for food, they can cut down a shrub and float it back to their lodge, rather than dragging it across the land. They prefer to float the food back because it’s easier, and they’re less vulnerable to predation. So they dig these canals, which are really important nursery areas for small fish,” Annette explains.

Hardly anyone makes that point about small canals and fish nurseries. Well done Annette.

Not only is the water table higher in the forests surrounding beaver activity, but the microclimate is more humid — which, in times of chronic drought, leads to healthier forests and ecosystems. Active beaver ponds also sequester an impressive amount of carbon. Each year, beaver wetlands (like our Columbia Wetlands) store about 470,000 tons of carbon globally.

Wow Annette, you are hitting all the points on our bookmark this summer. Nicely done.

Given how instrumental beavers are in protecting our landscapes — and our homes — it’s clear we should be doing our best to keep them around. North America’s beaver population has rebounded since protections were introduced in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but it’s still estimated to be about 10% of what it was prior to colonization, and human activities continue to threaten beavers’ survival.

One of the single biggest threats to beavers is trapping. ‘Problem’ beavers are regularly killed for impacting human infrastructure. When beavers’ handiwork floods a road or property, a permit will often be issued to dispose of the animal and destroy its habitat. If they compromise industry (by burrowing into the rail-bed within the wetlands or threatening a piece of road, for example) CP or the Ministry of Transport will hire a trapper to get rid of them.

Annette has tried to inquire as to how many permits are given out annually to kill beavers, but the government has refused to provide any information. Beavers are frequently trapped or killed illegally without permits as well, sometimes just to use the castoreum (castor sacks), or their meat as bait for hunting.

Hydroelectric dams pose another significant threat. Young beavers stay with their parents for about two years before venturing out to find habitat of their own, usually a few kilometres away. They’ll settle on what they think is a normal water body and try to establish a new lodge. But when water levels change quickly – from water being let out of a dam or building up inside it – the young beavers are wiped out.

Well I’m not that worried about hydro dams. Beavers are pretty darn good at floating. Even newborns. But this last section is straight from my heart!

How can we help beavers help us?

Practices can and should be in place to mitigate beaver conflict. Research has shown that relocation can be effective when done properly. There are also ‘beaver deceivers’ (aka pond levellers) which only allow beaver ponds to reach a certain depth, preventing flooding upstream. These contraptions trick beavers into thinking that no water is exiting their pond, simply because the flow is silent. They were developed based on an experiment done years ago to better understand where beaver’s instinctual desire to block water comes from. Scientists recorded the sound of running water on a cassette tape, played it on dry land near the stream overnight, and came back to find that the beavers had packed mud and sticks on top of it.

Much is left to be done to protect beavers and their ecosystems here in BC. “We’ve got all kinds of mountain bike trails and new roads and infrastructure that’s being built, and we have to figure out how we can adapt to that so beavers can come back,” Annette says.

As communities, we can anticipate locations where human-beaver conflicts may arise and pre-emptively install levellers that both meet beavers’ needs and mitigate flood risk.

If you happen to hear of a beaver conflict, inform people about positive alternatives to trapping or dam destruction. Suggest pond levellers or point them in the direction of helpful resources. Most importantly, share your knowledge: tell your friends and family how invaluable beavers are, and explain how they help preserve landscapes and homes. Now more than ever, it is time we stopped working against beavers — and started working with them.

12th Martinez Beaver Festival 2019. Photo by Cheryl Reynolds 6/29/19.

BOUCHER BELIEVES IN BEAVERS

heidi08 Attitudes towards beavers, Beaver ecological impact October 20, 2023

It made me happy to see this headline the other day…I guess Bob isn’t retiring any time soon…

Boucher shares a healthcare plan for the watersheds

At the FLOW Science Symposium, held on September 23, at the River Arts Center in Prairie du Sac, Bob Boucher, founding president of the Superior Bio-Conservancy (SBC) shared his healthcare plan for watersheds, including the Lower Wisconsin State Riverway. His talk was entitled ‘Rewilding with Beavers: Improving Hydrology, Biodiversity and Climate Resilience.’

“Beavers are the original ecosystem engineers and habitat builders, and when humans can find ways to work with them and co-exist, the co-benefits will be profound,” Boucher explained. “The hydrological structure of streams with beavers give us the ideal shape to store and retain water on the landscape, increased resilience in the face of weather and climate extremes, improved water quality, stable quantities of water, increased biodiversity, flood reduction and climate resilience.”

And he’s off! One thing that particularly impresses me about Bob is how he gets the media to write down what he says exactly, and not fill in their gaps in attention with their own made up misinformation.

“Beavers were locally extinct in the Milwaukee River watershed by 1730,” Boucher explained. “All rivers in Wisconsin in pre-settlement times had a beaver pond structure.”

According to Boucher, beavers, when included in a natural watershed and landscape management plan, retain eight times as much volume of water as in watersheds without them. This results in making the watersheds flood resistant. They also filter and cool the groundwater entering the system, producing increased stream health, complexity and biological productivity.

“Essentially, beaver ponds function as sewerage treatment plants and storm detention ponds,” Boucher said. “Beavers create conditions for the abundance of flora and fauna, and natural predators create a counter pressure and help to regulate the populations. Home territories of predators focus on connected routes between beaver wetland complexes.”

Nicely done Bob, tie it into something they can relate to.

According to Boucher, including beavers in a watershed increases the amount of water retained on the landscape. This provides numerous ecological benefits, and supports the goals of ‘biological integrity’ in the Clean Water Act by:

• creating habitat and shelter for fish, plants and organisms

• reduction of pollutants, especially nitrates

• cleaner water through filtration and recharging groundwater

• stabilizes water temperature to be cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter.

“Beaver wetland ponds are keystone habitats to waterfowl, and all bird populations, including ducks, geese, swans, cranes, herons, bitterns, egrets, and more,” Boucher pointed out. “They also create connected habitats that facilitate species migration, which is crucial given the plummet in bird populations in recent years.”

Beaver wetland ponds also, by retaining more water on the landscape, can serve as firebreaks and a refuge for species during a wildfire, according to Boucher.

Perhaps the most significant benefit of co-existing with beavers for humans is the ability of their ponds to support storm water storage. With the increasingly large and intense rainfall events seen in recent years, beaver ponds serve as natural storm water retention structures, similar to the dams built by humans. These structures, like dams, store the runoff and release it slowly.

Dam that reporter is paying attention. Didn’ t I tell you? Bob and I did a talk together for the Oakmont Symposium a couple years ago, a smart ecological group of movers and shakers in Sonoma. He was a man who was often mystified by technology and absolutely brilliant when it came to explaining beavers.

Wisconsin out of step

Boucher pointed out that the State of Wisconsin is completely out of step with most states in terms of beaver management. He said that from 2000-2021, there had been 37,205 beavers killed in the state. He said this had ‘accidentally’ resulted in the killing of more than 2,200 otters.

“Wisconsin DNR sees beavers as threatening trout streams and creating nuisance flooding,” Boucher said. “On June 22, 2023, the Superior Bio-Conservancy filed a lawsuit against the USDA for killing 28,141 beavers, 1,091 river otters and destroying 14,796 beaver dams in 10 years, with all of the activity funded by the Wisconsin DNR. In 2022 alone, these activities hit a record high by killing 3,492 beavers – a figure more then three times the number anticipated in the 2013 environmental assessment.”

According to Boucher, the lawsuit alleges that as a result of this activity, WDNR and USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) have destroyed wetlands, weakened flood resiliency and hampered biodiversity in the State of Wisconsin. The funds used for this ‘Beaver Elimination Program’ total millions of dollars, including revenue from timber sales from Wisconsin’s national forests.

According to WDNR, 32 percent of the state’s listed species are wetland dependent, and the state has already lost 47 percent of its original 10 million acres of wetlands. Thus, Boucher explained, beaver and beaver dam elimination further devastates and destroys the precious remaining damaged wetlands.

“After the 2013 assessment, APHIS failed to carry out the requirement to conduct annual reports on the beaver elimination program until 2020, when the six years prior were reviewed. The conclusion was that a revision to the program was needed because the amount of beavers killed was triple the amount targeted,” Boucher said. “And WNDR is no better, not following any accepted wildlife management guidelines for beaver. There is no WDNR tagging requirement or bag limit for the beaver trapping season, and in 2014, they discontinued all population counts.”

“To avoid being sued, APHIS responded to our lawsuit by August 17,” Boucher said. “We are hopeful that this will cause all stakeholders, and especially WDNR to review and revise the ongoing outdated beaver elimination program.”

Well to be fair, killing lots of beavers is right in step with most states including California. It’s just that the reason they do it is unique in all the world except for the next state over which is also insane. Blowing up beaver dams to save trout is deeply insane. Good luck fixing that Bob.

In summary, Boucher detailed things that citizens can do to produce a beaver management plan in the state that allows us to capture their ecosystem services for the benefit of humans, and allow for co-existence between beavers and humans:

• become a ‘Beaver Believer’ and encourage others to become one too

• talk with elected representatives to promote legislation and policies aimed toward co-existence and beaver protection

• promote non-lethal management

• continue learning, and stay engaged.

Well that’s pretty good advice for everyone and not just the part about beavers! Thanks Bob.