Category: Beavers and Forests

BEAVERS CREATE FOREST DIVERSITY

heidi08 Beavers and Forests August 6, 2020

It’s been yet another crazy beaver news day. Beavers conclude their trial in the River Otter and get to stay. Research on Castoides suggest that beaver cut down trees first to build dams and then got the idea about eating bark. And there’s an awesome new study out of Suny NY suggesting that not only do beavers create habitats and biodiversity – they also shape entire forests.

Transforming Adirondack Forests By Nature’s ‘Ecosystem Engineer’

To date, ecological studies on beavers’ impacts have mostly focused on their ponds and dams, and the effects these have on forest streams, nutrient cycling, and aquatic biodiversity. But in a new study, ESF researchers have found that beaver are just as effective in modifying the forest around their ponds, and in creating diverse habitat that benefits other wildlife in addition to themselves. Conducted by Mike Mahoney as an ESF undergraduate honors project working with Dr. John Stella, the findings are published this month in the journal Forest Ecology and Management.

So he as an intern he went around studying forests in the Adirondack for the Department of conservation and he found that the surviving forest are pretty homogenous. All about the same age. Same species. Same density. They survived on mass because the grew up without beaver during the decimation of the fur trade. When beaver are around they take out some trees and open up some spaces of light in the forest which become spaces for new growth, smaller growth to occur.

In other regions, disturbances such as fire, storms and forestry activities keep the forest ecologically diverse by making room for fast-growing, shade-averse trees like aspen and willow to persist. Due to a lack of disturbances – events needed to regenerate younger stands -Adirondack forests are “kind of in middle-age right now,” said Stella. “But also, they have not yet gotten to the old-growth stage, which means there aren’t many canopy gaps where trees die and fall, and new forest patches can regenerate.”

This leaves few patches of young trees and forage for wildlife that depends on them, such as moose, migratory birds, and bats. It also concerns the DEC, which has prioritized creating a more diverse forest structure through its Young Forest Initiative, a statewide management strategy to maintain 10 percent of the public forest lands under 10 years old.

To do well forests (and people) need diversity. And beavers bring diversity when they cut down some trees and make homes for others. And they have a favorite size of tree to harvest, the little saplings which means more little saplings get to grow after their cousins are utelized. I thought this was really interesting:

Why are beaver so important to the health of the forest? Many researchers, including previous students in Stella’s lab at ESF, have found that these young forests support a diverse variety of plants, mammals, birds, and amphibians not found in older, more homogenous forests, which have typically larger trees but little groundcover or leafy forage within reach. “If you’re a turkey or a moose, big trees are useless to you; you can’t get up there and there’s nowhere to hide,” said Stella. Areas disturbed by beaver, on the other hand, have a lot of underbrush and herbaceous plants, more canopy layers, and more light and water – all desirable qualities for supporting a diversity of other species.

I never thought of the importance of hiding places and cover. No wonder beavers are so important. Just imagine how dangerous it would be if every human was born on exactly the same day. We would all get old at the same time,and all start dying at the same time too. Beavers stagger the forests by giving other trees a chance to live it up.

This study is part of a larger program with Stella’s lab exploring the benefits of beavers in the Northeast. “You see this a lot when beavers create these massive wetland areas, which are all of a sudden, extremely productive – you’ve got a ton of amphibians,” said Stella, whose lab also documented that over 50 percent more bird species use disturbed beaver pond areas compared to intact forest nearby. “They also give some water purification benefits and create dynamic wetland areas. And then when they move on and the dams eventually blow out, the wetlands evolve into rich beaver meadows with positive benefits that remain for a very long time,” Stella said. Scientists and land managers in western states have exploited these processes to partner with beaver in restoring degraded stream for better fish habitat. “And now we’ve documented here in the east that they change the structure of the forest adjacent to their ponds and that has ongoing benefits for biodiversity in this region.”

Let the beaver do the work. You really don’t need a PhD to know why its logical. Of course the article ends with a bitter little reminder that beavers in urban areas are also a nuisance, but we’re enjoying this so much lets just leave it here shall we?

LET BEAVERS FIX FORESTS

heidi08 Beavers and Forests July 26, 2020

There are lots of minds that need changing about beavers. The farmers in Scotland who think they need shooting, their friends the anglers who think they eat fish The wardens at Fish and Game that classify them as a nuisance and their dam as ‘debris.’ But there are some people who don’t need to change one iota. Some folks have it down exactly right.

Like Sarah Hyden of New Mexico.

Let our forest heal

It’s changing by the year as the climate becomes warmer and dryer. Existing vegetation in many areas is becoming more marginal. Those of us who live by and with the forest can see it happening. Some years, we wonder if the trees will even make it, and then the rains come and they look healthy again. But they don’t seem to be able to tolerate even relatively small impacts

The forest is resilient in its own way when left free of human interventions. It’s evolving into the healthiest forest possible given current conditions, even if it doesn’t always look that way to us after such natural forest processes as wildfire and bark beetle outbreaks. There will likely be major shifts in vegetation types.

Sarah does a great job of talking about the danger Albequerque’s forest are in. She explains that they could pretty much recover from anything except US. And guess what she suggests might fix the problem?

Go ahead guess.

There are careful forest restoration projects we can undertake – to de-commission roads, restore riparian areas, build earthen dams to reduce flooding risk and to re-introduce beavers. Some very limited and light-handed thinning and burning may be needed, but only for strategic and site-specific reasons. This requires open-minded utilization of newer forest and fire ecology research. It also requires new local research that is not based on the assumption that widespread thinning and burning are necessarily a benefit in the cost/benefit analysis. And it requires just slowing down the process.

You break it we fix it. That’s what beaver picket signs would say if they carried them. We can repair pollution, extinction and damage. Just let us do what we can do and stop killing us before we do it.

It’s time to embrace a new paradigm for the forest. Instead of imposing the framework of our limited ecological understanding and perspective onto the forest, let’s be allies of the forest and help support its inevitable transformation. Let’s respect and honor life. First, do no harm.

Beavers are tireless protesters you know. Apparently there were some pretty rowdy beaver protests last night in the area.

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SISU MAJAVA

heidi08 Beavers and Forests, Beavers elsewhere, pictures June 11, 2020

Hot diggety dam! Today is going to be a great day, can’t you feel it? What am I saying. it is a great day already! Guess what our friends at Phys.org wrote about yesterday? An actual article about beaver science! Not just one that actually describes what beavers do every day and doesn’t give them any credit. And stay until the end because as good as the article is, something EVEN BETTER happened last night.

Beavers are diverse forest landscapers

Beavers are ecosystem engineers that cut down trees to build dams, eventually causing floods. Beaver-induced floods make forest landscapes and habitats increasingly diverse, but very little is known about the long-term effects of beavers on European landscapes. Researchers at the University of Eastern Finland and the University of Helsinki examined the history and occurrence of beaver-induced floods and patch dynamics in southern Finland. They used a unique dataset of field observations from 1970 to 2018.

Go on…I’m listening…

“Beavers can help to restore wetland ecosystems and entire boreal forests, and they also help in conserving the biodiversity of these environments,” researcher Sonja Kivinen from the University of Eastern Finland says.

Oh yeah, baby. That’s what I’m talking about. They sure can. I assume Castor Fiber? Not in Finland.

The European beaver was hunted to extinction in the 19th century Finland. Nowadays, the study area is home to thewhich was introduced there in the 150s. The American beaver builds similar dams as the European one.

Oh that’s so sweet. So this article is about OUR beaver. Remember that.

“The spread of the beaver in our study area has created a diverse and constantly changing mosaic of beaver ponds and beaver meadows of different ages,” Kivinen says.

The researchers observed that the number of beaver-induced flood sites grew by more than 11-fold over the study period. In addition to creating new flood sites, beavers also often use old sites to cause new floods. The duration of an individual flood and the frequency of floods can vary greatly between different flood sites, resulting in an abundance of habitat patches with different environmental conditions.

“Thanks to beaver activity, there is a unique richness of wetlands in the forest landscape: flowages dominated by bushes, beaver meadows, and deadwood that can be used by various other species,” university lecturer Petri Nummi from the University of Helsinki says.

Credit where credit is do! Yes that is exactly what beavers do better than anyone else. Thanks so much for noticing! Shh this is my favorite part:

Indeed, beaver-induced disturbances are more predictable in diversifying the forest landscape than for example forest fires or storms.

Well, at least they like them in Finland! Beavers might be killed in Scotland and Russia and America but some Fins apparently know what a good thing looks like. I’m told the country has no official motto, but the unofficial slogan is “Sisu, Sauna and Sibelius“. Sibelius is their famous composer. Sauna is the soaking hot bath that we all know and love.. And Sisu is a Finnish concept described as “stoic determination, tenacity of purpose, grit, bravery, resilience, and hardiness and is held by Finns themselves to express their national character.”

Umm…like a beaver.

Ready for the good local news from last night? This was photographed by a neighbor in her backyard a few blocks up the creek from where I live. She said the beaver was awkward and moving weirdly. That sure looks to me like a beaver trying to haul down a big tree he might have cut from up on the bank.

Gee I wonder why would a beaver do that?

“LEAVING HEALTHIER, MORE RESILIENT HABITATS IN THEIR WAKE”

heidi08 Beavers and climate change, Beavers and Fire Prevention May 28, 2020

Feeling nostalgic? Time again for that age-old question, this time delivered by the big guns at the National Resources Defense Council. Same tune but different baritone. We’re ready for this. The planet is ready for this.

The Humble Beaver: Troublemaker or Climate Superhero?

Beavers create rich habitats and act as buffers against the effects of drought and wildfire—spurring efforts to pinpoint new ways to help us coexist with North America’s largest rodent.

At one point along the road that runs parallel to Lost Creek is a culvert that drains runoff from the mountainous terrain. There, beavers felled nearby aspen and other trees and set about constructing a dam in front of the culvert. With the pipe blocked, the water level behind the dam rose. “They have made these really beautiful ponds on one side of the road,” says beaver expert Elissa Chott. The deep water ensures the entrance tunnels leading to the beaver lodge—built of sticks, mud, and rocks—remain beneath the surface, providing protection from predators. And the large expanse of water offers easy access to the fresh leaves, stems, and bark that the vegetarians consume.

But what the beavers considered as the perfect place to build a home, the land managers at Lost Creek considered a nuisance. The rodents so effectively blocked the culvert that their ponds flooded the road. So the officials called Chott, who heads up the Beaver Conflict Resolution pilot project. A joint partnership formed last year between the Montana-based Clark Fork Coalition, National Wildlife Federation, and Defenders of Wildlife, the project aims to help public and private landowners find nonlethal solutions for dealing with problematic beaver.

There are ample reasons for people and North America’s largest rodent to learn to better coexist as these mammals rebound across the West. Beavers manipulate the landscape for their own purposes, but mounting evidence shows that the marshy expanses they create may act as a buffer against drought and wildfire, both of which climate change is exacerbating. Myriad other species benefit from the efforts of the industrious rodents too. Algae and aquatic plants thrive in their ponds and provide nourishment for fish, birds, and mammals. One study found 50 percent more species in beaver-built ponds than in other wetlands in the same area. When the beavers eventually exhaust their woody food supply, they move to a new location—but even then, the ecosystems they’ve engineered continue to give back. Their abandoned dams and ponds leak and drain, in turn giving rise to lush, grassy meadows that draw nesting songbirds and other animals.

Got that? AMPLE REASONS. Hurray for the beaver conflict resolution project. I wish ever state had a beaver task force! And here comes Emily.

Some of those benefits are still being revealed. Emily Fairfax, an ecohydrologist at California State University Channel Islands, has found that the clever creatures are creating wetlands uniquely resistant to drought and wildland fire. She has mapped an estimated 5,000 dams in California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming using satellite imagery. Using remote sensing, she compared how a drought or a fire affects the quality of the vegetation in areas with dams versus similar stretches without them. “It’s very clear that beavers keep things green,” she said. In contrast, in the undammed riparian zones she studied, the drought-ravaged landscapes had far less vegetation.

Fairfax is working to find ways to get higher-resolution imagery so she can tease apart what may make beaver-shaped landscapes better able to withstand the effects of climate change. Ultimately, she’d like to devise a tool for land managers to use when considering their resident rodents—an empirical model, perhaps, that would allow them to determine the number of beavers or dams needed to see an appreciable fire- or drought-buffering effect. After all, she notes, many land managers who encounter beavers are already searching for ways to help recharge groundwater and nurture native vegetation. But “because beavers were absent for so long, they don’t understand how the beavers fit into that [work].” As a result, they continue to resort to trapping or removing beavers, she says.

But “what if we could provide a number?” Fairfax asks. “If you could say that having X number of beavers is going to preserve 900 acres of wetlands during fire, and that should hold true for 70 percent of likely fires,” would that change attitudes toward beavers?

Oooh I know how many! As many as they dam well want! Beavers have a knack for this sort of thing. They know how many will fit in an area. Trust them.

Today, thankfully, conservationists no longer need to resort to such extreme measures as dropping beavers from the sky to help their populations recover. Instead, they’re watching the paddle-tailed architects slowly move back into the streams where their ancestors lived, carrying on the compulsion to stop the drip drip drip of gentle water flows, and leaving healthier, more resilient habitats in their wake.

Oooh that may be my favorite line in this whole article. Emily’s research is making peoples heads hurt. They want a buffer for fires so badly, but god dam does it HAVE to be beavers? Honestly? Anything but beavers. They haaaaaaaaaaaaaate beavers. I’ve always said it was like telling men you could cure impotence with feminism. Does ut gave to be beavers?

Yes. Yes it does.

BEAVER CHAMPIONS ON THE PACIFIC COAST

heidi08 Beavers and Fire Prevention, Beavers and salmon, Flow Device Installed April 29, 2020

I’m not sure this has ever happened before. There are THREE very important beaver stories this morning meaning very good things about beavers and I cannot pick between the three. I’m going to have to profile each thing and you have to promise to come back and read the whole thing. I’m sorry to assign homework, but it’s necessary. They’re that good.

The first and most startling news is a profile piece about Emily Fairfax in the UC agriculture and natural resources blog.

From being an engineer to researching nature’s engineers

“When I came face to face with beaver dams for the first time, I had what can only be described as a transformative experience,” says Emily Fairfax, an assistant professor of environmental science and resource management at California State University, Channel Islands. While leading a canoe trip through the Boundary Waters of northern Minnesota, she encountered what she describes as “just these enormous, impressive features” – created by beavers. “You truly realize how sturdy beaver dams are while dragging your canoe over them,” she adds, laughing. “They are incredible from an engineering perspective.”

Despite being taken by the handiwork of beavers in that initial encounter, Fairfax says “I just put that experience in my back pocket for a long time.” After majoring in chemistry and physics in college, she went on to work as an engineer. “But, I kept going fishing, visiting wetlands and creeks, and realized I wanted to be out in these places in my day to day life.”

“Then, I watched the documentary Leave it to Beavers. It was about how beavers fundamentally alter landscapes. I was reminded of the beavers I’d seen in Minnesota and was like, I want to study this. On a bit of a whim, I applied to graduate school, and haven’t looked back. Now it’s all beavers, all day, and they make me so happy. It turns out rather than being an engineer, I was called to study nature’s engineers.”

I had NO idea that Emily was inspired by Jari’s documentary! WOW! The world might have been stuck with another engineer if it weren’t for that! I’m so touched and my mind is a little bit blown. I had just assumed she got involved because her thesis chair was interested or something. The article goes on to talk about her viral video and ends in her interest in California.

Working in California, Fairfax’s biggest task now is locating beavers. She notes that before beaver trapping there were likely upwards of 400 million beavers in North America, meaning they were everywhere. “Trapping took them down to 100,000, and now estimates put them back up to 10 or 20 million. They are prevalent in certain areas like the Colorado Rockies and the Sierra Nevada, but we still don’t see them often in many downstream areas that provide great habitat.”

For now, she says, “I’ve got students hiking streams just looking for signs of them, and when I give public talks, people will sometimes tell me about how they used to see them on a creek in the 70’s. That might not seem relevant, but that kind of information is so valuable. So now I’m basically saying to people, if you see a beaver dam anywhere in California, please tell me about it!”

I’ll make sure we all tell you when we see them! Ohh you are the hope of a new beaver generation Dr. Emily Fairfax. Make sure you read the Work to protect Sonoma beaver lodge begins

To prevent flooding and manage water levels in a Sonoma creek, a pond leveler will be installed where a family of beavers is living, Sonoma County Water Agency officials said.

The pond leveler will help water transfer through the beaver dam so that the pond doesn’t cause flooding. It will also assist with maintaining the habitat for the beavers, said David Cook, senior environmental specialist at Sonoma County Water Agency.

There was even an insert about my timing concerns, because the reporter was included in the email thread where I learned of it.

Heidi Perryman, of urban-beaver protection group Martinez Beavers, asked the agency to wait until kit — or, baby beaver — season is over, which is mid-to-late May. But Brock Dolman, program director of Occidental Arts and Ecology Center, which is partnering with the water agency and Swift Water Designs in the project, said they also would prefer to do the work outside of kit season and were prepared to do the install in March, but then COVID-19 got in the way.

Isn’t that just like Heidi, always poking her nose in and mucking around. Well I also heard from a neighbor that the beavers were busy that night trying to plug the outflow of the pipe so you may not have heard the last of this story. It’s good that a flow device was used. Hopefully the beavers can make it work. Fingers crossed.

The last piece of really OUTSTANDING news comes from Port Moody, B.C. See a lot of the challenges to the beavers have come from the fish hatchery folk which are saying that beaver dams stop chum. Jim and Judy have been doing their home work AND the city’s homework and heard from famous Fisheries Biologist Dr. Marvin Rosenau. that their stream supported coho salmon. The real kind not the hatchery frankensteins. And there’s all this data saying beavers are good for coho and no data at all saying they’re good for chum. Which stinks.

But they got a go pro camera and have been using it to shoot underwater and GUESS WHAT THEY FILMED and Dr. Marvin Rosenau. identified right away in the beaver pond???

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It’s hard to see but unmistakable. Around the 55 second mark you can see it best on the upper left hand corner. Look for the while glint of its eye and then the wiggle of its tail as it moves forward. That would be coho fry. As in the real deal. As in proof of a beaver pond doing what it should. As in pass the coho birthday cake and lets have a party!