Category: Environmental

News of the environment or beavers impact on their ecology

Nothing succeeds like beaver succession

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Educational, Environmental, Who's saving beavers now? August 21, 2017

Pond succession is something you hear discussed a fair amount as pond bottoms become more rich with plant material and ultimately turn into forests – but it all happens better with beavers of course. Apparently Ducks unlimited is teaming up with USFS and Fish and Game to look at how it all plays out. Because studying something nine million times always produces different results, right?

Pacific Northwest – More Information

Background information on DU’s Pacific Northwest conservation priority area

Importance to waterbirds

These systems have traditionally been used as spring staging areas. Cook Inlet and the Copper River Delta are among the most important wetlands to the world’s populations of western sandpiper and dunlin. The Stikine is also a traditional fall staging area for Wrangel Island snow geese. Common wintering shorebirds include black oystercatchers, rock sandpipers, black turnstones, and surfbirds. Seabirds (murres, murrelets, auklets) are common breeders throughout Prince William Sound. Southeastern Alaska has over 2,800 important anadromous fish streams, and over 15,000 bald eagles use this habitat.

Goals

Complete successional vegetation modeling for the Copper River Delta and analyze pond succession related to beaver activity.

Now we both know that there are a lot of places where Ducks Unlimited does a lot of good in the world. Buying up habitat for duck hunters is useful in populated areas or areas that have been degraded by industry. But buying hunting grounds in Alaska is probably not high on the list of good deeds for the environment. And you can tell they’re clutching at any research straws hoping to justify it their presence – installing pit tags on salmon and measuring where molting is most likely to occur in geese.

But looking at the role beavers play in pond succession is soooo soooo reinventing the wheel the Alaska Parks department even has a unit on it for 4th graders. Hear that? Nine year olds know more than DU. Because it’s old news, baby.

4-6, Unit Four, Activity 5<br>”Beaver Succession Mural”

Students will discuss the concept of succession and describe beaver pond succession as one example of the process of change in natural environments. They will apply an understanding of the concept of succession by drawing a mural showing stages of beaver pond succession.

Grades: 4 – 6
Time: 1 – 2 hours
Life science, visual arts

When beavers dam a stream, they set in motion a form of succession. The resulting backwater floods lowland near the creek. Trees are soon killed, creating an opening in the forest canopy. Water-associated plants and shrubs quickly invade the pond and shoreline, creating favorable habitat for waterfowl, moose, blackbirds, amphibians, fish, insects, muskrats, wading birds, warblers, marsh hawks, and a score of other animals. After many years the water becomes shallow, filling in with silt and plant debris.

Stimulated by the nutrient-rich mud, grasses, sedges, and shrubs begin to choke the water with their accumulating debris. The ground begins to firm as more silt is trapped.

As years pass, the trees near the lodge are cut down by the beavers for use as food and shelter. The beavers must move on and find a new spot to support themselves. Without the beavers to keep it strong, the old dam collapses, draining the pond. The area becomes meadow, supporting grasses, sedges, and other flowering plants. Trees begin to re-invade the drier ground and eventually the meadow reverts to forest. Centuries may be required to see this process completed.

What can we expect next for the exciting research teams at Ducks Unlimited? One can only speculate they’ll be looking into what bears do in the woods and why ducks float instead of sink on water. The curious scientific community will have to be patient.

In the meanwhile we can respect the work that really teaches us about beavers habitat, mostly coming out of NOAA fisheries. This morning there is another lecture on beavers and salmon offered by the Alaska Public Radio station. KTNA. I promise if you listen to the easy three minutes you’ll soon know more than any duck hunter.

On a salmon roll!

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beavers, Beavers and salmon, Creative Solutions, Educational, Environmental, Who's saving beavers now? August 18, 2017

Don’t look now, but Andy Wallace and Jane Friedhoff are finishing off an Arcade game where two beavers carefully roll a salmon between them in such a way as to protect it from very hungry bears. No really. They call themselves “the upstream team”.

First off, I’d like to introduce you to Salmon Roll: The Upstream Team! Jane and I designed the game, with me taking on most of the programming and Jane handling the production. The amazing Diego E. Garcia is doing all of the art.

In Salmon Roll, two players take control of a beaver on either side of a wooden beam and must work together to guide the rolling salmon resting on the beam to its nest upstream all while avoiding the hungry bears along the way. The game is a collaborative, two-player, super-sized take on the early 80s arcade classic Ice Cold Beer (which itself was inspiration for the recent TumbleSeed). Its levels are designed specifically to utilize the architecture of the space, and players interact with it by using a 5-foot-long, wooden, custom two-player controller.

Here’s a peak at how it works. Oops! Watch out for that bear!

The controller for Salmon Roll is a 5 foot long wooden box held by players at either end and with joysticks sticking out of the sides. The joysticks move up and down, allowing the players to control their beavers, but the construction of the box requires players to hold it up together with their free hand. This ensures that it is impossible for any one person to control both joysticks at the same time: the size of the controller itself makes sure that this is a two-player game. The image of the two beavers holding a plank projected on the wall is mirrored by our players holding the controller in the real world!

Play NYC happens this weekend in NY and is being touted as the city’s first gamers convention where are the exhibits are 100% playable. Large companies and new startups will show off their newest creations. 25 dollars will get you through the door and access to three floors of adventure. But none, I’m sure, as fine as the salmon roll. Which cleverly demonstrates the very important fact that beaver help salmon.

And salmon need all the help they can get.

Now small world update, I just found out that one of the volunteers taking care of those two lucky beavers at AIWC was formerly one of our own Cheryl Reynold’s volunteers at IBRC! She just reminded us that there is a go fund me campaign for the two furry friends, and I thought you might want to help. Even if you don’t have funds to spare, watch the video just to appreciate how differently colored those two beavers are. Colors living in harmony.

Riparian Ripple Effects

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beavers and Birds, Beavers and climate change, Beavers and Forests, Beavers and Frogs, Beavers and Ice, Beavers and Insects, Beavers and salmon, Beavers and trout, Beavers and water, Environmental August 14, 2017

There’s a nice article out of the Michigan Fishing Wire that I know you’ll enjoy. It’s all about the Riparian and why it matters. The term riparian is from the latin riparius meaning river bank and first use in 1849. But it also relates to the old norse term meaning ‘rip’ as the bank is cut away from the land by water. Now Michigan got really excited about beavers coming back to the Detroit River, but they don’t exactly love them if you know what I mean.

Riparian Areas–Valuable for Fish, People and Wildlife

The thousands of rivers, lakes and streams in Michigan are beautiful, special places, not only to a wide range of people, including anglers, boaters and campers, but numerous plant and animal species. Those areas between the water and the uplands are called riparian areas or riparian zones. A riparian management zone is “an area designated and consciously managed to protect functions and values of riparian areas.”

Within a watershed — the area drained by a river or stream system — the lands next to streams and rivers are particularly important to the health of those waterways. “Because of the unique conditions adjacent to lakes, streams and open-water wetlands, riparian areas harbor a high diversity of plants and wildlife,” Michigan Department of Natural Resources fisheries biologists said in a report on “Riparian Zone Management and Trout Streams: 21st Century and Beyond.” “Life is simply richer along rivers and streams.

“Riparian areas are ecologically and socially significant in their effects on water quality and quantity, as well as aesthetics, habitat, bank stability, timber production, and their contribution to overall biodiversity.” Plant habitat along rivers and streams is called riparian vegetation. The plants that grow there have an affinity for water.

“Vegetative cover refers to overhanging or submerged tree limbs, shrubs and other plants growing along the shore of the waterbody,” the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s website states. “Rivers, streams and lakes can be buffered from the effects of human disturbance in the watershed by varied, multi-layered vegetation in the land corridor that surrounds them.

“Healthy, intact vegetative cover in these riparian areas can help reduce nutrient and sediment runoff from the surrounding landscape, prevent bank erosion and provide shade to reduce water temperature. Vegetative cover can also provide leaf litter and large wood (such as branches and logs) to serve as food, shelter and habitat for aquatic organisms.”

In Michigan, large woody debris from mature trees growing along streambanks controls how streams look and function.

“Large woody debris provides cover for salmonids (trout and salmon), habitat and food for aquatic invertebrates, adds nutrients, traps smaller debris, provides feeding and resting sites for a wide variety of wildlife, and has other beneficial effects,” the DNR fisheries biologists said. “When leaves, twigs, sticks and even entire trees fall into streams, they provide both food and shelter for aquatic insects, and habitat for reptiles, amphibians, fish, mammals and birds.”

“These include larval and/or adult water bugs, water beetles, caddisflies, stoneflies, dragonflies/damselflies, mayflies, fish flies/alderflies, true flies, riffle beetles, aquatic earthworms, scuds, leeches, snails and limpets, and crayfish,” the park’s website said. “The presence of caddisfly, stonefly and May fly larvae indicate that streams here are of high quality and are in good ecological health.”

The DNR fisheries biologists said the agency and its partners spend many thousands of dollars each year to introduce additional large woody debris into our river systems, debris that has been lost artificially over time due to a variety of circumstances.

Do you think this article, focused on the benefit of the riparian and emphasizing the thousands of dollars spent every year to get woody debris into it, might mention the importance of the hardworking animal who does it for free? Well only in the briefest nonspecific way, of course.

Tree frogs, wood turtles, salamanders, and many other reptiles and amphibians, use the water for laying eggs and breeding each spring. Ospreys, eagles and herons are among the bird species that rely on streams, lakes and rivers for food and nest in large trees nearby.

The endangered piping plover nests and feeds on the sandy and rocky beaches of Lakes Michigan, Huron and Superior. Terns and gulls nest on rocky shoals and island shorelines. Ducks, geese and swans nest on coastal marshes.

“Mink, otters, muskrats and beavers can be found feeding and denning along river shorelines,” Vaughn said. “A handful of unique tree species also grow on the banks of Michigan’s rivers. Paw-paw, blue beech or musclewood, and sycamore trees thrive in the wet, periodically flooded soils along rivers.”

That’s all the mention they get, but it’s still a pretty nice article. And hey, I just realized you could easily replace the word ‘RIPARIAN’ with the words ‘BEAVER” and have yourself a very nice article.

~~Riparian~~ Beaver areas help control non-point source pollution by holding and using nutrients and reducing sediment.

~~Riparian~~ Beaver areas are often important for the recreation and scenic values. However, because riparian areas are relatively small and occur in conjunction with watercourses, they are vulnerable to severe alteration and damages caused by people.

~~Riparian~~ Beaver areas supply food, cover, and water for a large diversity of animals and serve as migration routes and stopping points between habitats for a variety of wildlife.

Trees and grasses in ~~riparian~~ beaver areas stabilize stream banks and reduce floodwater velocity, resulting in reduced downstream flood peaks.

Alluvial aquifers help maintain the base flow in many rivers in humid areas because of high water tables. In drier climates, streams lose water that can help build up the water table deep beneath the stream.

Tadaa! Much better! The article mentions a group called ‘River Partners’ based in California. Which makes me wonder how those feel about the flat tailed partner in general? Maybe they get a letter.

Speaking of the valuable things that come out of Riparian Zones, look what Moses filmed yesterday morning along Alhambra Creek. Looks like that little dam is cousin to a slightly more established one upstream which is the front yard of at least TWO beavers. The smaller one looks young (check out that tail length) and could easily be the youngster that was born in the creek last October (ten months old?). Which would suggest that there are actually more of them than this film shows. But who really knows, they could be a totally new family just settling.

That particular RIPARIAN is very very deeply incised, so I can’t imagine a dam will stand any chance at all once it starts raining. And every foot is lined with houses, so operation ‘educate and pacify the neighbors’ will have to be in full swing! I’m just happy they’re here. And so, obviously is that little skunk who finally has a way to get across the creek.

Yreka Beaver Wisdom

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, City Reports, Creative Solutions, Educational, Environmental, Friends of Martinez Beavers August 12, 2017

NOAA and USFS lead a beaver walk. No seriously!

Public invited to get ‘beaver fever’ on guided nature walk

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are co-sponsoring a beaver event as part of the FWS monthly guided nature walk series on Wednesday, Aug. 16, from 10 a.m.–noon, at Upper Greenhorn Park.

Donald Flickinger from NOAA will talk about local beaver activity, how beavers benefit riparian habitat, methods to protect streamside trees from damage, and beaver dam analogues to restore wetlands when beavers aren’t present. Come learn about the challenges and opportunities of co-existing with this North American native – right here in Siskiyou County!

Hurray! It is wonderful that NOAA is talking about the benefits of beavers and how to wrap trees. Even MORE wonderful is that this is taking place in YREKA California. Sure it’s just over the border from Oregon where they’re LOTS smarter but it’s a start. A start. A start. I don’t know Donald Flickinger, but I plan to look him up right away. Honestly, do you think this is the kind of thing that would ever have happened if the whole involving the public with beavers in Martinez didn’t make show off how wonderfully the two things work together? I really doubt it. Even in Siskiyou county. And yes, I am indeed full of myself.

That’s all for now, as the day is full of important beaver business. Don’t believe me?

From a phenomenom to a valued nature celebration

heidi08 Educational, Environmental, Festival, Friends of Martinez Beavers August 6, 2017

I’m still trying to put my finger on why yesterday’s beaver festival felt different. Attendance was smaller than in past years, but more cheerful and appreciative. People came from longer distances specifically to be there, and were more appreciative of the event. No one was surprised about the beaver in Martinez, but people were earnestly eager to see their children focus on nature and learn more about the good work that beavers do.

Kids loved the nature journal activity, tattoos were collected with enthusiasm, and they watched with fascination as the ink image emerged on their leather covers as if by magic. I dearly loved hearing the children try to summarize what they learned from the beaver docent wall, and nearly 50 stayed to do the post-test afterwards. Parents were appreciative too and thanked us many time for such a wonderful and educational activity.

A cluster of helpers appeared on hand to help with the tents. the stage, the posters, the exhibits, the entire day. The auction looked amazing and was crowded all day. Many items had 5 or more bids, which hasn’t happened before. This year the Safari West package sold for 100 dollars more than it’s highest bid in previous years. The new Wifi in the park made it easy to record credit sales, and most auction items were lovingly claimed at the end of the day.

I think the different feel to the day can be summed up with this story of the lively enthusiastic young mom who stopped at my booth with her children and said,

“My brother Joey told me we should come and he was right, this is amazing!”
“Joey?” I asked, politely.
“You know, Joey from Utah”.
“???”
“He teaches at the university there”
A foggy idea began to form in my dizzy brain ….”Do you mean Joe Wheaton?”
“Yes exactly! He said this was an amazing event and he’s right!”

Let that sink in for a moment. Apparently Dr. Joe Wheaton of the Utah State, who has done the foremost work on beaver hydrology in the country and whom I have never met or spoken to on the phone, who is renown for his crowded webinars attended by folks in every state, who invented the beaver mapping tool and is recognized as a major force in their use for restoration, apparently has a sister who lives in the South Bay that brought her children to the beaver festival. Here we are with her children who are very proud about those newly made journals.

Once in a great while, I get this odd sense that what I’ve been doing for a decade has mattered, even tipped the landscape in some way, or created a new beaver bright spot on the horizon. Yesterday author Ben Goldfarb coming from Connecticut, Steve Murschel driving down from Portland, and so many strangers thanking me for an excellent day, was one of those times.

Everyone gathered at the house afterwards for Pizza and air conditioning, they drank beer, talked over the excitements and frustrations of the day, and mused that the entire story belonged on “This American Life”. Then the blessed folks who had attended the festival from out of state impulsively offered to unload the U-haul, and within a 10 minutes the unpacking was suddenly done.

The phenomenom of the Martinez Beavers might not be important to the Bay Area anymore – or even to Martinez itself, but the beaver festival has become recognized and appreciated around the country. In some ways around the world. That feels new, and kind of wonderful.