Colorado State University Study: Beavers Played Key Role in Rocky Mountain National Park History
FORT COLLINS – Scientists at Colorado State University who are studying different sites in Rocky Mountain National Park say that beavers may have played a key role in the formation of park valleys. Why is this important? By better understanding what the park’s ecological make-up was before European impacts were made in the early 19th century, researchers can provide historical context to park staff as they consider various restoration strategies.
“We are examining the characteristics of river corridors in Rocky Mountain National Park at different times in the past and then looking at what has changed since then,” said Ellen Wohl, professor of geosciences in the Warner College of Natural Resources at Colorado State University. “Is it possible to restore the park to what it was prior to 1800 AD? What are the constraints on restoration? By taking a time machine approach, we can provide data to park staff on ways to return the park to its biologically diverse state.”
Really? Hundreds of beavers over thousands of years shaping the waterways and building dams that trap sediment and raising the water table and moving the tree line had something to do with the development of the valley? Who knew! Next you’ll tell me that annual precipitation has something to do with wildflower count! Well, I’m glad they’re teaching our kids something useful at college.
Today few, if any, beavers are in Beaver Meadows in part due to the extensive fur trapping in the 19th century that nearly wiped out the park’s beaver population and the previous heavy browsing of willow and aspen by elk; however, Rocky Mountain National Park is considering reintroducing beavers into suitable areas of the park.
Beavers create a unique dynamic in the valley ecosystems because they build dams, which in turn cause the formation of small ponds across the valley bottom, Wohl said. By spreading out water across a valley bottom, wetlands are created which provide habitats for plants and lots of organically rich “muck” that store carbon. These wetlands thus provide habitat that support food and shelter for beavers and other wildlife that depend on these biologically diverse systems.
“If we take away beavers, dams go away and we lose flooding in the valleys. Groundwater drops and dries out the valley bottom. Then hillside plants migrate to the valley bottom, creating a sort of xeriscaping of the mountain valley, and that is not good for biodiversity or carbon storage,” Wohl said.
Okay. Go ahead. Use words like xeriscaping, biodiversity and carbonstorage to make beavers sound like some newly developed technology hotter than solar film. Act like you just discovered that beavers are good for your little neck of the rockies and maybe it was a mistake to kill them all and they should be reintroduced. You’ll get no argument from me. And to tell you the truth, when patently obvious facts are forgotten for hundreds of years and then noisily “re-discovered” it is very much like learning something new.
