NDLI: Quantifying beaver dam dynamics and sediment retention using aerial imagery, habitat characteristics, and economic drivers

Content Provider	Springer Nature Link
Author	Martin, Sherry L. Jasinski, Briana L. Kendall, Anthony D. Dahl, Travis A. Hyndman, David W.
Copyright Year	2015
Abstract	The North American beaver (Castor canadensis) population experienced a precipitous decline in the early twentieth century, fueled by the economic value of their pelts and habitat loss from forestry and agricultural expansion. The historical response of beaver populations to changing stresses is difficult to quantify due to a lack of population data.Here we characterize beaver dam dynamics as a surrogate measure for population and analyze spatio-temporal relationships with landscape and management characteristics, and estimate the potential of watershed beaver dam activity to sequester sediment.We use aerial photos from >70 years along with GIS analysis to quantify counts, sizes, and distributions of beaver dams and impoundments over time, including site recurrence. Human predation pressure and young aspen area are used to predictively model temporal changes in dam count. Finally, we estimate sediment retention through time by applying our data to published relationships.Our analyses reveal a remarkable correlation between watershed beaver dam dynamics and statewide records of beaver harvest. Beaver dams show a pattern of spatial clustering as the number of dams increased, mostly in tributaries directly connected to the main river, regardless of stream order. Our multiple linear regression model predicts dam counts from pelt prices and young aspen area, producing an excellent fit (R$^{2}$ = 0.86).We found evidence for beaver population recovery from near extirpation using relatively simple and widely-available measures. Methods we present can be used to estimate regional beaver population dynamics in other watersheds.
Starting Page	1129
Ending Page	1144
Page Count	16
File Format	PDF
ISSN	09212973
Journal	Landscape Ecology
Volume Number	30
Issue Number	6
e-ISSN	15729761
Language	English
Publisher	Springer Netherlands
Publisher Date	2015-02-04
Publisher Place	Dordrecht
Access Restriction	Subscribed
Subject Keyword	Aerial imagery Spatial GIS analysis Beaver population dynamics Hydrology Sedimentation Landscape Ecology Plant Ecology Forestry Management Forestry Ecology Plant Sciences
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Geography, Planning and Development Ecology Nature and Landscape Conservation

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