Beavers in the Boulder Watershed
Once on the verge of extinction from trapping for their under fur, the North American beaver (Castor canadensis) is once again present in most areas of North America. As a keystone species in Colorado wetlands and waterways, these environmental engineers are hard at work rebuilding as a species and shaping the landscape once again.
THE ABUNDANT BENEFITS OF BEAVERS
Colorado Parks & Wildlife: “From an ecological perspective, beavers are good for watersheds. Beavers cutting aspen, willow and other trees will cause the trees to regenerate. Their dams expand the floodplain into a drainage which allows them to safely reach food further from the original stream channel. This slowing and expanding of water in the drainage, in turn increases riparian plants, which previously could only grow directly along the stream since the uplands were too dry. The Riparian is one of the more diverse habitat types in Colorado, so beavers can help improve and expand it.”
Dr. Emily Fairfax: “Beaver dams, ponds, and canals store and spread water throughout the riparian zone, where it is accessible to vegetation even during droughts. These green, well-watered plants are difficult to burn, so beaver complexes can act as refugia during wildfire.”
“Even as global temperatures rise and nudge the riverscapes towards degradation, beaver activity pushes them back in the other direction – towards health and resilience. Once beavers are in the system, their natural behaviors create cycles of increasing riverscape resilience.”
See Emily Fairfax’s Beavers and Wildfires video below. Beavers = Firefighters!
Ideal Beaver Habitat Includes:
Access to water: rivers, streams, ditches, marshes, lakes, etc. Beavers prefer slow moving water with no more than a 2% flow gradient.
Access to woody and herbaceous plants for both food and building material: such as willows, birch, alder, aspen, and other broadleaf trees and shrubs.
Available territory of approximately 1.5 miles.
As our climate changes, populations grow, and ecosystems shift, it is crucial that we learn from the adaptive strategies and impactful solutions utilized in the natural world, including those from the efficiently and effectively industrious North American beaver.