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

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Abstract

Context

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.

Objective

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.

Methods

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.

Results

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 (R2 = 0.86).

Conclusions

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.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Adam Bump and Brian Frawley of the MDNR for providing us compiled reports of historical beaver harvest, trapper licensing, and beaver pelt value, as well as Brian Mastenbrook and Dan Heckman of the MDNR for providing State Forest Inventory maps and data for the region. We also thank Ryan Nagelkirk for fieldwork assistance. We thank the editor and anonymous reviewers for their constructive suggestions which improved the paper. Funding for the research was provided by the Friends of the Jordan River, Grant No. NA12OAR4320071 from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the National Science Foundation (NSF) under award 0911642. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NSF, NOAA or the Friends of the Jordan River.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geological Sciences, Michigan State University, 288 Farm Lane, Room 206 Natural Science Building, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA

    Sherry L. Martin, Briana L. Jasinski, Anthony D. Kendall, Travis A. Dahl & David W. Hyndman

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  1. Sherry L. Martin
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  2. Briana L. Jasinski
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  3. Anthony D. Kendall
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  4. Travis A. Dahl
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  5. David W. Hyndman
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Correspondence to Sherry L. Martin.

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Martin, S.L., Jasinski, B.L., Kendall, A.D. et al. Quantifying beaver dam dynamics and sediment retention using aerial imagery, habitat characteristics, and economic drivers. Landscape Ecol 30, 1129–1144 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-015-0165-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-015-0165-9

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