Beavers from Space

Beavers from Space is made possible by the support of our generous funders: the Government of Alberta’s Watershed Resiliency and Restoration Program, Alberta Innovates - Water Innovation Program, and the Alberta Ecotrust Foundation.

About

Despite the cultural and ecological importance of ksisskstaki (beaver) little is known about their presence in Alberta’s streams and rivers. By searching through satellite imagery for beaver dams and lodges in the waterways of the Kainai Nation (Blood Tribe) in southern Alberta, Beavers from Space seeks to determine where beaver are present on the landscape and where they are not. This information will inform riparian (river ecosystem) restoration locations, focusing on areas that beaver could be present (good habitat) but are absent.

Beaver Background

Ksisskstaki (beaver) are a sacred animal to many Indigenous Nations including the Kainai Nation (Blood Tribe) of the Blackfoot Nation. Beaver is a powerful underwater being and Ksisskstakyomopistaan (the beaver bundle) is held in high regard and is said to be one of the oldest medicine bundles in Blackfoot culture (Bastien, 2004). Performing ceremony with the Beaver Bundle is the engagement with traditional ecological relationships between humans and the ecosystem, and this ceremony renews and honours that mutual dependency (Bastien, 2004).

Intertwined with their cultural importance is their ecological importance. Beavers are a keystone species, meaning they are the glue that holds an ecosystem together. Beavers live in riparian areas (rivers/streams and the surrounding wetland vegetation). Beavers are critical to the health of riparian ecosystems as they create ponded wetland habitats that many species call their home (e.g., song birds, ducks, fish, moose, deer, frogs, etc.). Some of the ecosystem benefits that beavers provide are:

• flood mitigation: beaver dams act as speed bumps, slowing water and allowing it to filter into the groundwater. The wetlands created behind the dams also store water, further reducing flood risk. Research has proven that beaver dams sequences are able to withstand extreme rainfall events and delayed the flood peak in the stream (Westbrook et al., 2020).
• Drought mitigation: as stated above, beaver dams slow water down which allows it to filter into the groundwater. This cool water is then released downstream of the wetland, which is especially important during the hot, dry conditions of late summer in Alberta.
• Enhanced water quality: as beaver wetlands are created and water filters into the groundwater, the filtration process improves water quality. The slowing of water by beaver dams allows sediments and contaminants to settle at the bottom of the wetland, improving the water quality of the wetland and waters that flow downstream.
• Fire risk reduction: beaver activity increases wetness and vegetation in the riparian area (area directly adjacent to streams). Streams with beavers have increased wetness, including increased riparian vegetation, which has been proven as a fire break and refugia for the many species compared to streams without beavers (Fairfax & Whittle, 2020).
• Aesthetic viewing opportunities: humans enjoy viewing wildlife, which beaver wetlands are teeming with. These recreational opportunities provide enhanced human well-being.
• For more information on environmental benefits of beavers please visit Working with Beaver Website – Positive Impacts of Beavers

Despite their ecological and cultural importance, European settlers nearly exterminated the beaver in North America. During the European fur trade era (~1600-1900), beaver pelts were highly valued by Europeans for their use in making top hats, so much so, approximately 90% of the beaver population in North American was killed.

Across Alberta, like much of North America, beaver populations are increasing, but are still no where close to historical estimates. Today’s beavers face new challenges. Although not sought for their pelt, they are often killed for causing damages to property while building their dams and lodges. Beavers can cause unwanted flooding of roads and crops; damage to infrastructure incurring maintenance costs; and removal of prized trees. However, coexistence between beaver and humans can be accomplished by understanding beaver ecology and implementing effective coexistence tools such as pond levellers, culvert protectors, and tree wrapping. If we can address the modern-day coexistence challenges we face, beavers can remain on the landscape providing all of the ecosystem benefits needed for a healthy watershed.

Why?

Beavers from Space is part of a larger project called “Working with Beavers.” This project is a partnership between the Miistakis Institute and Cows and Fish Alberta Riparian Habitat Management Society and aims to increase the coexistence of humans and beavers. By engaging with local land owners and land managers we strive to decrease conflict with beavers, foster social tolerance, and heighten understanding of the benefits that beavers provide us and the ecosystem as a whole.

Beavers from Space contributes to Working with Beavers three ways:

1. Education: Increase knowledge and understanding about beaver ecology and the ecosystem benefits they provide and,
2. Beaver Restoration Assessment Tool (BRAT) model validation: determine where beaver are present on the landscape and where they are absent.
3. Refine beaver dam analogue (BDA) restoration site locations

One of the goals of Working with Beavers is to actually put beavers to work (sort of)! Beaver mimicry or beaver dam analogues (BDAs), are a stream restoration technique where humans act as beavers to put in dam structures made of natural materials to restore streams, providing some of the benefits a real beaver dam would (see image below). BDAs are particularly useful where beavers are absent but there is good beaver habitat (appropriate water flow and slope, good food supply, etc.). If there is a nearby population of beavers, there is a good chance the beaver will adopt the BDA as their own (making it better since they are better at beaver work than we are!).

To help the Working with Beavers team select sites for BDAs, we have run a GIS model called the Beaver Restoration Assessment Tool (BRAT), developed by the Wheaton et al. lab (William W. Macfarlane et al., 2017; Utah State University, n.d.). BRAT takes landscape information such as slope, stream flow, and vegetation to assess the potential for beaver to successfully create dams on a stream segment. What BRAT does not do, is assess where beaver are currently building dams, which is where Beavers from Space comes in. Along with some on-the-ground field surveys for dams, Beavers from Space allows us to gather information on dam locations from satellite imagery. This data will be used to validate the BRAT model (i.e., are there beaver dams where we expect them to be, or not be?) and help us select our restoration sites. A good restoration site will be an area that BRAT shows to have high dam density potential, but beaver are absent (as per Beavers from Space data and field surveys).

Stream segments could be devoid of beavers for a variety of reasons. If the segment provides good habitat (appropriate water flow and slope, good food supply, deep ponded water for safety from predators, etc.), then beaver are likely missing due to human causes: killed because they are considered a nuisance, no nearby population due to the history of the fur trade era, limited habitat connectivity not allowing nearby populations to disperse to the area (e.g., major highways, towns or other human infrastructure).

We Need You to Help us Put Beavers on the Map!

The importance beaver is evident, but they need our help as much as we need theirs! By locating dams on satellite imagery you can help us determine where beaver are currently present (and absent) so we can select the best sites for beaver dam analogue stream restoration.

References

Bastien, B. (2004). Blackfoot ways of knowing: the worldview of the Siksikaitsitapi. In Choice Reviews Online (Vol. 42, Issue 10). University of Calgary Press. https://doi.org/10.5860/choice.42-5782

Fairfax, E., & Whittle, A. (2020). Smokey the Beaver: beaver-dammed riparian corridors stay green during wildfire throughout the western United States. Ecological Applications, 30(8), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.2225

Macfarlane, William W., Wheaton, J. M., Bouwes, N., Jensen, M. L., Gilbert, J. T., Hough-Snee, N., & Shivik, J. A. (2017). Modeling the capacity of riverscapes to support beaver dams. Geomorphology, 277, 72–99. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2015.11.019

Westbrook, C. J., Ronnquist, A., & Bedard-Haughn, A. (2020). Hydrological functioning of a beaver dam sequence and regional dam persistence during an extreme rainstorm. Hydrological Processes, 34(18), 3726–3737. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.13828

Utah State University. (n.d.). Beaver Restoration Assessment Tool (BRAT). Riverscapes Consortium. Retrieved September 4, 2020, from http://brat.riverscapes.xyz/