Why Give A DAMn? – Biodiversity
Back in 1998 when I first learned that beavers are critical for biodiversity I was amazed. I was immediately hooked by the realization that if we learned to coexist with beavers we would be supporting a myriad of other species at the same time. How cool is that?! Rather than just helping one species, there was a multiplier effect. Coexisting with one species, saved many!
So exactly how do beavers create biodiversity? To understand the answer to that important question let’s take a trip back in time.
Why Give A DAMn? – Salmon Restoration
Many fisherman believe beavers are bad for native cold-water fishes such as trout and salmon. They will claim the dams create obstacles to fish movement, sediment buries fish eggs that need oxygen, and the ponded water is warmed by the sun to the detriment of cold water fishes. These are all reasonable assumptions, so beavers must be bad for trout and salmon, right? WRONG! Research has shown that in most cases streams with beaver dams actually produce larger and more numerous native trout and salmon.
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Why Give a DAMn? – Water Storage
Water is essential to life. Where water is scarce, beavers can help. Beaver dams store water when it is plentiful and slowly release it during dry periods when it is needed most. Beavers perform this important life supporting service naturally and for free.
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Why Give a DAMn? – Stream Restoration
Why Give a DAMn? There are many reasons beavers we need beavers. Reason #1: Stream Restoration. In the absence of beaver dams, erosion degrades streams and watersheds resulting in poorer water quality, quantity, and loss of biodiversity. Streams with beaver dams actually recover from the destructive effects of erosion and healthy watersheds can be restored.
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Protect Culverts from Beavers – Easily
See an easy and inexpensive way to protect road culverts from beaver dam blockages that also allows fish and wildlife passage.
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Biodiversity, Beavers, and Me
Educating the public about the value of the ecosystem, biodiversity, and watershed services beavers provide is a critical component of improving society’s stewardship of the earth. While this knowledge is critical, individual direct experiences in nature can profoundly impact a person and motivate them to put that knowledge into action. At least that was true in my case….
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How To Protect Roads AND Beavers
To a beaver, a culvert pipe through a roadbed looks like a hole in a dam. So beavers damming road culverts is the most common human-beaver flooding conflict we see. Fortunately though, most road culverts can be protected from beaver damming without the need to kill the beavers.
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What Good Are Beavers?
Most people only become aware of beavers when they are a nuisance, but did you know that biologists classify beavers as a Keystone species?
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