Beaver Library

Rivers and streams, when fully connected to their floodplains, are naturally resilient systems that are increasingly part of the conversation on nature-based climate solutions. Reconnecting waterways to their floodplains improves water quality and quantity, supports biodiversity and sensitive species conservation, increases flood, drought and fire resiliency, and bolsters carbon sequestration. But, while the importance of river restoration is clear, beaver-based restoration—for example, strategic coexistence, relocation, and mimicry—remains an underutilized strategy despite ample data demonstrating its efficacy. Climate-driven disturbances are actively pushing streams into increasingly degraded states, and the window of opportunity for restoration will not stay open forever. Therefore, now is the perfect time to apply the science of beaver-based low-tech process-based stream restoration to support building climate resilience across the landscape. Not every stream will be a good candidate for beaver-based restoration, but we have the tools to know which ones are. Let us use them.

In this study, we tracked beaver dam distributions and monitored water temperature throughout 34 km of stream for an eight-year period between 2007 and 2014. Our results suggest that creation of natural and/or artificial beaver dams could be used to mitigate the impact of human induced thermal degradation that may threaten sensitive species.

Description of the design process for two types of low-tech structures, post-assisted log structures (PALS) and beaver dam analogues (BDAs).

The Low-Tech Process Based Restoration of Riverscapes Pocket Guide is an illustrated and condensed version of the Design Manual. The pocket guide is designed to fit in your pocket (4 x 6”) to use as a reference in the field. 2019.

This fifth webinar in the ASWM-BLM Beaver Restoration Webinar Series focused on how coalition building is essential to advancing the practice of process-based stream and floodplain restoration by helping the regulatory environment be responsive to the evolving understanding around functioning, intact riverscapes.

This guidebook provides a practical synthesis of the best available science for using beaver to improve ecosystem functions. The overall goal is to provide an accessible, useful resource for those involved in using beaver to restore streams, floodplains, wetlands, and riparian ecosystems.

Large-scale experiment to quantify the benefits of beavers and beaver dam analogues to a fish population and its habitat

A comprehensive compilation of information related to beavers and their management with an emphasis on stream restoration.

This study proposes that live vegetation and beaver dams or beaver dam analogues can substantially accelerate the recovery of incised streams and can help create and maintain complex fluvial ecosystems.

Tested how assisting beaver to create stable colonies and aggrade incised reaches of Bridge Creek could create measurable improvements in riparian and stream habitat conditions and abundance of native steelhead.