CANADA'S BEAVER CAPITAL : EXCEPTIONAL BEAVER HABITAT ON THE SLOPES OF THE PASQUIA HILLS, SASKATCHEWAN

Beavers are interesting to study with Google Earth since their "foot print" is clearly visible on the high resolution and somewhat recognizable on low resolution images. The longest beaver dam found by me to date is about 600 meters in length. In some cases two dams (each with its own lodge) connect and I have observed lengths of over 900 meters.

The slopes of the Pasquia Hills area in Northern Saskatchewan have some of the most impressive beaver habitat and beaver densities I have seen so far.

The image below gives an overview of the beaver dam location on the slopes of the Pasquia Hills I have studied. This folder contains 5 typical examples which could be used as a Google Earth interpretation guide for beaver habitat in the Mid Boreal Ecoregion of Canada. From these observations is is clear that there is a link between ecosystems and beaver densities. The Pasquia Plateau itself show a low density of dams. The steeper slopes a medium density, while the lower slopes have unuaually high densities. While 10 -15 beaver dams in a stretch of 1000 meters of streambed are not uncommon, it is is exceptional to find 15-25 beaver dams distributed evenly in a square kilometer of "wetland". Not all dams have lodges. As each lodge seems to have an average of about 5.2 beavers

according to the latest Canadian census, the average population density in some of the wetlands on the slopes surrounding the Pasquia Hills could well be over 50-120 beavers per Km2!; or about 125-300 animals per square mile!

For more information:
http://www.ecoinformatics.com
http://www.geostrategis.com/p_beavers-pasquia.htm