jean_thie
(Cartographer)
03/24/07 06:19 PM
View in Google Earth
Beavers, Beavers, Everywhere!

This shows a typical example how beavers manage water in wetlands in Northern Canada when they are relatively undisturbed. The image below gives a simple interpretation of the area. This area is part of the northern edge of the Boreal zone. Pieces of precambrian bedrock are visible as "islands" in a large wetland area. Most of the watermovement is in the form of "ground water" flows in the wetlands, and the beavers had to build extensive dams to contain the flow.



Beavers are typically boreal and temperate species surrounded by trees which provide a good food supply. The Northern Limit of the Beavers is interesting since beavers seem to follow climate warming trends (not just the last decades, but and are migrating north since the little ice age, the last period of climate cooling a few hundred years ago). With the acceleration in warming, the rate of migration into the subartcic may accellerate along the rivers and streams where they live of willow and alder.
Apparently Moose and Red Fox are also moving into the subarctic, but their "foot print" is not visible on a satellite image. Google Earth with its incredible ability to scale into high resolution detail makes beaver activity and possibly its migration north "mappable"


I am working on a series of transects through Canada's north to establish a sort of baseline on the GE visible status of beaver . Results will be added to this thread on a regular basis. By the way, the typical beaver example above is at the green place mark of the image below which shows a series place marks for site I have looked at


http://www.geostrategis.com

mspelto
(Tourist)
03/25/07 05:21 AM
View in Google Earth
Re: Water management by beavers

Here is an example from New England to compare. How long to they occupy the sites actively in your area?

jean_thie
(Cartographer)
03/25/07 11:23 AM
View in Google Earth
Beavers on Carp Ridge near Ottawa, Canada

This area in the remote north is, I presume, almost managed by the beavers in some sort of sustainble cycle. Food supply is relatively poor. and as your examples suggest they move along the stream.

I came along this example when I was using Google Earth to map the southern limit of sporadic permafrost ( I believe you do glacier studies if I am not mistaken?)

I have added a bit of an interpretation to the original post.

Also I lived with beavers for at least for 20 years on the Carp Ridge near Ottawa. This area is almost exclusively managed by beavers. I had to put chicken wire around all the trees I wanted to protect. Like we have with farming, they seem to have a kind of rotational system. When the food supply is exhausted, they move on to the next best area, but will be back again when new growt has re-established itself.

In the area A beavers have been active all the time I lived there, maintaining a dam, but not always living there. In area B the started to build the dam around 1992. Before that time they occupied the area C , just downstream the present dam, for at leat 5 years.

jean_thie
(Cartographer)
03/27/07 06:26 AM
View in Google Earth
Gatineau Park Beavers, Highest Concentration in Canada?

Gatineau park is in the National Capital region of Canada (Ottawa, Ontario and Gatineau, Quebec. This folder contains just a few of the many lakes, streams and ponds which are "managed" by beavers in the park.

Gatineau Park has one of the largest beaver population densities in Canada. In 2002-2003 aerial surveys 283 active beaver colonies were estimated on the park territory. This amounts to 7.79 colonies per 10 km2. Various surveys have shown that the beaver polulation varies between 1360 and 1950 beavers based on an average of 5.1 animals per colony.

The abundance of beaver is the result of the richness of its habitat, about 50 lakes and a large number of wetlands. The forest cover provides qulaity food.





Delta102
(Master Guide)
03/27/07 06:50 AM
Re: Water management by beavers



Nice use of GE

jean_thie
(Cartographer)
03/27/07 05:44 PM
beaver pond cross section and beaver range in N.A

Hi Joe, That is a great picture, a text book example in a beatiful setting.

I have added a cross section of a beaver pond taken from a good factsheet on beavers in Hinterland Who's Who

Also the distribution map may be helpful when looking for beavers with GE.

heamit
(Master Cartographer)
03/27/07 05:57 PM
Re: Water management by beavers

Quote:

Also the distribution map may be helpful when looking for beavers with GE.



Well that narrows it down a bit!

Just kidding! This is a fascinating thread - thanks!

Delta102
(Master Guide)
03/27/07 06:20 PM
Beavers in Montana


I have a Place in Montana and I've seen them at work.......... Really quite amazing what they can do
Beavers in Montana

jean_thie
(Cartographer)
03/27/07 06:37 PM
Re: Water management by beavers

Thanks Heamit


Quote:

Well that narrows it down a bit!



I appreciate the comment. You are right of course and your comment made me smile.

After that I started my defensive rationalization process: Only with GE can you quickly scan the whole beaver range. Until GE came along totally impossible for the amateur ecologist. And it is of course the Castor Canadensis: just one small example of Canada's heritage in the US

So my next explorations will be focusing on the northern limit of the range, but I will also try my luck in the southern edge, or perhaps somebody will contribute some great sites there!

Thanks

jean_thie
(Cartographer)
03/27/07 07:13 PM
Re: Beavers in Montana

Well if this is the view from you place in Montana- not bad. It looks like a more nutrient rich environment compared with your first picture.

Living with beavers is fun, and fascinating, but it can have its challenges. Particularly during spring snowmelt and run off: trying to keep my culvert under the road open was a daily chore. I would clean it up. They would plug it up. Every tree I wanted to keep, I had to protect with chicken wire. OK for a few trees , but for a couple of acres of trees- a chore

Thanks

Delta102
(Master Guide)
03/27/07 07:17 PM
Re: Beavers in Montana


The first one is at my sisters place the second one is ours .we feel that since they were here first we should let them be and work around them.....

Heres a great story about Beavers from 1909 by Enos A Mills The Beaver and his Works
And for people who love Beavers ( or have to live with them ).......Beavers.org

jean_thie
(Cartographer)
03/27/07 09:15 PM
View in Google Earth
Re: Exploring the Northern limit of beavers

Heamit,
Just to follow up on my earlier reply to you, I did a quick exploration of a small part of the northern edge of beaver distribution. The results are attached. This example shows a North- South transect which I quickly scanned in a strip of high resolution digital globe and terra metrics imagery. I started in the south and worked my way up. The most northern point of beaver observed is the last placemark. Most of this area is permafrost, peatplateaus in the south, peat polygones in the North. A sub arctic environment. A very meager food supply for beaver.

The orange colors represent wildland fires most 3-10 years old. The darker spot are fires that were burning during the year the images were taken. Some are burning - smoking in the high resolution strips.

I did my thesis fieldwork here over 30 years ago (Automated Interpreation of Satellite and Multi-spectral Airborne Imagery for Biophysical- Ecological Land Classification) Unfortunately I did not focus on beavers at that time. Too Bad.

More information on fire interpretation:

http://www.geostrategis.com/p_borealfires.htm

http://www.geostrategis.com

jean_thie
(Cartographer)
03/28/07 08:29 AM
Re: Beavers in Montana

Quote:



Heres a great story about Beavers from 1909 by Enos A Mills The Beaver and his Works
And for people who love Beavers ( or have to live with them ).......Beavers.org




Thanks Joe,
The reference about ... "living with beavers " is very helpful for everyone who does not want to resort to trapping.

syzygy
(Master Cartographer)
03/29/07 12:06 AM
Beaver reintroduction - Hungary

hi jeanthie!
thanks for raising our attention to this animal has been extincted
from my country however just being reintroduced within WWF's LIFE project.

the name of my town ( Hódmezövásárhely ) can be translated as
Beaverfieldmarketplace so here we go:

********************************************************************************
Living with the River

Due to the disappearance of wetland habitats and
ruthless hunting, the European beaver (Castor fiber)
was on the brink of extinction by the end of the 19th
century. The last individual in Hungary was shot in
1854. Almost a century and a half later, beavers were
detected in Szigetköz. These were migrants from a population
that had been reintroduced into Austria.
Natural colonisation over large distances is a slow
process. As the beavers could not be expected to
colonise the lower section of the Danube within the
foreseeable future, WWF Hungary began their systematic
reintroduction in 1996.

Beaver reintroduction on the Király Lake,
Fertö-Hanság National Park, 9. November 2000.

The one-time presence of beavers (in Hungarian:
“hód”) along the Tisza and tributaries is commemorated
in the names of towns and villages such as
Hódmezövásárhely, Kishódos and Nagyhódos. Beavers
used to be hunted for their fur and musk throughout the
country. If the gallery forests along the river provide a
suitable habitat for the beaver, it will be an indication of
the diversity of the floodplain and the richness of its
wildlife. In the autumn of 2001, beaver families were
released by WWF Hungary along the Öreg-Túr, a tributary
of the Upper-Tisza. The results of continuous monitoring
indicate that they thrive in their new habitat.

The European Beaver is an integral part
of the diverse floodplain forests.

The beavers that will find their new homes in the
Tisza region will originate from already stable
populations in Austria and Germany. In
the summer months, beavers mostly feed on
herbaceous vegetation, while in winter their
diet is dominated by the bark and buds of
woody species. Beavers are rather clumsy on
land, and they leave the water only for brief
periods to short distances. Contrary to popular
belief, the European beaver seldom
builds a castle, it tends to live in burrows.
As part of the Tisza LIFE Project,
beavers will be reintroduced to the Middle-
Tisza in the autumn of 2002, following a
detailed survey of suitable habitats. The
release will also be preceded by an educational
and outreach campaign aimed at
local land managers and hunters.

The characteristic bites on tree-trunks originating
from the beaver's incisors are indicators of the species'
presence in the region. -photos credit-

credit: Living with the River WWF Hungary, Budapest, 2002
available in pdf format
********************************************************************************
hope to introduce some original work on GE soon!
regards,
g

LuciaM
(Master Guide)
03/29/07 02:23 AM
View in Google Earth
Re: Beavers, Beavers, Everywhere!

The Beaver has just returned to the Bronx! And no, he's not pitching for the Yankees but rather has made himself at home in the Bronx River, within the boundaries of the Bronz Zoo. They have named him "José" after Bronx Congressman José E. Serrano, who has championed the clean-up of the Bronx River through the securing of $14.5 million worth of federal grants for that purpose.. So far, he appears to be single but has built a large enough lodge for company.


Photo: Wildlife Conservation Society

NY Times Story

Wildlife Conservation Society Story which includes a video of José's lodge. (The WCS is the organization which runs the Bronx Zoo.)

Delta102
(Master Guide)
03/29/07 12:17 PM
Beavers, Beavers, Everywhere but in So Cal ?


WOW
The beaver is a familiar animal that inhabits most of the U. S. They are found just about everywhere except southern California, most of Florida and Nevada, and parts of Alaska. However, there are some isolated populations of beaver reported to be in Riverside County, California, in Temecula Creek. This is one of the largest rodents. Beavers weigh 45 to 60 pounds. Historically, beavers weighing over a hundred pounds were common. Beaver tracker

jean_thie
(Cartographer)
03/30/07 10:27 AM
Southern California Beavers in Temecula Creek ? *DELETED*

Post deleted by jean_thie

Delta102
(Master Guide)
03/30/07 12:46 PM
Re: Southern California Beavers in Temecula Creek ?


Its worth a trip to find out,But I don't think there enought water ( Do they Build that close to people ) ? I would be nice to think so..

mspelto
(Tourist)
04/01/07 05:30 AM
View in Google Earth
Re: Southern California Beavers in Temecula Creek ?

Yes, beavers can stand people though I have only seen it once.

Delta102
(Master Guide)
04/01/07 09:26 PM
Re: Southern California Beavers in Temecula Creek ?


Incredible Mauri, I really like the idea of them being able to live so close to the city.................Even in New york

Delta102
(Master Guide)
04/01/07 09:43 PM
Re: Beavers, Beavers, Everywhere!



Quote:

This is a drain at Buck Hill in Spencer, MA. It is intended to allow water to drain under the manmade dam to feed the stream below. (You can see the manmade dam on the bottom edge of the photo.)

The beavers, who can't bear the sound of a water leak, keep 'repairing' the drain. You can see mud and sticks here, which they've used to seal off the drain. The ranger has to clear their work so that the water doesn't overflow the dam.

There are now special draining systems that allow water through without making a "rushing water" sound. Beavers will leave these alone.


Angelfire.com



I thought this was cool ( I mean how hard they work )

jean_thie
(Cartographer)
04/04/07 06:30 AM
View in Google Earth
Exploring Northern limit of beavers- Sub -arctic

This folder contains locations of beaver activity at the extreme edge of its range in Northern Manitoba. This area of the Hudson Bay Lowlands (just North West of Churchill) is mainly composed of permanently frozen polygonal peat plateaus. Beavers seem to be absent in most of this area (no food supply) except for the some of the small streams feeding the North Knife and South Knife River. No beaver activity was observed North of the Seal River.

Beavers are typically boreal and temperate species surrounded by trees which provide a good food supply. The Northern Limit of the Beavers is interesting since beavers seem to follow climate warming trends (not just the last decades, but and are migrating north since the little ice age, the last period of climate cooling a few hundred years ago). With the acceleration in warming, the rate of migration into the subartcic may accellerate along the rivers and streams where they live of willow and alder.
Apperently Moose and Red Fox are also moving into the subarctic, but their "foot print" is not visible on a satellite image. Google Earth with its incredible ability to scale into high resolution detail makes beaver activity and possibly its migration north "mappable"



I am working on a series of transects through Canada's north to establish a sort of baseline on the GE visible status of beaver . Results will be added to this thread on a regular basis.


http://www.geostrategis.com

gideonshorn
(Tourist)
04/04/07 05:15 PM
Re: Beavers, Beavers, Everywhere!

Here's a placemark that I created that contains three beaver lodges in Silver Lake, near O'Fallon, Illinois. The lake is almost totally covered in lilly pads, but the beaver lodges continue to be well maintained. Here where the weather gets very warm in the summer the lakes are prone to algea blooms and lilly pads, particularly if the lakes are formed by ground water and not running streams.

http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/showthreaded....&PHPSESSID=

Rick Marshall

jean_thie
(Cartographer)
04/07/07 07:58 AM
View in Google Earth
World's biggest beaver dam??

While studying the norther boreal ecosystem using Google Earth I have come across some remarkable beaver dams. The largest ones are about 260 m to 265 m in length (using the GE measuring tool). This begs the question: Is this the "biggest beaverdam in the world"??? Or can anyone find a larger one??

This folder contains a number of large dams in the Northern Boreal region of Canada. Obviously prime beaver habitat!



This second image shows a dam in the James Bay Area with a length of 265 meters


This third image shows a dam in the James Bay Area with a length of at least 280 meters and possibly as long as 340 meters.




www.geostrategis.icom

jean_thie
(Cartographer)
09/18/07 08:43 PM
View in Google Earth
Re: Canada's Beaver Capital:

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

Rambler24
(Tourist)
09/19/07 02:23 AM
Re: Canada's Beaver Capital:

Thank you all for your contributions to this fascinating thread. It's an excellent illustration of the kind of study Google Earth makes possible.

(I was going to make a little joke about beavering away, but I resisted it)

jean_thie
(Cartographer)
09/19/07 05:50 AM
View in Google Earth
Re: Canada's Beaver Capital:

This image outlines the Pakwaw Lake Cree First Nation Community and the Beaver Community just across the road. The even distribution of the beaver dams and lodges create the notion of a beaver community and because of the unusual density the term "beaver capital of Canada" seems appropriate.
Pakwaw Lake has about 630 residents of which 480 live on the reserve. The beaver population is probably of similar size!


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

mspelto
(Tourist)
09/21/07 07:30 AM
Re: Canada's Beaver Capital:

In looking at the beaver ponds. It is amazing how many exhibit evident lodges in GE. Thanks for this spectacular view of beaver mecca.

jean_thie
(Cartographer)
10/03/07 12:53 PM
View in Google Earth
Re: Canada's Beaver Capital in 1945???

Dear MSPelto,

Thanks for your comments. I appreciate them particularly coming from a glaciologist who uses GE in the communication of his research projects.

The landscape position of this unusual concentration of beavers provides an excellent clue for the further exploration of beaver habitat. In general one could say that the lower slopes of plateau like landscape features where surface drainage and possibly aquifers provide for a steady (relative slow) release of (surface and ground) water provide the best potential habitat for beaver (colonies- communities). I have since tried this concept and found in the meantime even more impressive beaver concentrations.

It i also interesting to see that the low resolution satellite imagery is superior (to the high resolution) for the rapid survey and characterization of landscape ecosystems. The high resolution imagery is of course needed for confirmation and measurement.

This particular post deals with past history of this beaver community . The oldest aerial photography available for this area is from 1945, flown on the 21 August at about 12'500 ft above sea level.
The interesting part is that in 1945 very few beaver dams are visible on the black and white aerial photo taken. I have provided two of the photos as overlays in the attached KMZ which allows anyone to do a comparison.



For more information:

http://www.geostrategis.com/p_beavers-pasquia2.htm

http://www.geostrategis.com/p_beavers-pasquia.htm

begreen
(Tourist)
10/23/07 09:53 PM
Re: Idaho watershed restoration?

wow ! really great and interesting work !

i've wondered about protection of beaver for restoration purposes along watersheds afflicted with desertification of mesic-meadows and lowered streams resulting in willow degeneration. unfortunately, in a lot of places in Idaho beaver are considered to compete with other water and forage uses so we see a lot of trapping and otherwise removal.


this abandoned system is along wet creek in the lost river mountains of central Idaho. I am wondering whether anyone familiar with beaver would know whether stream contamination of bacteria and protozoa from livestock discourage beaver activity ? there was plenty of willow throughout the system though regeneration was implicated by a lot of livestock activity. if anyone has any idea about beavers' reaction i would appreciate it much !

it's incredible to consider the contribution of beaver to species up and down the watersheds ~ below this system hosts endangered bull trout. the dams help keep sediment out. then consider the habitat given promotion of willow etc... unfortunately it looks like this system might not make it through spring...

jean_thie
(Cartographer)
10/27/07 10:10 AM
View in Google Earth
Re: Idaho watershed restoration?

You pose an interesting question. In principle in any rational watershed management and water conservation strategy, riparian habitat is (or should be) protected form grazing. When you look at the Wet Creek watershed on Google Earth ( I have attached a KMZ for the area in which I believe your picture of your post was taken) you get the impression that that is not the case in the Wet Creek area. The areas identified with LS are old land slide areas




The case of the Colorado River Cutthroat Trout Reintroduction is an interesting example. There they used beaver "feeding" with great results to improve habitat.


At the same time close to Wet Creek itself human engineering seems to be copying beaver. Perhaps you can explain what these beaver dam like structures are in the picture below.




Charles Dieter and Thomas McCabe wrote an article in the American Midlands Naturalist in 1989: Factors Influencing Beaver Lodge-site Selection on a Prairie River "Physical and vegetative habitat characteristics were evaluated at 33 beaver (Castor canadensis) lodges during 1986 along the Big Sioux River in eastern South Dakota. Slope of the riverbank was the most important physical factor and horizontal
vegetation cover was the most important vegetative factor influencing lodge-site selection. Beaver preferred the habitat quality of ungrazed areas for lodge sites. Although 60% of the study area was grazed, only six (18%) of 33 beaver lodges were located there."


Also have a look at The Western Watershed Project

begreen
(Tourist)
11/04/07 01:14 AM
View in Google Earth
Re: Idaho watershed restoration?

The ponds on Wet Creek were shallow. There may be a bit of reflection to tell from the picture, but you should be able to see that livestock were heavily utilizing the riparian forage. Sediment no doubt led to the shallow conditions, but the abandonment ? - I still wonder about pathogens... I'll look in to the Dieter and McCabe article.




I've also included a picture of the conditions on a tributary of Wet Creek on the KMZ. This was pretty indicative of the condition of public lands and riparian areas throughout this watershed (and many more I might add !).

Wet Creek hosts Bull Trout. It's not going to be good when that system blows out ~

I'll look into that development...

begreen
(Tourist)
11/04/07 12:36 PM
Re: Idaho watershed restoration?

I am told that the structure in the bottom right of the picture is likely the Dry Creek Diversion power plant. Dry Creek is 100% dewatered and diverted into a large pipe that travels to a hydro plant and then is dumped into Wet Creek about a mile from its confluence with the Little Lost River.

Froggmann
(Tourist)
12/23/07 09:03 PM
Re: Southern California Beavers in Temecula Creek ?

These aren't Bever Dams, instead they are man-made dams to stem the creek's flow so the water will enter the aquafer. They are made with rock and concrete.

jean_thie
(Cartographer)
04/11/08 02:09 PM
Re: Southern California Beavers in Temecula Creek ?

Thanks Froggman,

Quote:

These aren't Bever Dams, instead they are man-made dams to stem the creek's flow so the water will enter the aquafer.




I will remove those markers. However, beavers were reported in Temecula Creek. Since you know the area and probably have some above and under water experience in the Creek, would you have any idea where they could be?


Thanks


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