The animal symbol of Canada has a new title of nobility. Scientists and environmentalists still more insist that the beaver is an ally when it comes to mitigating the impacts of climate change, a balm for our natural rivers sick and a defender of our flora and fauna of our devastated.
Engineers at the flat tail is its habit of building dams that beavers are a defender of our natural resources. It is not always appreciated when you cut down a tree on your property or your land when it floods, by cons. In 2002, Glynnis Hood, a biologist University of Alberta working on his doctorate, and the Canadian Prairies experienced the worst drought documented. She saw the wetlands disappear before his eyes. But it was in Beaver Dams, ponds persisted. By studying aerial photographs taken 54 years, data on populations of beaver and climate, it was found that ponds with beaver lodges inhabited had 9 times more water during droughts without beaver ponds. During dry summers, the Beavers prevented water from flowing passages and built to guide water to their ponds. The Beavers had more effect that any rain or drought. Despite this, she participated in conferences where engineers gave presentations on river currents, with beaver dams in their pictures yet, but never spoke of the animal. While they were busy restoring wetlands and rivers (the USA, we have spent billions of dollars), the creature responsible for transforming the landscape was mostly forgotten in the discussions. 
Soldiers cons natural pollution As environmental engineer, the beaver is working full time: it increases groundwater increases the bio-diversity and even cleans pollutants. In Washington state, where the summers are hot and dry out the forest while causing water shortages, a pilot project had found that beaver dams storing 5 to 10 times more groundwater reserves that rivers without dams while slowing the runoff of snowmelt in the spring. In addition, instead of killing the landscape with a concrete dam, beavers improve the appearance of the premises. Recent studies show that when the beaver dams in addition to efforts to restore wetlands, the population of Frogs, toads and birds is thriving. Native flora returns. Dams create places where moose and other animals come to drink when rain is scarce. Dams slow the flow of rivers and rehabilitate the banks while preventing sediment and pollutants from flowing downstream. A study of a river in Russia had considered the impacts of pollutants from a cheese factory: After the water has passed through the dams of beavers, it was as clean as upstream of the plant. The 25 beaver ponds seemed to filter out pollutants and decomposed by a rich bacterial flora. Friends of Fish
Evidence is mounting that the presence of beavers improves fish stocks disappearing. Beaver ponds are deeper, which means they thaw earlier in spring and freezes later in the fall, giving more time for salmon fry more time to grow. The bark and branches that beavers take in water add nutrients and attract insects that eat fry. Deforestation and agriculture tend to leave the topsoil runoff into several rivers and streams, which can suffocate the life of a pond, but beaver dams prevent that. In the past, beaver dams were destroyed to allow the rivers flow freely, it was thought that beaver dams have prevented salmon up rivers to spawn. But the healthiest rivers are changing and moving constantly, what beaver dams, exactly. As Halley said Duncan, a researcher at the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, beavers live in 6 of the 10 largest salmon rivers of the country without problems. Even in cases where beaver dams impeded the movement of adult salmon, no research has demonstrated that it was enough to hurt people fish from the river in question, according to Dr. Halley.
Volunteers
In some places, beavers works better than heavy machinery, and much cheaper. "It costs about $ 10,000 per hectare to replace a wetland, and with the beaver, it's free." Dr Hood said. "The only problem is that you do not control the work." But this has not prevented several counties to try to bring the beaver. In Denmark, the European beaver was introduced into an area planted with pine trees which the beavers were busy right now to build dams and restoring rivers. The dams have become a tourist attraction. In Scotland, the return of beavers after 400 years of absence has been more problematic, because salmon fishermen are concerned about and oppose the efforts of environmentalists believe the environmental benefits of beavers. In August, the first litters of beavers were born there. United States, Wyoming has offered to landowners beaver, an approach that is part of a restoration strategy, and similar projects are underway in Oregon. According to Steve Zack, a biologist with the Wildlife Conservation Society in Oregon said: "We humans like to invent solutions to solve our problems environmental, yet we have these beavers doing a great job. "Our sacred cows
Canada's economy had its beginnings with the pelts of beaver, hunted almost to their extinction because of their beautiful fur but to meddle in their habitat inevitably cause problems. The board of the City of Oshawa has learned to his cost last year when she tried to get rid of a colony of beavers built a dugout to prevent flooding caused by heavy rains. Protests followed. The city council is now considering a solution that will cost $ 60,000 to tolerate the presence of beavers. The same debate takes place in Squamish, British Columbia: instead of trying to stop the Beavers by promising a $ 20 per beaver pelt, the province will instead financially compensate farmers who suffer damage because of the work of beavers . The animals in this corner of the country seem to be particularly stubborn: in this municipality, two employees working full time all summer to destroy dams to issues that most were rebuilt the following day.
man against nature
The challenge, according to the researchers, is to find a balance with beavers: they can install them gaily improve the environment, to reproduce in reasonable numbers, without conflict with urban sprawl. "It's like two maniacs competed to control the same space." Dr Hood said that just completed the manuscript of his new book "The Beaver Manifesto: In Defence of Tenacity". She spent 19 years as a preservative for Parks Canada, and has witnessed conflicts between humans and beavers on its territory. For her, when the phone rang, she knew that it was often a problem that involved the beaver, one way or another. "We love nature, first it behaves correctly "said Dr Hood," and when she gets carried away and had his own way, we object. "Except that now would be a good time to let our impulse to want to control everything and leave the beavers do what they do best.
"The Beaver's new brand: eco-savior
Our bucktoothed icon Is Hard-working and monogamous, stable and steadfast Canuck In The Way. Beloved object? Not one drop When a tree is your cottage or floods your land With icts dam. These Days, however, The Beaver has a new brand: eco-savior. An increasingly vocal group of Scientists and conservationists Believe The dam-building roam Is an Overlooked tool to Mitigate climate change – a natural remedy for our sick rivers and ravaged wildlife. Fly away with that, bald eagle.
Engineers with tails
It's the beaver's avid dam-building that makes it a star with conservationists. In 2002, when University of Alberta biologist Glynnis Hood was in the middle of getting her PhD, the Prairies experienced the worst drought on record. She watched the wetland dry up “right before her eyes.” But where beaver dams existed, the pond water remained. Poring through 54 years of historic aerial photos, records of beaver populations and climate data, she discovered that the ponds with active beaver lodges had nine times more water during droughts than ponds without dams. In dry summers, the beavers kept water from trickling out and built channels to guide the water in; they had more impact than any rainfall or drought. Dr. Hood says this wasn't a surprise to some of the older farmers, who often kept well-placed beavers on their land. Yet she would go to conferences where engineers would give presentations on river flow (with beaver dams in their photos) and never mention the animal. In wetland and river restoration, which in the U.S. has cost billions of dollars, the very creature responsible for shaping the landscape was largely absent from the discussion.
Natural pollution-busters
As an environmental engineer, the beaver is a full-service deal: raising the water table, increasing biodiversity, even cleaning up pollutants. In Washington State, where hot summers dry up forests and have caused severe water shortages, a pilot project found that beaver dams stored five to 10 times more groundwater reserves than rivers without dams, and slowed the spring runoff. And rather than casting the shadow of a concrete dam, they improve the view. Recent studies show that when beaver dams were added to wetland-restoration efforts, the population of frogs, toads and songbirds rebounded. Native foliage returned. The dams created waterholes for moose and other animals in times of low rainfall. They slowed down water flow in rivers and shored up banks, while preventing sediment and pollutants from being carried downstream. One study of a Russian river examined the impact of pollutants from a cheese factory: By the time, the water had passed through the dams, it was nearly as clean as before the factory. The 25 beaver ponds along the way appeared to be capturing the pollutants and breaking them down with bacteria. Friends of the fish There is growing evidence that the presence of beavers improves endangered fish stocks. Beaver ponds are deeper, which means that they thaw earlier and freeze later, giving juvenile salmon more time to grow. The bark and branches that beavers drag into the water add nutrients and draw insects, which the young salmon eat. Deforestation and agriculture loosen the topsoil around many rivers and streams, which can suffocate life in a pond, but beaver dams prevent this from happening. In the past, beaver dams have been removed to create a single flowing river, or out of fears that the dams stopped the passage of adult salmon upstream. But the healthiest rivers are constantly changing and shifting – the very impact of beaver dams, which come and go. As Duncan Halley, a beaver researcher at the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, points out, beavers populate six of the 10 largest salmon rivers in the country, without issue. Even in cases where beaver dams have been found to impede adult salmon, Dr. Halley says, no research has suggested that it was enough to affect river-wide populations.
Will work for free
The beaver, in certain places, is better than a bulldozer, and far less expensive. “It's about $10,000 a hectare to replace wetlands, and you've got something to do it for free,” Dr. Hood says. “The problem is that you also have something you can't control as easily as a backhoe.” But this hasn't stopped several countries from trying to bring back the beaver. In Denmark, the European beaver was introduced in an area of planted pine forest where they got busy building dams and restoring the streams and rivers. (And making “beaver land” a popular tourist attraction.) In Scotland, the return of the beavers after 400 years has been more controversial, with salmon anglers, who fret over their stocks, pitted against conservationists, who believe in the rodents' environmental benefits. (In August, the first baby beavers were born.) In the United States, Wyoming offered beavers to landowners as a restoration strategy, and a similar plan is in the works in Oregon. “We humans like to engineer solutions to our environmental problems,” says Steve Zack, a biologist with Wildlife Conservation Society in Oregon. “But meanwhile we have these beavers who do a spectacular job.”
Our sacred cow
Canada may have been built largely on the (skinned) backs of beavers, hunted nearly to extinction for their fur, but messing with them today will inevitably lead to trouble. Oshawa city council discovered this the hard way last year when it tried to dispatch a beaver colony from a man-made pond built to stop stormwater flooding. Protests ensued (“Give a dam! Save our beavers!”). Taking the contrarian position, a city council candidate in the fall election posted signs that read: “Vote Dave Spackman. Kill the Beavers”; he came a distant second last, and the council is now considering a $60,000 solution so that the beavers can stay. A similar debate rages in Squamish, B.C. Prince Edward Island was forced last year to cull 150 highway-flooding beavers – with regrets. And in Saskatchewan, despite repeated calls for a beaver bounty (at $20 a head), the province chose instead to compensate farmers for property damage. “They're not your average beavers,” local reeve Wes Black laments. In his municipality, two men work every day, including weekends, all summer long to break up the problem dams – only to find many rebuilt the next morning.
Man v. nature
The challenge, the researcher says, is to find a balance with the beaver – to put them where they happily improve the environment, in healthy numbers, without clashing against urban sprawl. “It's as though two control freaks are competing for the same environment, and there's been this ongoing battle ever since,” says Dr. Hood, who has just completed the manuscript for a new book, The Beaver Manifesto: In Defence of Tenacity. She spent 19 years on the front lines as a warden for Parks Canada while humans and beavers tussled over land – when the phone rang, she says, you could usually count on a beaver being involved somehow. “We like nature as long as it's well behaved,” Dr. Hood says, “and once it starts getting the crayons and running loose, then we get worked up about it.” Except that now may be time for one control freak to step aside – and let a few well-placed beavers run loose with the crayons. "
Excerpts from article written by Erin Anderssen published in The Globe and Mail here:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/the-beavers-new-brand-eco-saviour/article1913908/singlepage/#articlecontent
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