Beavers: Savior of the Wetlands From Drought Caused by Climate Change

According to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, we are losing wetlands three times faster than forests.

When it comes to restoring them to their natural state, one hero with extraordinary abilities stands out: the beaver.

Wetlands hold water, act as a carbon sink, and provide food.

As per the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, wetlands benefit humanity more than any other terrestrial ecosystem - yet they are disappearing at an alarming rate.

The main issues are agricultural and urban growth, as well as droughts and higher temperatures caused by climate change.

However, if you have a river and a beaver, you may be able to halt this process.

How beavers are reviving wetlandsscs

(Photo : Svetozar Cenisev/Unsplash)

These furry sharp-toothed rodents construct dams on waterways to create ponds, within which they construct a "lodge" to protect themselves from predators, as per the BBC.

They chew tree trunks until they fall, then use the trunk and branches as building materials, along with stones at the base, mud, and plants to seal the dam's upstream wall.

The dam causes flooding, slows the flow of water, and keeps it on the landscape for a longer period of time.

"This transforms simple streams into thriving wetland ecosystems," said Emily Fairfax, a California State University ecohydrologist.

Their wetlands are ideal habitats for many different species due to the abundance of food and water.

That is why beavers are considered a keystone species.

Beavers have been reintroduced into Canada and several states in the United States over the last 50 years.

Initially, this was done to restore beaver populations after they were nearly hunted to extinction for their fur and meat in the nineteenth century.

However, the restoration of wetland ecosystems has resulted in significant biodiversity gains, including the return of many species of frogs, fish, and invertebrates.

In 2018, Finnish researchers discovered that beaver-engineered ponds contained nearly twice as many mammal species as other ponds.

Weasels, otters, and even moose were more common.

"Beaver wetlands are pretty unique," said Nigel Willby, a freshwater science professor at the University of Stirling.

Anyone can build a pond, but beavers build incredibly good ponds for biodiversity, partly because they are shallow, littered with dead wood, and generally messed with by beavers feeding on plants, digging canals, repairing dams, building lodges, and so on.

Beavers, in essence, excel at creating complex wetland habitats that we could never match.

A healthy wetland ecosystem also sequesters large amounts of carbon, and scientists believe that by acting as a sponge and soaking up floodwaters, it can mitigate the effects of climate change.

Wetlands store water during wet seasons and slowly release it during droughts.

When there is a drought, all of the plants in a floodplain rely on the stored water in the soil to stay green and healthy.

Also Read: 400 Years of Extinction: 'Justin Beaver' and 'Sigourney Beaver' to Return in Enfield, London to Combat Flooding

Beavers help reduce the impacts of climate change

We will have more rain and less snow as our climate changes in the Pacific Northwest.

Large, sudden high-flow events in streams will become more common, as per King County.

Beaver dams act as speed bumps in streams, slowing the flow of water as it moves through a system.

Slower water means less erosion and, in some cases, less storm flooding.

Ponds absorb some of the water even if they appear to be full, so the volume of water decreases through a beaver system as well.

Water temperatures downstream of beaver ponds were 2.5 degrees Celsius lower than upstream, according to a recent study in western Washington.

That's 4.5 degrees Fahrenheit. These changes occurred due to the ponds' ability to recharge groundwater, which resurfaces colder downstream.

Fish and other wildlife suffer from thermal stress as air and water temperatures rise due to climate change and other human impacts.

The downstream cooling effects of beaver ponds are beneficial.

Finally, beaver dams can hold more water in stream systems than the streams themselves.

Because water does not burn, beaver wetlands serve as natural fire breaks.

And, as wildfires become more likely on both sides of the Cascades, fire control becomes more important.

Beavers and beaver ponds increase habitat for a variety of insect, bird, amphibian, mammal, and fish species, including coho and steelhead salmon.

Beaver wetlands provide a habitat for a significantly greater number of species than ponds without beavers.

These animals are known as ecosystem engineers because they create, significantly modify, and maintain habitats and ecosystems, and as a result, they have a significant impact on an area's biodiversity.

They introduce wood into the water, which provides food and shelter for insects, which in turn become food for other species, including salmon.

Related article: Why Beaver Teeth Are So Tough