Ecosystem experiment reveals benefits of natural and simulated beaver dams to a threatened population of steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

Beaver have been referred to as ecosystem engineers because of the large impacts their dam building activities have on the landscape; however, the benefits they may provide to fluvial fish species has been debated. We conducted a watershed-scale experiment to test how increasing beaver dam and colon...

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Veröffentlicht in:Scientific reports 2016-07, Vol.6 (1), p.28581-28581, Article 28581
Hauptverfasser: Bouwes, Nicolaas, Weber, Nicholas, Jordan, Chris E., Saunders, W. Carl, Tattam, Ian A., Volk, Carol, Wheaton, Joseph M., Pollock, Michael M.
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Sprache:eng
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Zusammenfassung:Beaver have been referred to as ecosystem engineers because of the large impacts their dam building activities have on the landscape; however, the benefits they may provide to fluvial fish species has been debated. We conducted a watershed-scale experiment to test how increasing beaver dam and colony persistence in a highly degraded incised stream affects the freshwater production of steelhead ( Oncorhynchus mykiss ). Following the installation of beaver dam analogs (BDAs), we observed significant increases in the density, survival and production of juvenile steelhead without impacting upstream and downstream migrations. The steelhead response occurred as the quantity and complexity of their habitat increased. This study is the first large-scale experiment to quantify the benefits of beavers and BDAs to a fish population and its habitat. Beaver mediated restoration may be a viable and efficient strategy to recover ecosystem function of previously incised streams and to increase the production of imperiled fish populations.
ISSN:2045-2322
2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/srep28581