https://phys.org/news/2025-12-beavers-scars-wildfires.html
“High in the mountains west of Fort Collins, teams of scientists and engineers
are pretending to be beavers.
They may not be swimming or chewing trees, but researchers with the U.S. Forest
Service and Colorado State University are building fake beaver dams in burn
scars to study how wetlands created by the dams impact ecosystem restoration
and water quality after wildfires.
The research led by Tim Fegel is some of the first of its kind, he said.
Scientists have studied how meadow and wetland restoration affects wildlife
habitat, but there's been little exploration of how wetlands created by beaver
dams could change water quality post-wildfire, said Fegel, a biogeochemistry
lab manager with the Forest Service who is leading the project.
"It's kind of a brave new world for us with this type of work," said Fegel, who
is also a doctoral candidate at Colorado State University.
Wildfires destabilize soils and make them less capable of absorbing rain and
snowmelt, resulting in higher runoff and increased flood probability. High
volumes of water, combined with a lack of vegetation roots to hold soil in
place, mean that more sediment and debris travel downstream, impacting water
quality and water treatment systems.
Five years ago, the Cameron Peak and East Troublesome wildfires ripped through
Colorado's northern mountains, charring more than 620 square miles across
watersheds that provide water for hundreds of thousands of people who live
along the Front Range.
That's where Fegel and other researchers think the fake beaver dams can help.
Fegel hopes the work will provide land managers and water utilities with more
data and, potentially, another water-quality tool.”
Via Christoph S.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
