Maximizing the potential benefits of beaver restoration for fire resilience and water storage

TL;DR

Restoring beaver populations in California's Sierra Nevada can enhance water storage and reduce fire risk, especially in drought- and fire-prone areas.

Contribution

A novel method to quantify beaver dam-building potential and its impact on water storage and fire resilience in high-risk regions.

Findings

51% of beaver dam-building capacity remains in the Sierra Nevada compared to historical levels.

Beaver dams could store 120 million m³ of water and create 2200 km² of fire resilience in high-risk areas.

Five priority watersheds were identified with high potential for beaver restoration benefits.

Abstract

Restoring populations of native keystone species can increase landscape resilience to global change when those species create or modify ecosystems. The North American beaver (Castor canadensis) is an ecosystem engineer that increases river water storage and residence time, increasing fire resilience at the landscape level. Beaver populations in North America are significantly lower than they were historically, but over the last decade, beavers have been increasingly recognized for their ecosystem services, and reintroduction efforts throughout their historic range have become more prevalent. Here, we modeled potential beaver dam‐building capacity, associated surface water storage, and fire resilience in California's Sierra Nevada, a region at high risk of drought and wildfire. We estimate that 51% of beaver dam‐building capacity remains in this region compared to historical levels, and considerable dam capacity remains in all watersheds. Our conservative estimates suggest that beaver dams have the potential to store a total of 120 million m3 of surface water and create 2200 km2 of fire resilience in high fire risk areas. Additionally, streams where beavers have the potential to create the greatest water and fire benefits due to physical landscape and habitat characteristics are frequently found within watersheds that are at high risk for both drought and fire. Specifically, we identified five priority watersheds that have both high risk for drought and fire impacts, and have high potential to benefit from beaver conservation and restoration. Even in areas where fire and drought are less probable, the reestablishment of beavers will likely provide similar benefits. This unique approach to quantifying potential beaver benefits illustrates that wildlife can increase resilience to global change stressors and suggests that biodiversity and nature‐based climate solutions are intertwined.

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