Why Is Beaver Activity Is A Public Nuisance Or Beneficial Ecological Restoration?

3.5 million miles of water run throughout the United States; and since the country’s conception, over 80,000 dams have impounded 600,000 miles of these waters [1]. Dams were originally constructed to provide water to towns and establishes energy sources for mills and later hydroelectric plants. Because these dams were constructed decades ago, they’re reaching a critical point of obsoleteness where they cause more harm than good. Dam removal is increasingly popular across the country to address the ecological problems including habitat loss and sedimentation, despite potential for downstream harm, removing dams is more environmentally and economically cost effective than upgrading them. The Marmot, Glines Canyon, and Elwha river dam removal projects each highlight different challenges of dam removal, but overall

The conquering and development of natural land has in the past, been seen as a mark of human civilization. In the United States, our progress is often measured by growth and development, but should this be re-examined? There are many opinions on the subject of urban sprawl and its effects on wildlife, but one thing is for certain, we are expanding. From 1955 to 2005, urban and suburban areas grew by 300%, however, the population only increased by 75% over the same period (Ewing, Kostyack and Chen). According to NatureServe, a non-profit conservation organization, urban sprawl threatens one of every three endangered species in the United States. NatureServe’s analysis states, “rare and endangered species data shows that three-fifths (60

I disagree with my review because of the following reasons. When I tested I was given the animal the otter, Otters have a personality to be excitable energetic and the cheerleading type, this is not me. However, I was also given the animal the beaver and I also disagree with this because beavers are said to be organized perfectionist kind of people and this is far from who I am. Beavers are very detail-oriented, orderly and enjoy thoroughness I am more of the go with the flow type person and am far from organized. I would agree more with the idea of me being a golden retriever, golden retrievers are very team oriented, easy going and quit calm type of people. And I feel like these are some of the traits that fit me best. I tend to be very

Beside these arguments, there is also a more quantitative side to the debate. The ecological detriments of the Glen Canyon Dam have been well-documented. Extensive changes were brought about in the Colorado River ecosystem by the construction of the Glen Canyon Dam. Most of these alterations negatively affected the functioning of the system and the native aquatic species of the river. The reduced supply and transport of

Maintaining ecological diversity is necessary for the survival of a biological community. In the United States, American citizens are on the verge of irrevocably damaging one of the country's most unique and diverse treasures - the Florida Everglades. This national park is now the only remaining patch of a river that used to span 120 miles from Lake Okeechobee to the Florida Bay. Dikes and levees created by the Army Corps of Engineers in the late 1940's drained this river to reduce flooding and increase useable water for the development of the region. This major diversion of water lead to a trickle down effect causing the continual decline of the environmental state of the Everglades. Since then, debates over the

“Restoring an ecologically complete ecosystem in Yellowstone requires the return of willows--and with them, beavers. There's a clear threshold for ecosystem recovery. Willow stands must be more than 6 feet tall, the scientists found. That height is important, says Marshall. Then willows are beyond the reach of browsing elk, and can serve as seed sources for new young willows. Once willows have returned, beavers will gnaw down a certain number of them to build dams. The dams will further slow stream flow, allowing yet more willows to grow. The results offer new insights on the role of wolf-driven trophic cascades in the Yellowstone ecosystem, says Hobbs. Trophic cascades like that in Yellowstone occur when predators--or the lack thereof--in an ecosystem change the abundance or alter traits of their prey, in turn affecting the next lower trophic level.” ("National Science Foundation", 2013)

The Point Arena mountain beaver (Aplodontia rufa nigra) is a federally listed endangered subspecies that is restricted to the small area of Point Arena, in coastal Mendocino County, California (Zielinski, et al., 2013). (See Figure 1). The Point Arena mountain beaver is a dark brown, medium-sized burrowing rodent with small ears and eyes, and long whiskers and claws (National Park Service (NPS), n.d.). The subspecies is semi-fossorial, spending most of its five to six year lifespan in underground burrows (United States Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS), 2011). The burrows are typically found on moist and steep north-facing slopes or in well-drained gullies; each burrow contains separate chambers for food storage, nesting, and excrement (NPS,

A keystone species has a high impact on a community by keeping an ecosystem together. Most often Beavers, Bears, and Bees are just a couple of keystone species.

I am taking a class called global environmental issues and heard about how reintroduction of wolves has had very positive impact in Yellowstone, but we did not go much deeper than just stating so.

The Yaak Valley of Northern Montana is one of the most biodiverse areas of untouched wilderness in the contiguous United States. This is due in large part to its geographical position between the temperate rainforests of the Pacific Northwest and the dry and mountainous Northern Rockies. According to the Yaak Valley Forest Council, the valley is home to a variety of rare species including but not limited to: inland redband rainbow trout, bull trout, wolverine, lynx, fisher, coeur d 'alene salamander, great gray owl, westslope cutthroat trout, flammulated owl, short-head sculpin, boreal owl, peregrine falcon, wavy moonwort, kidney-leaved violet, bog birch, and Grizzly Bears (About The Yaak, 2015). The Yaak Valley holds a unique biodiversity and supports a rich and thriving ecosystem. Once this biodiversity is lost, we could not recover this ecosystem and

For example, their concept indicates that prey species will alter their foraging habits to the features of the terrain in order to avoid areas with a high risk of predation. Predation risk in a changing environment is also focused on by the authors. There are many environmental variables that may influence the degree of predation risk such as weather, wildfires, and other conditions that influence ungulates’ access to vegetation. Finally, the authors focus on ecosystem responses to trophic cascades—primarily on riparian functions and on beaver and bird populations. They also inform us that wolves may represent an indirect control on beaver populations as well as cause ungulates to avoid some riparian areas—therefore reducing herbivory on wooden browse species.

Environmentalism has always been two sided. Nature versus urban. locals versus national. Frequently, large tracts of public and federal land are bought and developed by industry. Pristine wilderness turned to bustling epicenters of human activity, all in the name of progress and economic growth. This tale of preserving natural wilderness is one that begins with John Muir, an advocate against the taming of Yosemite national park and the Hetch-Hetchy reservoir, while the head of the US Forest Service, Gifford Pinchot, insisted on the reservoir to supply the city of San Francisco with water. This timeless epic of conservation or preservation brings us to the Jumbo Valley, a vast expanse of uninhabited, pristine wilderness home to diverse

Another example is how beavers continue to live in their environment .Beavers build lodges along the banks. Beavers also use trees

The number of people living in urban areas is dramatically increasing across the world. Currently, 75 % of people live in cities in the developed world, (Bernhardt E.S. and Palmer M.A, 2007) despite such high percentage many do not get access to the green and blue spaces available, in other words cannot interact with nature. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency green spaces are ‘land that is partly or completely covered with grass, trees, shrubs or other vegetation’ (Environmental Protection Agency, 2014) This includes community gardens, parks as well as cemeteries. (Environmental Protection Agency, 2014) On the other hand, blue spaces include rivers, canals and lakes. (Sally, M, 2010) As urbanisation increases, it will pose a greater threat to nature such as pollution, habitat destruction, erosion and colonisation of native species. There are various ways to engage with nature. However, one reason for green and blue spaces not being utilised effectively by people may be due to people being unaware of the values that these have and the crucial functions they undertake in the ecosystem such as recycling nutrients and controlling the hydrological cycle.

The patterns of biological diversity in rivers and streams among taxa vary on a spatial and temporal scale (Ligeiro et al. 2010; McGarvey and Terra 2015). Variations in stream ecology can be contributed to water quality, habitat, and history of disturbance (Lingeiro et al. 2010). Creeks and streams feed into rivers and other larger bodies of water, which provide food, water, and other commercial and recreational services as well as a home to an array of plants and animals which rely on clean water. The health of these smaller bodies of water can act as indicators for the health of the larger watershed.