Life Sciences Commons^™

Beaver Moderated Fire Resistance In The North Cascades, Wa, Usa, Joseph Weirich, Rebecca Brown Phd.

2020 Symposium Posters

Climate change and fire suppression have altered historic fire regimes creating conditions for larger, high severity fires. Intense burns denude vegetation, alter hydrology, and cause channel incision, impairing riparian function. Burn severity varies based on topography and increases with distance from water sources like lakes, streams, and wetlands. Beaver introduction is a passive technique to restore incised and degraded streams using their unique abilities to build dams, store water and create wetland environments. The objective of this study was to assess whether beaver impoundments increase landscape resistance to wildfire by increasing riparian soil and vegetation moisture levels. We hypothesize that …